During pre-production on Blumhouse’s Halloween, the legendary John Carpenter had only three words of advice for David Gordon Green and his team: “Make it relentless.” And if the sequel’s bone-chilling teaser trailer is any indication, Green has honored that request…and then some.
As a matter of fact, over on Bloody Disgusting, the filmmaker has outlined the ways in which his Halloween calls back to the 1978 classic that enshrined Michael Myers in the horror pantheon, where he’s remained ever since. Yes, even after the cash-in of Halloween H20, Myers still holds a tremendous amount of resonance among the horror community, which certainly bodes well for his long-anticipated return this October.
Speaking of which, here’s Green discussing his approach to 2018’s Halloween with BD:
Carpenter’s advice was brilliant: make it relentless. [Carpenter] had notes, which is something I was extremely nervous about. We worked very hard on the script. We were all very excited. It’s one thing for three movie nerds to geek out over the opportunity of maneuvering within this property, another to basically go kiss the ring of the godfather and see how that goes. I was sweating bullets, the first time I sat down with him.
Also of note: Myers and Laurie Strode are no longer brother and sister, after co-writer Danny McBride pushed to shelve the sibling subplot entirely. It’s a creative decision that has undoubtedly freed them to focus on the one thing that matters: Michael Myers, who’s returning to Haddonfield after a full 40 years spent in captivity.
Green continued:
I’d like to know as little as possible about [Michael Myers], his history and his abilities. I think there was a reason he was called The Shape; because in some ways he’s more of an essence than he is a traditional character. In some ways it’s like a film like Jaws; there’s not a lot of personality in the shark. Technically he’s very elusive in the way that he’s shot and we’re trying to keep that as our framework and not get too much into who he is, why he is, what he’s been doing.
Halloween creeps out of the shadows and into theaters on October 19th.