Though everyone and their dog can agree that the 1978 Halloween is a classic of horror cinema, there’s yet to be an entry in the series since that’s earned the same across-the-board approval from fans or critics. So perhaps it’s no surprise that the slasher franchise has had the reset button on its sequels pressed more than once now.
1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later presented an alternate timeline which disregarded every entry in the series save for the first two, while the upcoming Blumhouse production looks to be throwing out all previous sequels, not to mention Rob Zombie’s divisive two-film reboot. Director David Gordon Green says that when he looked at the franchise up to this point, he found that following in the continuity of the later installments would be more trouble than it was worth, explaining that he needed a clean slate.
I started finding limitations instead of opportunity, and thinking, ‘If there was a little bit of a clean slate to take it in a direction I selfishly as a huge Halloween fan wanted, where would I go?’
So, where’s he going? Well, for one thing, Green won’t be taking the same path as the Rob Zombie movies, which fleshed out the backstory and psychology of the franchise’s star serial killer, Michael Myers:
He’s the essence of evil, so we don’t want to get too much into the specifics of what makes him tick. So much of what makes the boogeyman horrifying to me is the mystery and almost cat-like mannerisms and curiosity of this character.
For many, the story of Myers is inherently tied with that of Laurie Strode, the young lead who survived the boogeyman’s October killing spree in the first film. One reason to disregard the sequels is that it gives Green the excuse to bring back scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis in the legendary role and explore how this traumatic night has impacted Strode and her family over the years:
We’re being very honest and truthful about that. How it would affect the upbringing of her daughter, who has a lot of conflicts because of her mother’s obsession with this incident, and her granddaughter, who’s trying to connect with Laurie.
Curtis herself adds:
It becomes a little bit ‘The British are coming!’ and everybody just gets tired of it. It’s the girl who cried Michael, and they’re all like, ‘Oh, my God, Laurie, shut the (expletive) up.’ And that’s why I like where we find her.
Make no mistake, Michael will indeed be returning to the town of Haddonfield when Halloween lands October 19th, 2018.