What’s in a name? For Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, Halloween Returns represents a bona fide “recalibration” of the series; a chance to welcome the return of a horror icon in Michael Myers and introduce his reign of terror to a modern moviegoing audience. In the works at Dimension Films, the property was originally meant to enter production over the summer, though the studio opted to reschedule for the fall to truly replicate that spine-chilling feel of All Hallows Eve.
Speaking about the title of the film itself, Dunstan and Melton touched upon the evocative moniker all the while outlining the story. First up, the former revealed a little of the backstory behind Halloween Returns.
Halloween, if you have a semicolon, Returns — I think I put it in an email as a subtitle, but I think it was registered as Halloween Returns, which is fine. I like that, and it works, it does function as what it means to say. But if you commit a violent act, sometimes you get returns. What are the repercussions of being a violent entity? In that case, Halloween Returns could mean a number of things.
Said to be a standalone horror feature, the project is being set up to reintroduce audiences to the delightfully terrifying Myers long after his murdering heyday, positioning an 18-year-old child of a victim as the lead character who sets about hunting down the masked killer once and for all. Here’s what Melton had to add:
The now 18-year-old child of one of Myers’ victims plays a central role along with the child of a cop whose long been obsessed with Myers’ case, even putting it before his own daughter. Myers is now on death row and the two kids with their own personal vendettas against the killer sneak in to watch his execution. But when things go awry and Myers escapes, the pair, along with their friends, find themselves in the firing line.
Halloween Returns will hold up John Carpenter’s seminal 1978 original as a framework for the film’s tone and innate character. One thing’s for sure: Michael Myers is returning, and all of the right pieces are beginning to fall into place behind the scenes.