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Halloween (2018)

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This article is about the sequel to the original film. For other meanings, see Halloween.

Film
Halloween 2018 movie poster
Halloween (2018)
Directed by David Gordon Green
Produced by John Carpenter
Malek Akkad
Jason Blum
Written by

David Gordon Green
Danny McBride
Jeff Fradley

Starring

Jamie Lee Curtis
Judy Greer
Nick Castle
Andi Matichak

Casting by

Sarah Domeire
Terri Taylor

Music by

John Carpenter
Cody Carpenter
Daniel A. Davies

Cinematography Michael Simmonds
Editing by N/A
Distributed by Universal Pictures (United States)

Columbia Pictures (Philippines)

Production studios Blumhouse Productions

Miramax
Trancas International Films

Release September 8, 2018 (TIFF)

October 19, 2018 (United States)

Running time 106 min
Country United States
Language English
Preceded by Halloween II (2009)
Halloween (1978, 2018 Timeline)
Followed by Halloween Kills (2021)
"Same porch. Same clothes. Same issues. 40 years later. Headed back to Haddonfield one last time for Halloween."
―Jamie Lee Curtis

Halloween is the 2018 sequel to Halloween (1978) written by David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, with Green also directing the film.[1] It was theatrically released on October 19, 2018[2] and is the eleventh installment in the Halloween franchise, picking up forty years after the events of the original film while disregarding all the previous sequels. Series co-creator John Carpenter serves as an executive producer and creative consultant for the film.[3]

After the release of Rob Zombie's Halloween II, the 2009 sequel to the 2007 remake of the original, two consecutive follow-ups went into development from former rights holder Dimension Films, respectively, but neither achieved fruition. As a result, the studio lost the rights to the intellectual property, which were later obtained by Blumhouse Productions with John Carpenter's involvement.

Carpenter, who disagreed with the remake's portrayal of lead killer Michael Myers, planned on helping the studio to make the next Halloween film into what he believed to be more terrifying than the preceding sequels. Filmmakers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, who were already fans, proposed their vision to Blumhouse and Carpenter. It was accepted and developed into a direct sequel to the original, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle reprising their roles of Laurie Strode and Michael, respectively.

The film was theatrically distributed by Universal Pictures in the United States, and by Columbia Pictures in the Philippines, this being the former's first involvement in the Halloween franchise since the 1982 film Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Principal photography commenced on January 13, 2018, in South Carolina, United States and concluded on February 19, 2018.

Plot[]

Forty years after the 1978 Haddonfield murders, true-crime podcasters Aaron Korey and Dana Haines travel to Smith's Grove Sanitarium to interview Michael Myers, who was captured after Dr. Samuel Loomis shot him off of the Doyle house balcony. Dr. Ranbir Sartain, who has been treating Michael since Loomis' death, informs them that Michael is able to speak, but chooses not to. Aaron approaches Michael and talks to him but fails to get him to speak, even after showing him his mask and mentioning Laurie Strode, the sole survivor of the 1978 murders, causing the other patients to react.

Aaron and Dana then go to interview Laurie, who has spent the last forty years dealing with PTSD and preparing for Michael's inevitable return. Her feelings have resulted in two failed marriages and losing custody of her daughter Karen at a young age, who would later have her own daughter, Allyson, with their history inflicting stress on the family. Aaron and Dana tell Laurie their interest in finding out why Michael committed the murders and ask her to meet with him in a final attempt to get him to speak before he is transferred to a maximum security prison. Laurie declines.

As patients are loaded onto a bus transport, Dr. Sartain insists on accompanying Michael. Later, the bus crashes in a ditch, the security guards are killed, and the inmates scatter about the road, allowing Michael to escape. Kevin and his father come across the bodies of the prisoners and guards. They separate, and the son runs back to the truck. Michael appears in the backseat and snaps Kevin's neck. The following morning, on Halloween, Michael terrorizes Dana, alerting Aaron. Aaron hits Michael over the head with a crowbar before his head is thrown into the bathroom stall. Michael tosses the mortally-wounded Aaron aside, breaks into the stall, and pins Dana against the wall, choking her until he breaks her neck which kills her, all while Aaron is bleeding to death out of the side of his head. Michael recovers his mask, returning to Haddonfield. Laurie learns about the crash and breaks into Karen's house to demonstrate her lack of security, causing an argument with Karen and her husband, Ray.

Beginning that night, Michael wanders Haddonfield and begins to kill innocent victims. He stalks a woman before bludgeoning her with a hammer. Moving to another house, he finds another woman and stabs a knife directly through her throat. Meanwhile, Allyson is at a party with her friends and receives a call from her friend Vicky, inviting her to come over once Julian, the boy she is babysitting, falls asleep and her boyfriend Dave arrives. Allyson gets into an altercation with her boyfriend Cameron, who throws her phone, just as Laurie was calling to warn her to go home. At Julian's house, Vicky and Julian talk back and forth before she tucks him into bed. Dave arrives and the two of them cuddle, while Julian screams, allowing Dave to sneak outside to smoke while Vicky is tucking him back in bed. Michael, who was hiding in Julian's closet, fatally stabs Vicky as she sacrifices herself to protect the boy. Julian flees as Michael kills Dave. Laurie, patrolling the streets in her truck, hears the dispatch call on her CB radio and hurries to the house, where Sheriff Frank Hawkins is investigating and finds Dave and Vicky's bodies. Laurie and Hawkins patrol behind the neighboring houses and find Michael; Laurie shoots him, but as she turns the corner, Michael is gone. A deputy arrives with Dr. Sartain and Laurie and Hawkins learn that he is Michael's new psychiatrist. Laurie tells Hawkins that she has prayed for Michael's escape, so that she could kill him.

Allyson leaves her boyfriend at the party and allows her friend Oscar to walk her home. Allyson rejects his advances and Oscar sits behind, spotting Michael watching him. Oscar tries to escape, but is caught on a fence and Michael stabs, then impales him. Allyson is chased by Michael before finding refuge in a neighboring home. Laurie, Karen, and Ray arrive at Laurie's fortified home and wait for Allyson to arrive as two officers are posted outside of the house in their squad car. Hawkins and Dr. Sartain search for Michael and in turn, find Allyson. Finding Michael, Hawkins runs him over with the police SUV and gets out of the vehicle to shoot Michael at point-blank range, despite Dr. Sartain's protests.

Dr. Sartain stabs Hawkins in the throat with a blade hidden inside of a pen and leaves him to die before taking Michael's mask and putting it on. Dr. Sartain loads Michael into the back of the vehicle with Allyson and drives to Laurie's house, intent on reuniting them. Michael regains consciousness and reclaims his mask, and Allyson informs Dr. Sartain that Michael spoke to her; distracted by demanding to know what Michael said, Michael breaks through the security barrier, forces Dr. Sartain out of the vehicle, and stomps on his head as Allyson flees on foot. Ray steps outside to offer coffee to the police officers stationed outside and finds them dead. Michael appears behind Ray and strangles him.

Laurie alerts Karen to Michael's arrival and sends her into the hidden safe room. Michael attempts to enter the house. In the process, Laurie shoots two of Michael's fingers off. Allyson arrives as Laurie and Michael stab each other and witnesses Laurie fall from the balcony. When he investigates, Laurie is gone and Allyson makes her way into the safe room with Karen, who alerts Michael. As he appears, Karen shoots him with a rifle and stuns him. Laurie appears from the shadows and attacks Michael, sending him tumbling down the steps into the safe room. Karen and Allyson leave the safe room, but Michael regains consciousness and grabs Karen's ankle. Allyson stabs Michael with his own knife and the two escape the room. Laurie flips a switch and metal bars spring into place, barricading the exit and trapping Michael in the safe room as it fills with gas. Laurie lights a flare and tosses it through the bars, setting the room, and Michael, ablaze.

Laurie, Karen, and Allyson escape as the house becomes engulfed in flames and hitch a ride in the back of a pickup truck coming down the road. The house is engulfed in flames and Michael is nowhere to be seen. The three women embrace as they are taken to safety.

Cast[]

Characters[]

Production[]

In 2011, it was announced that a sequel to 2009's Halloween II, titled Halloween 3D, would be released on October 26, 2012. At the time of the announcement, there was no director or writer attached to the project. Originally, Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer were labeled as writers but dropped out due to their occupancy on the Hellraiser reboot. The film would pick up where the final frame of its predecessor left off and would pay homage to the original version of Michael Myers from the 1978 film. It was dropped from its release schedule on October 26, 2012, as no progress had been made.

In February 2015, it was reported that Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan would be writing a new Halloween film, described as a "recalibration" rather than a reboot, along with Malek Akkad and Matt Stein producing. On June 15, 2015, it was further reported that The Weinstein Company was moving ahead with another Halloween sequel, tentatively titled Halloween Returns, with Dunstan directing. It would have been a standalone film set to reintroduce audiences to Michael Myers years after his initial rampage from Halloween and 1981's Halloween II, as he was confronted by a new generation of victims while on death row. On October 22, 2015, producer Malek Akkad revealed that the production of Halloween Returns had been postponed, stating that the extra time would result in a better film. Malek said on the matter, "Although, I have to say, and this is somewhat new news, but unfortunately things happen in Hollywood where you have issues with studios and different variables. We've had to take a step back and now we’re trying to re-figure this beast that is the new Halloween. So there is a bit of a delay, but this new Halloween isn't going to be quite what has been announced and what people are expecting, so we're making some changes there as well."

In December 2015, it was announced that Dimension Films no longer had the rights to the Halloween franchise after Halloween Returns failed to go into production on schedule. The film's cancellation was confirmed at the same time. May 2016 brought the announcement that Blumhouse Productions and Miramax were co-financing a new film in the franchise, with Blumhouse CEO Jason Blum proclaiming that "Halloween is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into the world of scary movies. The great Malek Akkad and John Carpenter have a special place in the hearts of all genre fans and we are so excited that Miramax brought us together."

On February 9, 2017, Carpenter announced that the new Halloween film would be released on October 19, 2018, and was going to be written by David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, and directed by Green. It will be a direct sequel to the original film and will ignore all the sequels. In September 2017, Jamie Lee Curtis confirmed that she would reprise her role as Laurie Strode. In October, Judy Greer entered negotiations to play Laurie's daughter Karen. The film would be distributed by Universal Pictures, their first involvement in the franchise since distributing 1982's Halloween III: Season of the Witch. On October 17, 2017, Carpenter announced that he would be returning to score the upcoming film, saying "I'll be consulting with the director to see what he feels. I could create a new score, we could update the old score and amplify it, or we could combine those two things. I’ll have to see the movie to see what it requires."

On November 21, 2017, it was announced that filming for the movie had been postponed from November 2017 until Early January 2018 due to casting being incomplete. On December 7, 2017, Andi Matichak was cast to play Laurie's granddaughter Allyson. On December 20, 2017, it was reported that Nick Castle, who portrayed Michael Myers in the original film, would be reprising his role, with stunt double James Jude Courtney set to portray Myers as well. By January 13, 2018, Ginny Gardner, Miles Robbins, Dylan Arnold, and Drew Scheid had been cast to play Allyson's friends, with principal photography to begin on January 13, 2018, in Charleston, South Carolina. By January 16, 2018, Will Patton was cast in the film. On July 27, 2018, it was announced that a sound-alike actor would provide a voice-over for Dr. Sam Loomis, who was originally portrayed by Donald Pleasence.

When John Carpenter signed on as an executive producer in 2016, he described his intention: "Thirty-eight years after the original Halloween, I'm going to help to try to make the 11th sequel the scariest of them all." When the rights were acquired by Blumhouse, filmmaker Adam Wingard discussed making a new Halloween film, but ultimately dropped out: "I actually got an email, in confidence, where Carpenter was basically… He actually gave them the thumbs up for me. And I kinda walked away from it like, I just got everything I wanted out of this job. 'This is about as good as it gets.'" David Gordon Green and Danny McBride were announced in February 2017 to handle screenwriting duties, with Green directing and Carpenter advising the project.

Carpenter said that he was impressed with the pitch presented by the co-writers, solicited by Jason Blum, proclaiming that "They get it." Rather than reboot the franchise a second time, they chose to focus primarily on continuing the mythology of the first two films when developing the story, with Danny McBride stating "We all came to the decision that remaking something that already works isn't a good idea. So we just have a reimagining instead." The pitch was created by the writers specifically to present to Carpenter, as they were self-described fans of the original Halloween to begin with. The story was eventually fleshed out so that all of the sequels were ignored from continuity, and the ending of the first film was slightly retconned. According to McBride, "It picks up after the first one, but it's sort of an alternate reality."

However, he later said that the film still pays tribute to the other films, despite sharing no direct continuity, "you know like there's some many different versions, and the timeline is so mixed up, we just thought it would be easier to go back to the source and continue from there. It was nicer than knowing you're working on Halloween 11, it just seemed cooler, 'we're making Halloween 2'. For fans, we pay homage and respect to every Halloween that has been out there." Despite Green and McBride's comedy roots, Halloween was distanced from the comedy genre. McBride further elaborated that "this isn't a comedy at all. I think there was, like, maybe one joke on the page, but the rest is straight horror." Believing that "good horror movie directors are good directors", Jason Blum hired Green because for his perceived "amazing" storytelling. No large steps were taken without Carpenter's approval, including the acceptance of the initial pitch and bringing back actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Release[]

The first trailer released June 8, 2018. The film was theatrically released by Universal Pictures in the United States on October 19, 2018, and by Columbia Pictures in the Philippines on October 24, 2018.[4]

Continuity[]

The film is a direct sequel to the original, and ignores the events of the sequels.[5][6][7] The story was eventually fleshed out so that all of the sequels were ignored from continuity, and the ending of the first film was slightly retconned. According to McBride, "It picks up after the first one, but it's sort of an alternate reality. It's as if the first Halloween ended in a slightly different way."

Notes and trivia[]

  • Michael and Laurie are no longer related, as this film's timeline is a direct sequel to the original, and ignores Halloween II (1981), in which the sibling subplot was first introduced.
    • In the movie, when Dave asks if Michael was Laurie's brother, Allyson says that it was something that people made up to make them feel better, implying that those facts still exist, albeit as mistaken beliefs, within this timeline.
  • Doctor Samuel Loomis died in the 1990s in this timeline just like his actor Donald Pleasence who passed away in 1995 shortly after completing Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers.
  • According to John Carpenter, this is supposed to be the final installment of the series.
    • However, following the success of the film, two sequels are being released.
  • Unlike previous incarnations, this version of Michael Myers is more human and less supernatural, retaining the stab and gunshot wounds he received from Laurie and Loomis, respectively, in 1978.
  • The movie was released on October 19, which is Michael's birthday in the series.
  • Halloween (2018) marks the 3rd reboot of the franchise following Rob Zombie's Halloween in 2007.
  • On August 10, 2021, it was revealed that James Jude Courtney mentioned that there is a scene that was shot for the ending of the 2018 film that they did not ultimately use. As Courtney recalls, "It was a big fight scene between Jamie and I. In that fight scene, and keep in mind, we’re doing 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 takes of things sometimes. So the scene where I’m holding a blade down like this and I throw her around and she swings the rifle like a baseball bat and I was like 'Oh shit. This isn’t gonna be good.’ She hit it, the knife, and I was like ‘well that was a good shot.’ 30 takes and she never missed one. 30 takes. And she swung it like she was going for the fence."[8][9]
  • On September 16, 2021, it was revealed that through a website called FinanceBuzz is looking to pay one lucky person to record their heart rate while watching 13 scary movies.[10]
  • On October 3, 2021, Jamie Lee Curtis read the e-mail exchange between producer Jason Blum and director David Gordon Green that started the new trilogy.[11]

Gallery[]

[Go to top]← Halloween II (2009)Halloween (2018)Halloween Kills →

Sequels[]

Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends continue the timeline with the return of Michael Myers.

References[]

  1. ↑ http://deadline.com/2017/02/new-halloween-movie-david-gordon-green-danny-mcbride-1201907337/
  2. ↑ https://twitter.com/jamieleecurtis/status/908760232016322560
  3. ↑ http://ew.com/article/2016/05/24/halloween-john-carpenter/
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/blumhouse/status/908760094657019904
  5. ↑ http://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3463699/john-carpenter-says-next-years-halloween-disregards-everything-past-original-film/
  6. ↑ https://www.stereogum.com/1966097/qa-john-carpenter-talks-new-album-anthology-the-upcoming-halloween-sequel/franchises/interview/
  7. ↑ https://sports.yahoo.com/danny-mcbride-halloween-just-hope-dont-fk-piss-people-off-183213419.html
  8. ↑ Halloween Kills’ Michael Myers Reveals Deleted Scene That Makes Jamie Lee Curtis Sound Super Badass - Cinemablend
  9. ↑ Halloween Star Reveals Deleted Scene of Laurie Using a Rifle as a Baseball Bat - Screen Rant
  10. ↑ Halloween Horror Hustle: Get Paid $1,300 to Watch 13 Scary Movies - FinanceBuzz
  11. ↑ Halloween: Jamie Lee Curtis Reads Email Exchange That Started New Trilogy - Screen Rant

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