Cool Stuff: New Book Slices Into The Making Of David Gordon Green's Halloween Trilogy
Perhaps the most intensely discussed horror reboot of the 21st century is David Gordon Green's "Halloween." With a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 72% audience score, it seems like most of the intended crowd for the slasher legacyquel walked away satisfied, so Universal Pictures quickly put two more sequels on its calendar. Unfortunately, "Halloween Kills" was a drastic step down, earning only a 39% critics score. Sure, the audience score only dropped a bit to 66%, but when you're dedicated to the franchise, you're bound to be fairly pleased with whatever you get. "Halloween Ends" didn't fare much better, with just a 40% from critics, and a steeper drop to 57% from fans, officially taking it into rotten territory on both counts.
It's that last movie that has sparked some debate among longtime "Halloween" fans, with some appreciating the bold new direction that Green takes the franchise by making new character Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) a significant part of the story, while also ending the battle between Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney). For some fans, it was just a little too much for the concluding chapter, but some critics are already predicting that the movie will be reappraised as time goes on, and those who don't like it now will eventually come around to its innovation in the slasher series.
Titan Books
No matter how you feel about "Halloween Ends," surely you're interested in finding out how the entire new "Halloween" trilogy came together, and a new book from author Abbie Bernstein digs into each movie, complete with insights from all the key crew members. From David Gordon Green himself to Jamie Lee Curtis and the myriad crew members who brought these bloody movies to life, "Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends" is a comprehensive look at the return of Michael Myers and his pursuit of Laurie Strode, including some details that didn't make it into any of the movies.
'Happy Halloween, Michael'
When "Halloween" came along in 2018, it had been 16 years since the last entry in the franchise. "Halloween Resurrection" certainly didn't end things on a high note, especially since it killed off Jamie Lee Curtis after her fairly triumphant return in "Halloween H20." In fact, that was the second time Laurie had been killed, after "Halloween 4: The Curse of Michael Myers" revealed she had died in a car accident prior to the events in that film. "Halloween H20" originally would have explained that this was a ruse rather than a real death, and it's just one of the many complications created by the long history and canon of "Halloween" movies since the films began in 1978.
It's that long history and timeline that allowed for "Halloween H20" to be a sequel to "Halloween II" rather than trying to fit it in with all the other sequels. But David Gordon Green's "Halloween" in 2018 took things even further by undoing everything in the franchise's canon except for the original "Halloween." In short, by getting rid of the reveal that Michael Myers is Laurie Strode's brother, it got back to the roots of the original movie by making Michael Myers much more mysterious as the boogeyman who was killing for no clear reason. Having the killer, also known as The Shape, returning 40 years later was made much more terrifying and interesting by wiping the slate clean.
Titan Books
This new book about the making of the new "Halloween" trilogy digs into all the development details of each movie, including some of the changes that were made along the way, such as reshooting the ending of 2018's franchise restarter. ("Halloween Ends" also drastically changed its own ending along the way.) But beyond that, the most fascinating details come from the makeup, special effects, and stunt departments explaining how they pulled off all the brutal kills, complete with gnarly images of bloody, sliced, and smashed prosthetics and full body dummies that have seen better days. While I wish the book dug a little more into the significant changes made to the scripts, especially in post-production, it's still a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the modern slasher series.
"Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends" is available to order now.