Movies & TV / News

New Interviews For Halloween Focus On Michael’s Age, Skipping The Sequels and More

June 8, 2018 | Posted by Joseph Lee
Halloween

Coming Soon visited the set of the new Halloween while it was in production and posted interview with Jamie Lee Curtis, director David Gordon Green and Danny McBride about Michael Myers being a 60-year-old killer in this one, skipping all of the sequels and more. Here are highlights:

Curtis on what about the new script made her sign on: “It’s a very interesting take on the movie because it references Halloween 1 in every way it can. Stylistically, characterologically, visually, emotionally, it follows very similar themes but it’s its own movie so it’s a very clever mash-up, to use a young people’s word, of the first movie in a retelling like a direct sequel but it’s fascinating. When you see what they’ve come up with you’ll be like ‘Wow,’ because it’s a very modern and yet very true movie.”

Curtis on Laurie’s state of mind: “I think for Laurie Strode, society has not been kind to her,” Curtis says bluntly, noting that the main theme of the film is trauma. “I have a friend of mine who is a doctor, a neuropsychologist, and they are studying stress and trauma now in children, be it abuse, physical or emotional violence, the effect changes your brain chemistry. So for me what’s crucial is that level of trauma had an effect on this woman who is now fifty eight years old and that trauma for her is this perseverating sense of eventuality that he will come back and that every day of her life has been in preparation for that meeting.”

Curtis on Laurie’s strained relationships: “They hate her because she calls the police every day. (She) says ‘Do you have somebody patrolling Smith’s Grove? I was out there, I actually sat in my car all day outside of Smith’s Grove and I didn’t see one cop car. Why is that? Why aren’t you treating him with the respect that you should treat him?’ That’s the level of perseverating she has done. I think she actually responded much better with a granddaughter than her own daughter. I think with her own daughter she was dysfunctional in her raising of her because of this obsession of safety but because her granddaughter wasn’t raised by her, she can connect to the granddaughter.”

Green on what Michael has been doing all this time: “I think he’s been doing as little as possible and I’d like to know as little as possible about him, 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, we’re finding that line between natural and supernatural worlds and this mysterious and as un-verbalized as we can create a character.”

Producer Malek Akkad on Michael’s age: “I think absolutely it’s a terrifying prospect. I mean, you can look at someone like a Mickey Rourke, not that he’s terrifying; someone who’s fit and at that age and there’s something very creepy about that. I think it’s exciting because it gives us more options and things that we can do later… and hopefully this won’t be the last one.”

Green on if Michael can be scary: “A character in the movie even talks about that. Like the world has changed a lot since Michael Myers was around. The world has seen a lot of horrific shit and there’s a lot of bad things that happen now on a daily basis so is a man in mask with a knife still scary? And I think that’s what this movie answers: yes, he still is.”

Green on referencing the other films that are no longer canon: “Anyone who’s a fan of any of these films will find nice little Easter Eggs acknowledging our salute to the filmmakers that have preceded us in the stories and mythologies as they’ve unfolded. For us, it was a clean slate type of opportunity, where if there was a little inspiration or mirror image of something it’s very subtle in the movie because we want to start fresh for a new generation but with great appreciation for the previous.”

McBride on their own take on the character: “I feel like it’s almost one of the things like Batman or something. You see these different artists take on these iconic characters so I think it’s kind of cool to see what different filmmakers will do with a property that is so well known. I would rather have that approach to Michael Myers than everyone just continuing some storyline and just trying to regurgitate these things. I think it’s more interesting to have someone like David or Rob Zombie, these filmmakers that just come and put their own stamp on it for better or worse. I think that’s a more interesting way for a franchise to stay alive than to just continue to beat the same drum over and over again.”

Akkad on if retconning the series hurts: “It does and it doesn’t (hurt). First, a little bit, you’re always wondering what the fans’ reaction to that is going to be and to be honest, the franchise has taken a lot of left turns…There are so many arcs in there that you can never satisfy them all, and I think what David and Danny and Jeff (Fradley, co-writer) have done has really cracked it in a way that the fans are going to love. The fans are going to love all the homages they put in the film, there are just so many little Easter Eggs and you know, just kind of touches to the original.”

McBride on Michael no longer being related to Laurie: “I was pushing for that removal right off the bat. I just felt like that was an area where he wasn’t quite as scary anymore, it seemed too personalized. I wasn’t as afraid of Michael Myers anymore because I’m not his f***ing brother so he’s not coming after me. Also you’ve seen it, so wouldn’t it be interesting just to see what would happen if it wasn’t that, and what does that open up for us if it wasn’t this random killing that has affected this character, so it just seemed like new territory to bite off.”

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Halloween, Joseph Lee