The Halloweentrailer has finally arrived, after months of anticipation and the creative team behind the film showing and saying all the right things.
For those of you unaware of this soft-reboot slash sequel to the original 1978 film of the same name, Halloween is produced by Blumhouse Productions—which brought us It Follows, Get Out, and Dark Skies—is directed by Eastbound & Down’s David Gordon Green, and co-written by Danny McBride (yes, that Danny McBride).
To herald a much-needed return to form for this franchise even more thoroughly, Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, and John Carpenter is not only co-producing this film alongside Jason Blum, but orchestrated the film’s score. In other words—this is exactly what hardcore Halloween fanatics have been clamoring for, for literal decades.
Now that we can breathe easy in terms of creative pedigree, let’s take a look at what this trailer is actually telling us about the Halloween universe this narrative occurs in. The film is a direct sequel to Carpenter’s original, which means quite a few things. First, throw out every single Halloween film you’ve seen, besides the original. Second, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is officially not related to Michael Myers—they are not siblings, and “that’s something people made up.” Third, Michael’s classic vanishing at the end of the original didn’t get him far—he was captured, arrested, and institutionalized for the past four decades—waiting, in silence, with nothing behind the eyes. “The blackest eyes,” as Dr. Loomis recounted in the original. “The Devil’s eyes.”
As for Laurie, the doomsday prepper direction her character has taken here is frankly one of the few remaining turns to take this character in. We’ve already seen her whine and wallow as a paranoid alcoholic in Halloween H2O. We’ve watched her become institutionalized, herself, in Halloween: Resurrection. We’ve watched her die at Michael’s hands. Been there, done that. In terms of a modern, yet classical approach to this story—getting to watch her prepare, train, and patiently await Michael’s inevitable return, is personally something I’m here for.
Besides the cast and crew, narrative structure, and potentially utterly confusing timeline this movie takes place in for the casual viewer, there’s some beautiful imagery in this trailer that genuinely affirms all the hope I’ve had for the first footage of this project. The escaped mental patients wandering across the fields at night. Michael strolling through Haddonfield’s autumn leaves-strewn sidewalks. The slow and creepy Carpenter score. The boogeyman lurking in a bedroom closet. This is a thousand percent what made Halloween so beautifully spooky, chilling, and timeless.
Michael Myers is coming, and I can’t believe, for the first time in decades, that his return actually deserves to be called, simply, Halloween.
Halloween hits theaters nationwide on October 19, 2018.
