Halloween II : More of the Night He Came Home....to Laurie Strode's Home

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Halloween (2018) : The Night He Came Home.....To Her Home

This is the night he came home....to her home.

I wanted to let my thoughts on the new Halloween movie to percolate until I had the opportunity to see the movie in the theater a second time.I've been thinking about this movie a lot these past few weeks.Prompted,I imagine, by the fact that the new John Carpenter score CD has been in almost constant rotation in my car.

I sincerely love the above photo.When I first saw it, I felt a tear well up. It says so much and is such a powerful image that honors both the character and the actress who brought her to life.To me , it speaks of Laurie Strode and all her trauma.Laurie has suffered not only that fateful Halloween evening in 1978 but for every day for the last forty years. She is the victim of assault from a evil man and the violent  abuse she experienced has poisoned her every thought and personal connections from thereafter. She may have survived that night but she has never been able to escape it.Jamie
Lee Curtis gives a wonderful performance in this movie..We know and feel Laurie's pain.We cheer her on and celebrate her survival.And in this photo it is as if Jamie Lee is stating to the character Laurie that "I believe you.I see your pain.And I will give you the strength through my performance to see you safely through to the other side"

How does one grapple with the grief and inevitable post traumatic stress disorder of surviving a horrific experience? One in which you have lost several close friends to the knife of a psychotic killer?The same killer who stalked you relentlessly until you barely escaped within a knife blade inch of your life?

That is the approach of the new Halloween movie. Laurie Strode has been living in fear for the last forty years.Fear that the man who tried to kill her one Halloween eve in the fall of 1978 will once again, on a random Halloween night, decide to go trick or treating...for her...or her family.

This is a similar approach to her character as in the sequel H20. In that one she had faked her death,changed her name and was now working across the country from Haddonfield at a private school.Soothing her fears daily with alcohol and pills. In that one, the story picks up two decades after the events of Halloween II.Laurie's struggles continued into the morning of that fateful Halloween night, and even though she saw Michael burn alive she believes he is out there, somewhere, waiting.

The new ,2018, version of Laurie's story picks up as if no other sequel existed,including the John Carpenter/Debra Hill produced Halloween II. Laurie survived the original attack on Halloween to have Michal Myers arrested later that evening.Just one night of terror. She was never pursued through the hospital, she never learned that Michael Myers was, in fact, her brother.

Laurie just learned to fear the evil in the world.And that it will come home one night.

She has always felt that this night would come.Feared it.Every day of her life since that Halloween night. That there was no escaping this final confrontation. Michael would find a way, and he would come for her..And even if it was not him....some other evil would come knocking on her door.

 But this time....she would be ready."He is a killer.....but he will be killed tonight". Laurie has planned and prepared over the last 40 years. She has practiced her marksmanship with a variety of guns.She has trained her daughter on how to fight back.Her home is structured to protect and serve her needs to stop this man. But she is still very much afraid.

 Forty years of fear takes a toll on ones psyche and their personal life.Laurie doesnt just fear the return of Michael Myers,but the fear of the evil out there in the world that she had her eyes opened to that fateful evening.If it wasnt Michael...it would be someone else who came for her....a copycat?A "fan"? A random psycho? In her mind, stranger danger is everywhere

Laurie's desire to protect herself and to have her family be ready to do the same has cost her the comforts of a happy home. She has been divorced, twice.Though one of the unions resulted in a daughter,Karen. Laurie has had the same daughter taken from her care at a young age because they saw Laurie as a threat to her own daughters well being.Even though Laurie thought she was doing what was best to protect her daughter.It must have been hard for her to cope with the reality that  she was seen as hurting her own daughter.

Imagine that for a moment.....You live in daily fear that a monster is going to come for you AND your child. You do everything you can to protect her.To prepare her to protect herself if you are not around....or can't anymore. You are only thinking of her safety.Just like you did when you were a babysitter with children in your care. And then strangers take your daughter away from you because of this very reason.Now,you cant be around her, to watch over her.So if the monster comes for your daughter,you won't be there to protect her.

This is her lot in life. Daily fear and worry. Concrete belief that her fear WILL come true. WANTING it to come true so she can just be done with all this.Kill....or be killed,even.She does want to end him .To stop being afraid of the man who assaulted her.To stop him from assaulting her in her mind every second of the day.From creeping into the most banal moments of her day and ruining every thought with its touch.

I've often wondered of what happens after the events of my favorite horror movies.The credits roll and where do the survivors go? What happens to the hero? How do they respond to the trauma of that final night? All those lifeless bloody bodies of their friends that they saw firsthand.All that grief that they had no time to process because they were fighting for their own lives.All those funerals,one after the other.The unavoidable intrusion of the public eye on your life.The constant staring ,pointing and whispering. Rumors about what happened clouding the truth.Pranks from thoughtless people calling you to breathe menacingly into the phone.Say things like Michael is coming for you,"Trick or Treat""The Boogeyman is coming". How many times would you have to recount the story to authorities,psychiatrists,friends,family, and any new people who come into your life? Would people want to be your friend after this event while you go through a emotional time? Would people think you are cursed?Especially if you keep saying he's coming back.

I've spent countless hours pondering and theorizing on what happened to Nancy Thompson after A Nightmare on Elm Street.

That's what I found fascinating about the idea of this new Halloween movie Most horror sequels that feature the surviving characters kill them off within the first reel. Rarely do they live to fight another day.

This character of Laurie has survived the night and lived to relive it in her mind every day after for the next forty years. One thing that occurred to me is how would they convey this? Someone who suffers from a trauma doesn't always readily speak of it on a daily basis.They shut down or close off to others. These points of exposition would be hard to work into normal conversations.Its unnatural for someone to just up and say what they have or have not been going through the past 40 years out of the blue.

I figured they could have people talk about Laurie and fill in blanks.And from the trailer it seemed that this role would be filled by a couple of reporters doing a piece on The Babysitter Murders.

After seeing the movie, I thought the story should have started with the true crime investigators going to Laurie first-establishing her agoraphobia and some of her post Halloween history.Establishing the extreme security.Establishing the fear.The reporters should have felt fear coming to her front door.Not knowing what to expect.Detailing in their recording voice overs who they think they will meet behind all these locks and securities.

I so wanted to hear the original "Lauries Theme" play as they slowly drove down a long path to her front door.The camera passing multiple mannequins with bullet holes in their heads and chests by the side of the road.Cameras turning to follow the car as it passes. A P.O.V shot out the front car window as they approach Lauries uninviting home.

I wished they had spoke of a difficulty they had in finding Lauries wearabouts.That finding her address took some serious detective work.And then attempts to contact her fell short.Her refusal though letters to participate. The anticipation for her to tell them to fuck off at her front door.Illustrating her attempts in complete hiding from the world.This would have made her accepting of the offer of a $3000 payment for an interview even more suspect.Is she that strapped for cash after her struggle to live with this trauma? or is she just wanting to profit off of her pain?

This intro to Laurie would then lead into them asking her questions,recording her answers and even have Lauries answers contradict what they have thought to be true.Like the brother myth.I thought the directness of Lauries sitting for the interview was a nice touch.No nonsense,just business.She already knows what questions they are going to ask.Shes asked them herself,een asked them over and over during therapy sessions that she would have had to endure if she ever wanted to see her daughter again.

I loved that they had Laurie say something along the lines of "He killed 5 people and you want to know who he is ?!" as if this question is crazier than she is.What is wrong with you people?Really? asking this question to the victim about the person who attacked her? I survived that night he tried to murder me and you want to know what HE is thinking? wtf?Indeed.

There are many questions I wished they had asked.Part of me thought that these two should have played the role of the new Loomis. They being the first to sound the alarm to Haddonfield that Michael was on his way home.Chasing him to Haddonfield in hopes that what they believe to be Michaels thought process would help them assist the police in his recapture.Only to find their misunderstanding and misguided actions putting them in harms way and placing them in the path of Michael so he could reclaim the mask.

This interview should have been the dramatic selling moment of Laurie in this movie. Who she is and how she has chosen to survive to this point. But they step all over the possibilities by quickly jumping to a question about Laurie having her daughter taken away from her by child protective services.Trying to force an emotional response.And then they dig even further down the whole and ask her if she would come speak to Michael?Lauries appaled that they would want to know who Michael is ,and now they want her to go and have tea and cookies with him?

These interviewers seemed to be unprepared to ask question of their important interviewie.After all this time, Laurie Strode sits before you and this is the best you can come up with to ask her? Most answers should already be known, it is afterall 40 years later.Though they could have played up the comparison with Michael not uttering a word for 40 years and Laurie not speaking publicly since the incident.It would have been more interesting to have them ask Laurie some really obvious questions, things that any average People magazine interviewer would ask.....and she cuts to the chase...

"Let me save us some time.... Ive been interviewed many times about that night,from professionals to strangers.So.... I'll answer all your questions and you dont even have to ask them...and then she proceeds to do just that without them asking the actual questions ..while they check their notes and visually check off each one after the other..."did I know Michael? is he really my brother?.....how did I feel when he attacked me?.....how did I feel about this?....or that ..have I seen Michael since that night ? If you could say anything to michael? ...blah blah blah.......so unless you have anything new to ask me , Id like my $3000 and Id like for you to get the fuck out of my house" ......and then they ask her a question she wasnt expecting.....something really surprising that gives us indicative insight not only into what happened that fateful night, but who Laurie is today.A question so jarring in its unexpectedness to both us and maybe even to Laurie the character :Why didn't you kill him when you had the chance back in 1978?

To which Laurie responds :"Well, that is somthing I have thought about every day of my life for the last fourty years......."

Laurie could then tell us the viewer a story about that night.Recapping some of the events we know, but even more about what happened after Michael got up and walked away after falling out the window.Thoughts she had then,and now.

It would be unexpected to think that a young high school girl would be able to commmit the act or even simply think of killing another human being in 1978.Nowadays,frightenly ,not so much.

Michael is a killer.She is not.She was someone who barely lived life.Never even had a boyfriend and now a man gave her his full attention.Killed her friends."I held the very knife that murdered my best friends".Laurie could speak of the repulsion,the fear she felt in those moments.

The real emotional key would be hearing Lauries story directly in her voice.Not someones interpretation. Thats why the documentary crew approach felt like a good choice to deal with the exposition.They could present details through voice over recordings for their documentary. Set the scenes as they filmed their own. Explore backstory and current story through interviews ,particulary Laurie Strode. 

We could have heard recorded interviews that they made with Dr Loomis.Hearing him expound on how he knew Michael was so evil.Why he thinks he chose Laurie and her friends.

Then later,the reporters go to see Michael..in obtuse hope that he would actually speak to them of all people after all these years...

But they have a plan to play Lauries voice.....Laurie talking about Michael...talking about that night...about the fear...while he listens intently.

And then they show him the mask.

I would have been a interesting stage direction after they pulled the mask out and held it up behind Michael,with him reacting to its presence to then walk around to face him,still holding the mask high.....the camera moves in on the black eyesockets till it fills the frame with its darkness....cue the Halloween theme....light the pumpkin.

These "investigative reporters" seemed so ill prepared to explore the very topic they meant to discuss.The fact that they went to see Michael first seems odd.They had potentially much more to learn from Laurie.So did we the audience.And think of the dramatic tension when they revealed information about Laurie to Michael.What if that got a response,(say a sudden heavy or accellerated breathing from Michael) and then they endangered Laurie by revealing more in hopes of prolonging the response.For example,what if they told Michael that "Laurie is still afraid of you".Or played the tape of Laurie saying she was still afraid of him.

Why on earth would they think that Michael would suddenly choose to speak to them.Michael has remained silent since the moment of captivity and for the following fourty years. He has been "interviewed" and studied by multiple doctors who most likely tried to illicit a response by using a variety of stimuli,from his murderous past to cute fluffy puppies, and yet Michael never once spoke a syllable . Why would these podcasters think that they could elicit a verbal response even with showing "The Mask"?What exactly did they expect Michael to even say after all these years? They spent a lot of money,to obtain the mask,to speak with Laurie,to just to get to Haddonfield, for what resulted in nothing.

     And what of that moment with the mask?When I first saw the trailer I was more than a little skeptical by the idea that a psychiatric hospital would even allow for someone to bring that mask into the facility let alone show it to a patient who murdered multiple people while wearing it.Risking agitating the patient?Taunting and yelling at him even?At first it just feels like something that only would happen in a horror movie. Later it is revealed that the Doctor involved had an ulterior motive. The doctor wanted to watch Michael's reaction, see for himself what stimulates a killer.

Nothing seemed to stimulate this killer for 40 years.I've always wondered about the not speaking aspect of Michael?Both the original movie and this new one reference Michael as remaining silent for years but somehow Loomis, and New Loomis see nothing but evil in him.The desire to kill and keep killing. What would he have done under observation to indicate his oppressive evil?Was it a complete lack of emotional response to any form of stimuli?Was he attached to a machine to measure his heart rate and other vitals and they never once changed regardless of what was presented before him,good or bad,happy or sad?Or did he only respond physically to images or mentions of violence?Did his face remain a permanent blank emotionless state?Never once eliciting the tiniest twinge, from smile to frown.Just his eyes staring into you?Since he never spoke, there was no remorse presented for his part, for his crimes.No feelings described one way or the other. What was it that made any of them think that he was such a intense evil?

Despite Laurie Strode rightly scoffing at the notion that there is anything new to learn about Michael, I do wish there had been more of the "New Loomis" talking about his fascination with Michael.What did HE see in Michael's eyes? It would have been a good opportunity to include more theories,real or exaggerated.Why would they believe that after all these years that he would return to Haddonfield? Where everyone would be looking for him?Michael never spoke a word,so what exactly would Dr Loomis or any other Dr. be using to base studies and theories on him.Since Michael remained silent and sedate for forty years....what gave him away? his eyes? he clearly would have to eat,did they study the way he ate meals?what he ate?....is it how he behaved in and around other patients? Did he participate in tests? communicate non-verbally?Even though the theories could be over the top or wrong,it would have given some context for what Doctors, whose life work is studying the human condition saw potentially in Michael.

I enjoyed the multitude of homages and winks to the original Halloween movie and even its multiple sequels.There were so many easter eggs in this movie that one would be tempted to think we were celebrating a different holiday altogether. Many were subtle and not intrusive to the storytelling. The ones that were overtly obvious were well timed and often a reversal of the original.

When Michael first comes home, there is a sequence that is a direct reference to a opening scene from Halloween II. Where Michael steals a butcher knife from a house where a woman is making a sandwich and then proceeds next door to kill a young woman who is alone.This woman is even dressed similarly to the original character.And is even on the phone having a conversation about something bad having happened in town before the bad thing happens to her.

This sequence,while a fun nod to Halloween II, does have its odd moments. At both houses,NO ONE comes to the front door and rings the bell for trick or treating even though kids are all over the place outside while Michael is inside. This would have made for a funny visual moment:A lone kid rings the doorbell just after Michael has murdered the resident.And then Michael grabs his bloody knife and opens the front door...I picture a small kid standing before the door in a low angle shot, looking up at the tall and frightening image of Michael and his dripping knife.TRICK OR TREAT!

What would Michael do to this child? In the movie we see him walk past a infant crying in a crib with barely a notice.He kills without abandon.Selecting his victims,often for reasons of vicinity.This wuold have been a nice moment for him to drop the previous victims teeth into the kids pillow case like it was candy corn.The kid saying "thank you,mister" and then running off to the next house.

In the background of all this ,we even have someone in a sexy nurse costume as I assume a nod to the nurses in Halloween II.Later ,the Silver Shamrock trio of masks make an appearance as a direct reference to Halloween III.Laurie's "I wish I had you all alone" song appears on the radio in an earlier scene(yet not on the soundtrack *shakes fist*). We even see a kid carrying a boombox bump into Michael. Laurie's Granddaughter even participates in a reversal conversation of the subject of fate while holding a red pen.So many eggs to spot.

One homage seemed to be a tip of the knife to Halloween 4, Michael escaped in that movie while being transferred from one hospital to the next.Curiously,once again, so close to the anniversary of his Halloween crimes.Now,as we know Michael in this movie, he has murdered twice in his past on Halloween.A total of five known victims over a fifteen year period.Would that be enough to make anyone think he would get up to his old tricks or treats after so many years of unresponsive behavior? Was it because of the season or just the opportunity that drove Michael into action? I am of the thinking that the "New Loomis" had a hand in all this. That he arranged for Michael's transfer at this specific time of year.In hopes that Michael WOULD respond and escape.Then the bad Dr would get to see and study Michael's behavior first hand in the field.A killer on the loose ,one where you know when and where he will kill next.There is some questioning of the Dr why he wants to ride on the bus with Michael and the other patients.This is not normal for doctors to do,especially when the patient in question is no longer his.

Did the New Loomis do something to assist in Michael's escape or just sit back and watch what happened on the bus?How did he escape Michael's hand?Did he play dead when the bus crashed? Or had he already discussed the plan with Michael during one of their sessions?Promising to return the mask to him.Promising to give him Laurie

My questions and critiques may all start to sound like I didn't enjoy the movie.Far from it. I actually was incredibly pleased. I'm looking forward to watching this movie as a double feature with the original for Halloweens to come. Even my nitpicks didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the movie.There was much to like. And the moments that I might have a criticism of are just,in my eyes,moments that could have been handled differently or pushed even further.  A personal preference,not really a knock on the hard work of the filmmakers.

I loved what they did with Laurie. How they established her mental state.How they still made her the sitter who protects her babies.I celebrated the moments when she faced her fears head on. Especially in the final confrontation. She left the protection of her security room with the multiple weapons to find Michael and end this tonight.Despite her fearing for her own life she searched her own house in pursuit of Michael.Closing off rooms and boxing him into a dark corner. But even in these moments ,she was never the superhero.She is clearly afraid despite her tactical measures. This humanizes her in this moment.She even does what clearly looks like a dumb move ...twice(a nod to the original Halloween?)....she approaches a closet door ...not knowing if Michael is behind door number 1 or 2....she gets too close to it....when she could simply shoot the door.I get there is an attempt at creating tension--will he or wont he jump out of the closet at her....grab at her through the slat doors like before,this time from inside . Or will he be playing a hide and seek game and actually be hiding somewhere else out of site in the room?Hes big...so that WOULD be hard.

While its frustrating as a viewer to watch your hero make dumb moves....especially , since its been established that she has prepared and trained for this over the last forty years.....even trained her daughter to fight.....it does make the hero more human...that when in the heat of the horror....she forgets her training...I loved this bit

This action is akin to the moments in the original Halloween where she tosses away the knife. Now, in the original, it's not conveyed as clearly as a closeup might have accomplished, but Laurie is obviously feeling revulsion caused by the bloody butcher knife in her hand. This is the same knife that was used to murder her friends ....and its now in her hand.This knife is still covered with their blood.....and even her own. She is a teenage girl, holding a murder weapon.This is not normal.And she can't wait to get rid of it.She has no reason to believe that Michael will somehow rise up again after being stabbed.To her he is still a human...not the mythical boogeyman.


One of the changes to the ever changing mythology of this series is that Laurie is no longer Michael's long lost sister. So this begs the question: if its not family that brings them together...why now? In the original it was just fate of chance.Michael saw Laurie place the house key under his front door mat and he was forever pissed at her for trespassing.He simple decides to stalk her and her friends.

So why ,after all these years, would he care to not only return to Haddonfield but pursue Laurie one more time.Why not pick a new teenage "Judith" to murder? I don't think Michael intended to stalk Laurie in this movie,despite the obvious dramatic need for him to finish what he started.At first it appears as if he originally just went on a killing spree.Literally from house to house at one point.Its only when the evil Doctor drives him to Laurie's front door that Michael decides to pick up where he left off. After all, there is plenty of fresh meat waiting for him here, from the police to Laurie and her family. And Halloween is almost over by this point so he would have to wait another year to go wild again.

Since she no longer has a brother, at least Laurie has her "sisters". There are some wonderful family dynamics played out in the scenes they all share.The way that the Grandaughter WANTS Laurie to be part of their family lives and important moments despite her mothers contention. The way that the Granddaughter knows her own Mother is lying to her about speaking with Laurie.The way that the Grandaughter really wants the two of them to be Mother and Daughter again, by insisting Laurie needs to let it go with Michael. And Laurie counters in this moment that even if her Daughter hates her,as long as she has been kept safe from evil by all this effort and training, she can live with that. Ever the babysitter caring for her young first.

One interesting aspect of the trauma and grief stemming from that 1978 Halloween night is that it doesn't include openly in great detail Laurie's friends Lynda and Annie. In fact Laurie never even mentions them by name when recounting that fateful night, There are just numbers in the bodies Michael created.Laurie doesn't even say he murdered my two best friends.Now it is forty years later and it would be an awkward moment in a conversation for Laurie to talk about her two dead friends from long ago with just anyone, let alone a family member she who already knows the details.But in the interview, it would at least have context for appearing.

There wasn't even a moment where Laurie finds herself in one of her rooms preparing,practicing, and she looks up at a photo on the wall of her and her friends together in happy times.Or ,maybe she is preparing or sharpening a weapon and while doing so she stares intently at the photo in question. Implying:This is for you,my friends, I'll get him for you.

I would have loved a scene where early in the film we see the photo of the three in the background of a shot.Say during the interview.Laurie doesn't acknowledge it, it's just there. And then later when Michael invades her home ,he sees the photo and picks it up.Cocking his head .Then he presses his bloody fingers to the picture.Smudging the faces of Lyda and Annie with blood, while Laurie remains smiling in the middle. 

I like the representations of the trauma that Laurie lives in.And the fact that she is shown to care deeply for her family despite her seperation from them. The $3000 she got from prostituting her past..that she then offers to her Granddaughter ...in hopes of getting her out of town somewhere safe for the holiday. The way she breaks down after watching Michael's bus leave.I wonder how many times she has sat outside Smiths Grove over the years and just stared at the sanitarium walls.....not seeing the walls.....seeing Michael inside and picturing killing him.

The way she loses control of her emotions immediately in public when surrounded by the dafety of her family at the restaurant after she watched Michael's bus leave the security of Smiths Grove. Is she crying because of the overwheming emotions that moment brought to the forfront or because she couldn't shoot him on the bus?Lauried oes say under her breath that she "coulnd't do it" whiletalking about the bus. There are some rumors that Laurie was originally going to be responsible for the bus crash.This seems a bit far reaching,even for a horror movie.She would have to be certain to kill him before he got off the bus.And hope that her fear didn't become so debilitating that she couldnt pull the trigger as he slipped away into the fall night.Or worse,come for her while she remained frozen,unable to act.

She does say she prayed for this night. But I find it hard that she would intentionally act to free him.Knowing full well that he would kill again....and again....and this time it would be her fault.

I appreciate the way that in after all of the grief and discord over the last forty years Laurie hasn't been completely ostracized from her daughters life.They may have been separated by The State,but they haven't completely broken ties.While the Mother has never discussed her childhood with her own child ,because she didn't want to continue the history of trauma,she is still shown expressing concern for her Mothers well being.It's a simple subtle message about not giving up on a loved one,while still maintaining a healthy distance from the madness.


As a side note, I loved that Karen is shown wearing a Christmas sweater on Halloween. It's a nice subtle look into her characters feelings about this holiday.After all she has experienced as a child, and what she knows happened to her own Mother on this holiday, it comes as no surprise why her character would not be in a altogether different festive mood.

There is a wonderful silent moment when Laurie's daughter Karen gets a look on her face,staring up the stairs from the basement at not only her past but her hope for a future for her family.Her husband has already been murdered.Her daughter is by her side and in danger,already had her life threatened seveal times in one night.Upstairs, her Mother is fighting for all of their survivals. This is all too familiar to her. This is what Laurie taught her at a very young age.Evil is out there ,and it will one day come home. She may have only been a child, but she was prepared for the possibility of this very moment.You can see the moment wash over her face. Then she turns to look at the gun rack.Specifically her gun that she carved her initials on so many years ago. Her mother was right,Her mother protected her. In that moment,you just know she has forgiven her Mother and let go of the past.

While it would be inappropriate in the drama of the moment ( a psycho killer on the loose who once tried to kill your Mother is now back trying to do it all over again and murder you as well) I kind of wished there had been a more verbal moment of reconciliation between Mother and Daughter.It's implied with looks and even Laurie apologizing for raising her daughter the way she did. I would have liked to have heard the Karen  say in an argument with Laurie early on
..." I dont believe in the boogeyman" 
and then later when it becomes known that Michael has escaped she would than say something like
Karen:"He's,real, isnt he?"
Laurie:"Yes, baby...He's real"

As a viewer I wanted the daughter to show some of her various training coming back to her as she walked around the cellar....for example: telling her husband while they are downstairs what else in the room can be used to fight back while walking the room and pointing out what can be used and how.Have the husband comment on all the different types of guns."why so many,he's just one guy?". Have HER go over the guns different attributes and reasons why.

After all the denial and troubled relationship,it would have also been nice to see the daughter come to her Mothers defense and shoot Michael....I was actually anticipating this when Michael had Laurie in his grasp at the front door

Laurie's rooms of enclosure in her new home is an interesting touch.She blocked his escape and created a direct path to her...Every room in her house had a special button that would seal the room.At one point, after she had closed several doors , I anticipated they were setting up a moment where Michael would shove Laurie into one of the rooms and while she watched him at the door he punched the button, locking her in her own mousetrap while Michael went after the daughter. Laurie of course would know how to undo the lock since it is her house, maybe she planned for this and knows where there is a secret button to open the door from the inside.

Something that I forever connect with the original Halloween movie is John Carpenter's use of the Pan-a-glide camera. The fluid movement that the camera makes, often in the guise of the killers P.O.V..It's movements created an atmosphere....emphasis on fear. Modern technology  has improved the stability of the camera in it's movements through a scene, eliminating the subtle footsteps taken by the person holding the camera. An aspect that I think helped create the feeling you were seeing through the killers eyes while he stalked his victims.The absence of this type of camera movement did bring to mind the realization that we rarely see Michael stalking quietly in this movie. He just gets right to the killing. There are very few moments where he is spotted in the background or shadows and then the next disappears. There are quite a few angles chosen to show Michael from the waist down or over his shoulder.Even after he has acquired the mask

I do miss the visual work of Dean Cundey.The compositions and lighting he helped create for the original are one of the reasons that movie continues to remain a favorite. Dark negative spaces were everywhere in wide shots to create that sense that Michael could be about to spring from that corner. The use of effective lighting. This movie has a very yellow/brown color scheme. Fitting for fall. But I do miss the evening blues that lit up Michael's white mask in the background.

The original movie had Michael shown watching a lot ,getting closer and closer to his victim with each scene. He is often in the background watching his victim ,while they remain completely unawares. You know he is there.You know he will strike.You just dont know when. In this new movie he just appears ,kills and then is on his way to the next. There is little letting the tension build and giving the viewer the !gasp!.

One of the aspects of this movie that had me excited beyond words before even seeing the first trailer was the fact that John Carpenter himself would be composing the movies score. The original Halloween soundtrack is one of my all time favorite movie scores. It is in fact the first CD I ever purchased.One that quickly sent me down the dark and deep rabbit hole of soundtrack collecting.As many a invested fan of the original Halloween knows, the soundtrack saved the movie.John Carpenter spoke of how he had played the movie for someone without the score added and they just didn't feel the fear.But when this same person saw it with the score intact, they changed their story.This is a fact that is even detailed on laserdisc/DVD extras where you can view a scene with and without the music.The difference is dramatic.

A few years ago I had the distinct pleasure of seeing John Carpenter perform many of his movie scores live and in person at a concert. I've enjoyed his recent non movie solo releases as well and was looking forward to what his musical explorations would bring to a new approach to his classic original themes.

I purchased the CD for this movies soundtrack on its release date and have had it on constant rotation in the car for the first few days and am still listening to it weeks later. I'm immensely pleased with the new sounds brought to the mix and the takes on the movies iconic themes.

It must be difficult for a performer to revisit their work in such a overarching way.Especially since this score and its many themes are so iconic and so intricate to the history and success of the original Halloween movie.The original soundtrack is one that fans of the movies have heard over and over numerous times inside and out of the context of the movie.We know every last piano key.As a admirer of the classic theme, I always try to place a new version of it on my yearly Halloween mixtapes that I make to celebrate the season and hand out to friends.I'm on year 14 and I have found various versions from those performed on accordion to one in a major key that changes the tone of the tune completely.

So familiar is the score that if they stick with the original sound without change, people will say you phoned it in and there is nothing original in your work.As a performer, it would be dull to just play the same notes over and over in the exact same way. But if they change it too dramatically,there would be people disappointed by the fact that it didn't sound like the original.Plus,regardless of anything else, it also has to serve the images on the screen.   

(They say that talking about music is like dancing about architecture,but regardless, here are a few thoughts on the soundtrack for this movie)

The original themes are present.Though,sparingly used.Which was surprising as I anticipated that the closer Michael got to his Haddonfield hunting ground the more we would hear the classic themes.Like the iconic Jaws theme that let us know when the shark was present hidden underwater, the Halloween themes would let us know when Michael was watching,striking,and Laurie was in danger.

For me ,there were moments that would have been made even more spectacular in the film if the classic themes HAD been used. For example: the moment that Laurie first sees Michael out in the wild in the mirror upstairs,I felt there should have been a few notes of the "Thump.....thump,thump" score as she and the police officer rush the house pursuing Michael.This time reversing the themes use from the original movie. Jamie stalking Michael.Or at least,one of the Halloween stingers..just a few of these notes that then slipped into tension filled silence as Michael disappeared into the darkness

And then again....the moment in that she sees Michael outside her front door window.That moment that he has come home....to her home.  The Halloween theme that is the stalking "thump...thump,thump" should have kicked in and kept going.Instead,I believe it starts with Ray discovering Michael's prank with the police officers outside and then stops when Laurie comes to the window.

 I also think it was a missed opportunity with the Michael body movement in this particular moment.They should have had him stand up into frame ..."thump".....instantly and directly turn his head to make eye contact with Laurie inside,as if he sensed she was there...."thump,thump".....and then turn and start walking towards her....."deet deet deet deet deet"..all with that concentrated ,and almost inhuman grace.

"Laurie's theme" appears in the movie.But out of all the scores themes this one is the most dramatically different in sound. It stands to reason, Laurie herself has changed over the last forty years,why not her theme?But where the original was a melancholy piano that gave insight into the sadness of Laurie's unexpressed thoughts. This new one has a hypnotic feel,that is laced with anxiety.Its a shame its such a short track on the CD. As stated before, I thought there could have been a strong moment to incorporate the original "Laurie's theme" as we the viewer first approach Laurie's new home away from the world. It would also have been a good choice to use it when Laurie is outside the gas station,viewing the chaos from a distance.She knows what has happened,and what this means.Michael has come home and he will soon come for her.It is a moment made for her theme.

Oddly missing is the "Myers House" theme.It would have been a nice touch to reverse its usage and play it in regards to Lauries house in the woods.Perhaps maybe when Lauries family was being brought to her place for protection after Michaels presence is known in Haddonfield.

There are several wonderful new tracks in the mix that are just plain unnerving with their minimalist sounds."The Shape hunts Allyson" for one  (which I wish was longer,and apparently so did others since the above clip is an homemade extended version). No more than just piano or electronic organ, this score is a pleasant mix of both. Guitar is introduced into the mix in effective slashing chords .This soundtrack has shades of Carpenters earlier soundtracks too with moments that made me recall his work for The Fog and Halloween III.It's collectively creepy,sad,intense and at moments,even epic.

Part of me wishes that the Original Halloween score became more prevalent and closer in sound to the classic as the final confrontation grew closer.Identifying more as it becomes just Laurie vs Michael

I am in love with the final scene track "The Shape Burns" that uses the Halloween theme but layers in a celebratory feeling under the fear.Laurie triumphant.The first time I heard that in the theater I got goosebumps and couldnt wait to listen to it in the car after seeing the movie.(I waited to even look at the CD and its tracks, let alone listen to it until I saw the movie opening night,less there be spoilers)

Speaking of spoilers, trailers are often overloaded with too many of those as the images tend to be what will attract viewers. But both the trailers released seemed to be filled with images meant to mislead. WHERE WAS THE LINE FROM THE TRAILER?!?! " He is a killer, but he will be killed tonight!" This was a fantastic line reading as heard in the trailer.Laurie shown staring out the window into the darkness of the night. Her daughter sitting behind her at the edge of her bed.It's a wonderfully powerful moment,that would have served Lauries characters determination and given power to her final struggle with Michael.She's ready, He WILL die.

Trailers too often give away scares.They are intended to use the best images to attract your attention.Build up anticipation and excitement for seeing the complete film.But too often these images would be best served as kept secret till you see the movie.The more you know the trailer and its content, it spoils the surprise in the context.Take the babysitter and the closet scene. We already know what is going to happen because the trailer has significantly revealed this surprise by making it a punctuation to the end of the trailer.There is absolutely no surprise to this moment.

The movie itself does at least appear to play on that expectation by having the babysitter play a trick on the kid she is sitting.For a brief moment I thought they had changed the scene and we would see the body of the babysitter fall into frame dead by Michael's knife while her ward watched. But in the end the bigger surprise is already revealed.

I wonder why certain images and dialogue appeared in the trailer but were absent from the movie.Could the trailer been based off of a earlier cut that was then altered after preview audiences gave their two cents? Or did they intentionally use unused scenes to prevent too many spoilers?A intentional marketing ploy?Discredited potential leakers?At what point does it become false advertising ,if what you really wanted to see was what was shown in the trailer?

There are curiously several other moments seen in the trailers that were edited out of the movie.In one trailer we hear Laurie say "40 years ago,on Halloween, Michael Myers murdered THREE people" But in the movie she says he murdered FIVE people.The five would be an overall tally(His sister,the mechanic,Annie,Bob,and Lynda). Michael stepping out dramatically out a back door,presumably Laurie's based on the bars in the windows.Michael appearing in the background behind the police officer who is investigating Michael's first babysitter murder in this movie.And then there is a knife fight between Laurie and Michael on her lawn, while Laurie's daughter and granddaughter watch,that appears to have meant to occur near the ending of the movie.

And speaking of that ending ....

What of Laurie's fate?.....she's lost a lot of blood, most likely suffered a concussion from the multiple times Michael slammed her head into a door.She fell from the upstairs floor of her home onto the hard fall ground. She is shown almost appearing unconscious in the final scene of the movie.If she does indeed have a concussion, this is not a good thing.

 If there is a sequel......and we know there will be based on the successful first weekend of this movie. I wonder if we will see them in the beginning of the next one at the hospital, pursued by a charred Micheal? The sequel taking place the same night.

Maybe the new movie will begin with Laurie dying at the hospital from her wounds.Her feeling as if she has succeeded.Letting go at peace.

While I am up for more Strode Ladies kicking Myers ass and taking names.I almost don't want to have it happen as it could completely destroy all of Laurie's emotional triumph in this movie. She faced her worst fear and came out of it alive with her family intact.To have that denouement rendered mute by Michael;s suspicious survival could be a disappointment.

But as with all things....you gotta have a sequel.This version is the umpteenth time we have gone home to Haddonfield.So far the movie has done so well in the first weekend alone that a second movie is a done deal.And just recently Jamie Lee herself has stated publicly that if the director returns, so would she.That she is open and willing to revisit Laurie one more time.I'm sure it helps that her being a producer on this successful one will result in a nice return of her investment.

The obvious approach to the sequel would to mirror the original Halloween II movie.

More of the night he came home.

Laurie is badly wounded and in need of medical care. So their first stop is sure to be the hospital to get stitched up.But she has also suffered a concussion with all the headbanging Michael did with her noggin.

Upon reaching the hospital ,Laurie could pass out from loss of blood.But then the question becomes, how long does she stay out? One of the minor quibbles of the original Halloween II is that Laurie spends most of the movie in shock,silent, or just plain asleep.We rarely get to see the Laurie we knew before she met Michael. Oh, she runs and screams like the old Laurie, but most of her time is spent staring into space. This doesn't make for good character drama.

Now, while she is briefly out we could get to know the daughter and the granddaughter a bit more.It would be interesting to have the two of them sitting in Laurie's room,bandaged up, talking about not only what they just went through but how they survived. How Laurie helped them survive.How she was right all along to be afraid.

The granddaughter could ask her mother about what she saw her do.Her marksmanship.The playing afraid as bait scenario. I'm picturing the granddaughter asking her mother to teach her these tricks too. The daughter tells her granddaughter some of the first things Laurie trained her to do....like how to observe a room.......then the Mother begins to ask her daughter to look around the waiting room and down the hospital halls at the nurses and people milling about at this late hour. Then the mother begins to describe what she "sees"

Something she sees, panics her.....she sees them wheeling Michael's body into the hospital (from a window? or from down the hall?)

Michael escaped the basement fire hole.And walked into the woods(setting it on fire in the process which drew the attention of the local police) and eventually collapsed. His body was discovered still alive but unresponsive and was brought to the hospital.

The reason the Mother knew it was him is that he was still wearing the mask. The mask is now fused and melted to his face from the fire. Which is why they have not removed it.His body is burned.Charred black in places, especially around the mask to highlight its still ghostly white pallor.

Michael is taken to the morgue.While the mother and daughter try to find out whats going on by talking to the police and paramedics who came in with the body. Someone slips in earshot that "how could you bring that thing here .Laurie's here"   We see a slight twitch in the body.

The Mother turns to the granddaughter determinedly " we have to get her out of here....now." But they cant more Laurie's unconscious body due to her condition, or have to be extra careful as Laurie is still unconscious and in a such a state that a move could harm or kill her. Maybe she is hooked up to an IV or in need of a blood transfusion.

What if the granddaughter is a good match for donating blood for Laurie. And after they see Michael in the hospital , she HAS to go give blood.Or Laurie will die. So the granddaughter will find herself trapped and plugged in with a needle. Her worried eyes watching the door of her room for any sign of danger or even shadow. Her Mother gets pulled away for some reason leaving her alone.

Or we could get really crazy and have Michael be the blood match.. A subtle nod to the brother sister same bloodline connection without actually professing that the two are actually related.

What if that reason is to identify the body of her husband down in the same morgue where Michael was taken? Or she uses this as the excuse to get down in that room in hopes of finishing Michael off while he "rests"?

Then there could be the tense moment where she approaches the bloodied sheet covering Michael's body, fully intent on stabbing him in the heart or worse, remove his head. But under the sheet is a hospital ward, which means that Michael is on the loose in the hospital.



There would still be the issue of the hospital and how busy it would appear late at night to allow Michael to slip in and out of rooms and up and down floors.Most hospital guest doors would be closed as they slept the night away.and this would keep them out of the way.But if someone starts screaming , people would start to wake, no matter what illness had put them in this place.Visiting hours would be well past so there would not be that many random folks loitering around in the lobby. or hallways. In the evening it would be quiet, but there would sure to be some type of activity with Doctors,Nurses,cleaning crews, etc.


What if they were to take Laurie to a new hospital, one that is only partially completed?Half in operation with areas and whole floors still under construction.Maybe they choose to send her there because it is the closest hospital to her home. Or ,in hopes of avoiding a media circus,the police send her to this one that will have less traffic.This could be an explanation for the lack of people and activity.Plus, it could provide for some spooky imagery with hallways lit only by workers lights, or not at all. Dark hallways that are draped with plastic sheets that obscure vision and stretch shadows lit from behind by blue moonlight. Laurie could be shown to use the materials she finds on the floors under construction to set booby-traps or defend her self. I imagine her pouring some type of plaster dust all over a floors hallway in effort to see if Michael leaves tracks and reveal his presence.

It would be great to see the the daughter and Granddaughter protect Laurie this time.With Laurie reemerging in strength midway through the film to help take out Michael.

I imagine a fight taking place on a hospital rooftop.One that sends Michael over the edge.Laurie goes to the buildings edge to look down and gives us a classic Dr Loomis expression .......is he gone? Or does he lay there....and she refuses to look away,less Michael gets back up and disappear?

One mystery remains,more so in a sequel....why would Michael still pursue Laurie Strode? Why not move on to more plentiful and easier to obtain victims?If he could escape, why not get as far away from Haddonfield as soon as possible?While it would be intriguing for characters to vocalize what they think Michael's triggers are that make him choose a victim.

Who knows what thoughts are moving behind that mask.Evil doesn't need a reason, its just evil,It just needs a victim.


And a Laurie Strode to kick his ass