It was the afternoon HE came home. Although October feels too far away to even contemplate at the moment, there’s never a wrong time for horror movies. This is especially true when the horror movie in question features two of the most iconic characters in the genre: Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. Star and legendary scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis, along with director David Gordon Green, took to Twitter Saturday afternoon for the viewing party event #HalloweenAtHome.
Joined by special guests including series creator John Carpenter, actors Judy Greer, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, and Andi Matichak, and producers Jason Blum and Ryan Turek, the duo hosted a commentary filled with insights, secrets, and behind the scenes looks at Blumhouse’s Halloween (2018), a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic.
Heat Vision breakdown
That Title Sequence
The memorable title sequence for the new film, depicting a rotten Jack-o-Lantern inflating and returning to its former glory was achieved entirely through practical effects, a time lapse done by production designer, Richard Wright and the art department. Curtis also had a hand in the sequence, asking that Matichak, who plays Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson, received the same “and introducing credit” she had received in the 1978 film.
It’s the Time of the Season
Halloween was filmed in Charleston, South Carolina, during January and February, and as a result, all of the leaves and pumpkins were fake. Carpenter was in a similar predicament when he filmed the original Halloween in California, and had to use fake leaves. Due to their limited availability, the crew of Carpenter’s film had to regather the fake leaves after they’d been blown around the location so that they could be reused in other scenes.
Master of Puppets
Green revealed that in the original script, co-written by Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Laurie’s daughter Karen Strode (Greer) was a child psychologist with a lot of puppets. There was a scene between the mother and daughter at Karen’s work, but was cut out in order to maintain the rhythm of the film.
Solidarity
During the scene in which Laurie Strode breaks down sobbing in her truck as Myers’ prison transport bus leaves, the entire crew stood in a line off-camera wearing nametags that said, “we are Laurie Strode.” Curtis called the moment one of the most moving of her entire creative career.
One Good Eye
Courtney — who portrays Michael Myers for most of the film’s runtime, sharing the role with original portrayer Castle — had to wear a prosthetic eye during the shooting of his scenes. This dead eye is a callback to Myers’ injury in the original film in which Laurie hits him in the face with a hanger. Courtney said that due to the difficulty of being blind in one eye because of the prosthetic, he had to rehearse all of his fight scenes with an eye patch on.
These Go To Eleven
The one take sequence of Michael Myers on Halloween night, moving from house to house and racking up a body count, took eleven takes. Green and Turek attributed the success of that scene to perfect timing and a day of rehearsal. Another interesting, and strange bit of info to come out of that sequence: the baby’s screams that stop Myers momentarily were performed by Curtis herself.
Man in the Mirror
There’s a cool moment midway through the film when Laurie sees Michael in the window and shoots, hitting only his reflection in the mirror. Courtney revealed that Nick Castle performed Myers during the window shot and he performed Myers in the mirror, allowing the two actors to share a scene in a passing of the torch moment.
Who Called the Cops?
The night the cast and crew were shooting Oscar’s (Drew Scheid) death scene, production got shut down by the cops due to the late night screaming and chaos. Green said it was the most difficult night of the shoot, made more difficult by the rain, and they were only able to get limited footage. Despite all of that, the scene still managed to be one of the highlights of the film.
The Bad Doctor
Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) has obvious parallels to Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) in the original film. But early drafts of the script depicted a very different character. Turek revealed that Sartain was originally a corrupt police officer rather than an evil psychologist out for glory.
Alternate Ending
There is an alternate ending to the film that was tested before Green decided to go back and shoot a new ending five days later. While the original ending remains unrevealed, Green said he made the right choice with the theatrical ending.
Halloween Kills
The Halloween series is far from over. Green revealed that he is finishing up the sequel, Halloween Kills, which is currently set for release on Oct. 16, 2020 — barring a release date shuffle due to the coronavirus pandemic. He’s also fine-tuning the script for the second sequel, titled Halloween Ends, currently set for release on Oct. 15, 2021. As for any clues about Halloween Kills, Green did confirm that that sequel will return to where it all started: the Myers’ House.
