A fresh look at the beloved slasher franchise
I feel like this is a safe space. You won’t judge me. You probably will be internally but so long as you don’t say anything to my face, it’s all good.
As horror fans, we tend to latch on to films, characters, sub genres, directors, studios etc. From my first-hand experience and from speaking to like minded people, it’s because we care. Fans of any hobby will be passionate. There is a different level with horror though and I firmly believe it is because it’s counterculture. It inspires a different level of fanaticism as we look to the macabre for questions and solace in the everyday horrors.
With that people will find the pieces of horror they relate to or hit a particular nerve to drive that almost relentless obsession. You could be a K-Horror fan, a body horror fan, a Jean Rollin fan, a Vincent Price fan and all the above with more. I’m a physical media/VHS horror hound, which isn’t for everyone and that’s more than fair.
I probably fall into a slasher fan category too. I love Jason, I love Freddy, I love Chucky, I do not get Michael Myers, I love Leatherface, I love Norman Bates and I love Candyman. Two of those might not strictly be slasher villains. Now you’ve looked back and cussed me out for including Candyman and Leatherface you might also have noticed my truth.
I don’t get Michael Myers. Sit with it.
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Let’s get into it though. I can’t understand why there’s been 13 films that, bar Season of the Witch, are essentially the same plot. I struggle to suspend my disbelief that Myers can survive the level of battering’s he takes. I can’t believe that the longest fans have ever had to wait for a new iteration of Halloween has been a 9-year gap in between Rob Zombie’s 2009 Halloween II and David Gordon Green’s Halloween 2018. I find it hard getting past the amount of retcons and “fuck you’s” to storylines that the franchise brings.
Myers himself then. In the original and Halloween II, undoubtedly scary and menacing. The silence, absence of feeling, composed movement and stalking create a Bonafide horror icon. However, everything after that… is he scary? Is he interesting? Is there any development? Does the mask get worse film after film? Having Michael as a silent and emotionless killer works across 2 films. Like any magic trick though, the more you see, the less impactful. It might be recency bias too but aside from the DGG trilogy, I can’t remember many variations of kills from Michael either?
I’ve written numerous times about films/franchises going for big swings and missing. Take Jason Goes to Hell, A Return to Salems Lot and Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. Are they great films? Fuck no. Are they even coherent for the most part? Absolutely not. What they lack in structure, skill and narrative sense, they more than make up for in stretching the boundaries of a beloved film, testing the audience and looking at the material differently. The one time this was attempted in the Halloween franchise, the fans revolted and ended all hopes of an anthology style franchise going forwards.
Instead, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers rolled out into cinemas 6 years after Season of the Witch in 1982, apparently a commercial failure, and… took $3m more. It sewed the seeds of a potentially interesting plot throughline in Jamie Lloyd inheriting her “uncles” evil spirit…only to again jettison and keep the focus on Michael Myers leading to the Cult of Thorn. Even in H20 and Resurrection, the franchise plays things safe and doesn’t really give us or Michael anything different. It makes 7 of those first 8 films, for me, incredibly samey and aside from the genius of the original, derivative. Now there’s an argument to this for most horror franchises, particularly slashers, but I really believe that Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street tried to do something different. Jason X, whilst being totally insane, at least moved on from Crystal Lake. Freddy’s Dead is a pinnacle of commercialism butchering a film series but it’s not a rehash of the first film.
I’m not down on every aspect of the Halloween films, despite what you’ve read so far. I think Halloween 4 feels like the most “Halloween” film imaginable. I can practically taste the ‘candy’ and pumpkin spice through the TV. I enjoy H20 and I enjoy the second half of Resurrection (no really!) as well as revering the original 1978 classic. I love Dr Loomis even though he might be more insane and dangerous than Michael Myers. Donald Pleasance is one of the definitive British horror figures and he leaves a huge legacy over the franchise.
I will also hold my hands up and say Zombie and Gordon Green did approach the material differently. This was further cemented for me in a recent conversation for my podcast with the fantastic Andrew Grevas, author of Horror in Haddonfield. I’m not a huge Rob Zombie fan in general and after The Exorcist: Believer, I’ve got mixed feelings on DGG too. What I can’t deny though, is that they put their own spin on things and weren’t afraid to challenge the mythos.
Andrew, however, represents those fans who adore Michael Myers and the Halloween mythology. He was effusive in his praise and his passion intrigued me. It got me thinking that maybe I was too trenched in my own thoughts on the franchise. Had I watched these films with a pre-existing bias hanging over my views? A recent rewatch of the DGG trilogy changed my initial perception of those films. Have I misunderstood this whole franchise?!
So with this, what better time to revisit the franchise and challenge my pre existing viewpoint. Alongside a mammoth watch list on Letterboxd, I’m going to go back through the films chronologically and give them another go and report back nearer the big 31.
Keep your eyes out for Episode 6 of VHiStory dropping on 8th October with Andrew Greavas where we discuss Halloween III: Season of the Witch in detail and see why Andrew’s fascinating takes on the films have prompted this reappraisal journey.
I’ll be watching Halloween on a combination of VHS and Blu-Ray and I would highly recommend you do the same!
