John Carpenter's 1978 film HALLOWEEN remains a signature classic in the horror lexicon. In the decades since, a plethora of sequels have graced the screen, most of the them forgettable. However, a few years ago director David Gordon Green and actor Danny McBride began developing a direct sequel to John Carpenter's film and even got the legendary director's blessing. 2018's HALLOWEEN brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and retconned everything after the 1978 film. The results were astounding as the movie was a hit with critics and made over twenty-five times its $10 million budget at the box office.
Consequently, not one but two sequels were greenlit – HALLOWEEN KILLS and HALLOWEEN ENDS. The former wrapped filming in November of last year and is due out this October. One of the key problems of past HALLOWEEN sequels has been their tendency to get repetitive. There's only so many times you can watch Michael Myers do the same thing over and over again before it becomes a dull affair. Thankfully, it looks like HALLOWEEN KILLS will not be more of the same. Speaking on the podcast Pop Culture With Pat, Michael Myers actor James Jude Courtney says the sequel will be even more brutal than the 2018 version:
"We have to make the natural progression from 1978 to 2018 to Halloween Kills – the ante has been upped. The ticking bomb has to be more intense. Otherwise we’re just doing what we’ve done before. We pumped up the volume on this one. We’ve progressed late into the night, and now that everybody realizes what the stakes are…it’s reaching a head. It’s [the 2018 film] on speed."
Aside from Jamie Lee Curtis' excellent performance and David Gordon Green's solid direction, what made 2018's HALLOWEEN so captivating was the nature of the kills. The scene where Michael Myers kills the two true crime podcasters in a public bathroom was particularly memorable. It's good to hear that the people surrounding the project are upping the ante on this one. Let's just hope Michael Myers' character stays fully grounded and doesn't devolve into the supernatural garbage we got with the 80s and 90s sequels.
HALLOWEEN KILLS slices its way into theaters October 16, 2020 with HALLOWEEN ENDS due out the following year on October 15, 2021.