70s | Pop Culture | Movies
Jamie Lee Curtis Is Bringing Back Her Iconic Character And We're Screaming
It's impossible to ignore the influence that the original Halloween had on horror movies in general. If you've watched a horror movie anytime in the last 40 years that featured a masked killer, it owes a debt to movies like this one and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Directed by horror legend John Carpenter and released in 1978, the movie was a runaway success considering how low-budget it was. It was one of the founding movies of the "slasher" horror genre, where a group of teenagers are stalked by a masked killer. Of course, it introduced audiences to one of the genre's most-enduring characters; Michael Myers (not to be confused with the guy who played Austin Powers).
Most of all, it introduced audiences worldwide to the original "Scream Queen," Jamie Lee Curtis. Daughter of screen legend Janet Leigh (who's also well-known for her horror roles, especially Psycho), Curtis played Laurie Strode, the "final girl" of the film, who ultimately survives her encounter with Michael.
Curtis returned for the sequel, Halloween II, which revealed Laurie was actually Michael's younger sister who he failed to kill as a child. Michael is supposedly killed off at the end, and the studio meant for the movies to become an anthology series of other stories taking place on Halloween.
However, Halloween III: Season of the Witch was poorly-received by audiences who didn't understand why Michael Myers wasn't in it, so the killer was brought back for every following movie. Curtis was absent for many of them, but returned for Halloween H20: 20 Years Later in 1998 and Halloween: Resurrection in 2002, where Laurie was actually killed by Michael.
This is the same movie that features Busta Rhymes fighting Michael Myers with martial arts. Yeah.
However, it seems like Laurie shares her older brother's knack for surviving things she shouldn't be able to; Jamie Lee Curtis has announced she'll be returning for the series' 40th anniversary in 2018!
Get the full details of her return below!
On September 15th 2017, Curtis' Twitter account posted a picture of her on the infamous porch of the Myers house, dressed in a similar outfit to hers at the end of Halloween, with Michael ominously standing in the background. It came with the following quote;
"Same porch. Same clothes. Same issues. 40 years later. Headed back to Haddonfield one last time for Halloween. Release date 10/19/18."
Horror fans were instantly very excited, and now everyone's wondering what to expect from this new Halloween movie.
Details are pretty limited right now, but we do have a few bits of information. The movie is being billed by both Blumhouse Production and Universal as the "final" Halloween movie (though people who've followed the series have definitely heard that one before), Original creator John Carpenter is acting as an executive producer, and will be contributing his knowledge of the franchise.
It's being directed by Pineapple Express and Your Highness director David Gordon Green, who also co-wrote the film's script with actor and comedian Danny McBride. McBride has promised that 1) the film is not a reboot, and 2) that despite their background, the movie is not intended as a comedy.
We're obviously very excited about this since we love the Halloween franchise, but also skeptical too. Horror sequels are pretty up and down in terms of quality, and are often cash-grabs that don't retain what was great about the original. Still, we're curious to see more!