It’s Time To Kill Off Michael Myers For Good - Opinion
From Shane Conto
When you think of the Halloween season, what types of films do you usually think of? There are some fun Halloween traditions like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus. But for most you are probably going to be thinking about some good old fashioned horror. Whether they are hauntings, possessions, or slashers, they just capture this spooky season so well. But what is the crown jewel of the Halloween horror season? You have to go with the original Halloween of course. John Carpenter (one of the great visionaries of the horror genre) changed things when he released this low-budget slasher film back in 1978. This film set the tone for slasher films moving forward. The film still stands up with its expert craft and lack of reliance on cheap thrills and blood. This is a well-crafted thrill ride that is sleek, lean, and ever impactful. It is no wonder that filmmakers for decades have been trying to replicate that initial high whether under the Halloween name or not.
But is it time for Michael Myers (one of the definitive “Boogeyman” figures in horror) to hang up that painted William Shatner mask once and for all? Carpenter set the bar so high with the original film that it was a near impossible task to reach its heights again. There are no frills in Halloween. Michael Myers is just pure evil. He is an unstoppable entity that will just… keep… coming. We don’t need answers or explanations. We just need this hulking shape to stalk in the daytime and at night to make the chills go down our necks. Carpenter set the tone with one of the most iconic scores in the history of film. His creation (with Debra Hill) of Myers is so iconic. The look. The unrelenting spirit. There are no other killers like him. We have the perfect “final girl” in Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode. Donald Pleasance is a force himself as the unhinged and paranoid Dr. Loomis. So many try to copy this formula but they all come up short.
That kind of standard just makes it impossible to make sequels, doesn’t it? The biggest reason that this franchise needs to end is that it just keeps chasing a classic that will never be matched (or most likely won’t be). The closest we have is David Gordon Green’s decades later sequel in 2018’s Halloween. But so many of the sequels just feel like half-hearted retreads or off-the-rails big swings that strikeout easily. Halloween II and Halloween H20 are both solid but they just feel so derivative of the original film. Many of the sequences go for a most supernatural or cultish explanation for Michael Myers. But guess what? Halloween worked so well BECAUSE there was no explanation. Even Green’s sequels feel like they are trying to shift the focus on Haddonfield itself and the malignant curse that is Myers and its stranglehold on the town. But the bold swings were certainly not appreciated by many. It is an impossible task to balance what fans want and to explore new avenues. Fandom has created a lose-lose situation for basically any franchise.
But what happened to the spark that made Halloween work so well? The director has a lot to do with that. A few filmmakers in the most immediate sequels feel like they are just trying to be Carpenter, but that just doesn’t work. Not being true to your own cinematic voice does you no favors. What Carpenter did with his pulpy and voyeuristic filmmaking is shockingly hard to replicate without feeling cheap and cheesy. That is why he is the best. The late 80s into the 90s films feel like they have these obnoxious and abrasive approaches to filmmaking or they are trying to replicate contemporaries (like Scream). Rob Zombie should get credit for bringing a unique voice to the table, but to be frank, he has nothing on Carpenter. The issue is finding the right filmmaker to bring a unique voice but on Carpenter’s level. Green got the closest but his scripts left a lot to be desired.
But what about shaking things up and giving us something new? Season of the Witch tried that. I think it is a fun 80s horror flick but the flaws are real obvious and it wears then on its sleeve. Halloween III was a fun idea but it didn’t always have the best execution. The bigger problem is that people wanted Michael Myers. An anthology series sounds like a fun idea but in practice, people were confused. Where was Myers? I thought this was a slasher franchise? You will get complaints all over. Audiences generally love to get exactly what they want…and they want the massive murderer in a mask. It is too late to attempt that anthology again as so many films have been made that solidified Myers as the key to the whole franchise.
Will we get more? Of course! We will all be back in Halloween 20: The Search for Michael’s Next Payday. Green’s films made quite a bit of money upon release and Miramax just won the bid for the rights again. They will most likely make some money but they will struggle greatly in trying to reach Carpenter’s high achievements. I do wish A24 won the bid… now THAT would be an interesting choice with their team of auteur directors. In the end, this is a franchise that has been chasing its peak for decades but never quite gets there (and most of the time it crashes and burns). The Halloween franchise feels more like a zombie franchise dragging itself along. Even Carpenter does not care about any of the sequels to his classic horror flick. They can always surprise us but if all that this franchise has left is making films that either feel too derivative of Halloween or feel like they are spitting in the face of it, we just may have reached the time to let Myers die…FOR GOOD.
