The Halloween series has been struggling with its most recent entries, but the incredibly popular slasher series could still work if it followed in the footsteps of Friday the 13th. Except for Halloween III: Season of the Witch, every Halloween movie follows Michael Myers as he goes on a murderous rampage. Unfortunately, this formula has gone stale after all of these years. During this time, Friday the 13th has been preparing a way to reinvent itself completely.
John Carpenter's 1978 film Halloween was an incredibly influential film that almost single-handedly started the slasher subgenre, with the series still releasing consistent entries to this day. Friday the 13th is just one of many slasher franchises that attempted to capitalize on Halloween's success, swapping out Michael Myers for Jason Voorhees and Haddonfield, Illinois, for Crystal Lake, New Jersey. Friday the 13th found similar success, getting its own litany of sequels to the point where many viewers fell off. However, an upcoming Friday the 13th project is completely reinventing the franchise.
How Friday The 13th Is Reinventing Itself
Friday the 13th has always been about Jason Voorhees terrorizing teenagers, typically guests at Camp Crystal Lake, although the formula is sometimes shaken up in movies like Jason X. However, the franchise is finally being completely reinvented with the upcoming Friday the 13th prequel series, Crystal Lake. Crystal Lake is completely shifting focus away from traditional Friday the 13th stories, a decision that the Halloween franchise needs to follow. Michael Myers slasher stories have been done to death, and Halloween needs a new story to tell, continuing the trend that may save Friday the 13th with Crystal Lake.
Crystal Lake will be wildly different from the previous Friday the 13th movies. The series acts as a prequel, expanding the universe of Friday the 13th and Jason Voorhees by delving into the events before the original film. Interestingly, the series is only pulling from the first Friday the 13th, disregarding any of the franchise's many sequels. Unfortunately, this means that iconic elements like Jason Voorhees and his hockey mask probably won't appear in the show, with them not appearing until the sequels. With the series' main hook gone, many have been left wondering what Crystal Lake will be about.
It seems most likely that Crystal Lake will be about the Voorhees family, including the events that led up to the first film. Jason's mom, Pamela Voorhees, is the villain of the first Friday the 13th movie, with the killer being driven mad by her son's death. The first film shows Pamela divulging an extensive backstory, explaining her motivation to kill the teenagers at Camp Crystal Lake. Crystal Lake could tell this story, expanding on and finally putting to film the tale of Jason's drowning. Crystal Lake will be a massive change for the Friday the 13th franchise, focusing on something else besides its most iconic killer.
Halloween Has The Perfect Setup To Copy Friday The 13th
The many Halloween sequels have yet to reinvent the franchise, especially compared to what Friday the 13th is doing with Crystal Lake. However, getting rid of Michael Myers and trying something new would be the perfect way to breathe new life into Halloween, a trick that the series could borrow from Friday the 13th. Halloween already has the perfect setup for a show like Crystal Lake, expanding on the franchise's universe even if it isn't a prequel. While future Halloween projects could focus on a new killer like Corey Cunningham, a more interesting story was already set up in Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Halloween III: Season of the Witch introduced the Silver Shamrock company, which specializes in manufacturing Halloween masks. In the third film, the Silver Shamrock company's Halloween masks become incredibly popular among kids, with many trick-or-treaters wearing masks of skeletons, witches, and jack-o-lanterns on Halloween night. However, Silver Shamrock turns out to be an evil company that plans to revive an ancient era of witchcraft by sacrificing the children in a pagan ceremony. Each mask is equipped with a microchip containing a fragment of a magic crystal that can kill the children. Sadly, Silver Shamrock's plan partially succeeds in the end.
For a relatively minor part of the Halloween franchise, the Silver Shamrock company has a lot of lore. They use pagan magic, incredibly advanced technology, killer bugs, androids, and so many more elements that are entirely foreign to the rest of the Halloween movies. Despite the Halloween reboot trilogy ignoring almost everything from the sequels, the Silver Shamrock masks appear in Halloween Kills. With Silver Shamrock still being around in the most recent movies, it seems apparent that the Halloween franchise has more it wants to explore with Silver Shamrock. A project focusing on the company instead of Michael Myers would be a great way to reinvent Halloween.
The Silver Shamrock Series Would Follow Halloween's Original Vision
Interestingly, having a series or movie focused on Silver Shamrock would follow John Carpenter's original vision for the Halloween franchise. Halloween was initially meant to be a horror anthology series, with each entry focusing on a story related to the holiday. However, the immense popularity of Michael Myers led to him returning for Halloween II. Although Halloween III: Season of the Witch does carry on the franchise's original vision, the film's mixed reception led to Michael Myers being reintroduced in all future sequels. Now, though, Michael Myers has been in too many Halloween movies, but focusing on Silver Shamrock again would take the series back to its roots.
Sadly, Friday the 13th's Crystal Lake spin-off is sticking to Halloween's original vision more than John Carpenter's franchise itself is. The Crystal Lake series has brought more interest to Friday the 13th than any other recent entry, as it is finally bringing something new to the franchise. Halloween would benefit a lot by learning from Crystal Lake, with a Silver Shamrock show not only allowing Halloween to reinvent itself but also returning it to its original vision.