Jamie Lee Curtis, the star of the Halloween franchise, has recently discussed what makes the series so popular with audiences 40 years after the original film during interviews for Halloween Kills. Curtis starred in the original film and its sequels, Halloween 2, Halloween: H20, and Halloween: Ressurection, as Laurie Strode. She returned to the franchise for 2018's Halloween, which served as a reboot that retconned the previous sequels and took place after the first film.
2018's Halloween found Laurie still traumatized by the events of the 1978 slasher film and living in fear of Michael Myers. This fear leads Laurie to be estranged from her family, including her daughter, played by Judy Greer. When Myers escapes the Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital and begins a new killing spree, Laurie is prepared to face him in a final showdown to put an end to his reign of terror. As teased in recent footage at CinemaCon, their battle will continue into this year's Halloween Kills, with Jamie Lee Curtis recently discussing why this battle has been so popular with audiences for so long.
In an interview with Variety, Jamie Lee Curtis was asked why audiences are still invested in Halloween and Laurie's Strode's battle against Myers. Curtis responded that Halloween director and writer John Carpenter, and co-writer Debra Hill tapped into an idea of pure good versus pure evil, with Laurie and Michael being representations of each idea. She then stated that the simplicity of the idea is relatable because it's something everyone struggles with, which is why it remains so popular with audiences.
"That’s a many million dollar question. A hundreds of millions of dollars question. There is something that John Carpenter and Debra Hill crated of pure evil and pure good. They tapped into a trope that has been worked through opera, theater, books, films since the beginning of people using words. The idea of evil and good. When Irwin Yablans, the producer, went to John and said, “This man, Moustapha Akkad, is going to give you $300,000 to make a babysitter slasher movie.” It was Irwin who said, “I think you should set it on Halloween night.” From there one, the idea of pure evil and the most ubiquitous representation of good, a virginal babysitter, a young girl with dreams of romance and goodness in her heart. Somehow the simplicity of that theme of evil and goodness coming together on Halloween night on 1978 in Haddonfield, Illinois is the reason it has lasted all these years. That theme never dies. It’s an ongoing theme we all struggle with every day in every aspect of our lives."
Michael Myers' battle with Laurie has been explored in numerous films, such as Halloween 2, Halloween: H20, Halloween: Resurrection, and Rob Zombie's 2007 remake and its sequel. The 2018 reboot saw Laurie take up arms to personally put an end to Myers, as seen in a recently revealed deleted scene, with the film's ending featuring Laurie, her daughter, and her granddaughter leaving a trapped Myers to die in her burning home. However, as Jamie Lee Curtis stated, the struggle never dies and, as the first trailer for Halloween Kills indicates, rescue services seemingly and unwittingly saving Michael, allowing his evil to live on.
Halloween Kills is scheduled to be released on October 15th, with Curtis, Judie Greer, Andi Matichak and James Jude Courtney set to return as Laurie, her daughter Karen Nelson, granddaughter Allyson Nelson and Michael Myers respectively. With Myers returning once more despite, audiences are left wondering where the film will take its characters, with Courtney saying the trailer was "only the tip of the iceberg" and audiences have a lot more to see. With a sequel, Halloween Ends, scheduled for October 14th 2022, audiences can only guess where Laurie and Michael's struggle of good versus evil will go next before the future of the Halloween is made clear.
Source: Variety
