Tag Archives: Jamie Lee Curtis

31 Days to Scare ~ Halloween Ends

by 31 Days to Scare, Movie Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Facts:

Synopsis: Laurie Strode has retired after the last events in Haddonfield and writes her memoirs about experiences with serial killer Michael Myers, in which she processes her emotional world. At the same time, her granddaughter Allyson meets a young man who has a dark past.
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Kyle Richards, Will Patton, Andi Matichak, Nick Castle, Stephanie McIntyre, Rohan Campbell, James Jude Courtney, Candice Rose, Michele Dawson
Director: David Gordon Green
Rated: R
Running Length: 111 minutes
TMMM Score: (7/10)
Review: There’s a silence in the very last moments of Halloween Ends that feels like years of moviemaking exhaling one final time. It’s a powerful few seconds and, when viewed with an audience that’s followed along with heroine Laurie Strode since 1978 when she was terrorized by vicious killer Michael Myers, incredibly cathartic. Laurie has gone through a lot to get to Halloween Ends, and so have ardent fans who have waded through this franchise’s highs and lows. Like its central boogeyman, the Halloween films started with power, were pronounced dead, sprang back to life, died again, were revived, vanished, and found renewal recently as part of a refreshed trilogy that concludes a year after a pathetic sequel most loyal fans turned their backs on immediately.

I was so high on our first return to the world of Laurie Strode in 2018’s Halloween that I was shocked by the dismal and deranged Halloween Kills. Gone were the attempts at fleshing out what a shell-shocked survivor would look like 40 years on…and how their tormentor would react if given a chance to attack again. Instead, it was just pure brutality with no purpose. And while the sequel made good money, the fans voiced their displeasure. 

Make no mistake, director David Gordon Green and his co-writers Danny McBride, Chris Bernier, and Paul Brad Logan spent time (and reshoots) this past year course-correcting based on the feedback they received. Whether that was solely on the demands of Universal Studios and Blumhouse or due to fan reaction can’t be specified completely; the gnarly and garish road Halloween Kills started to travel has been replaced with pavestone in Halloween Ends. The result is a smoother ride overall, save for a few bumpy sections and one large pothole created by the writers that wind up standing in the way of the people we came to see.   

A year after the events of the first two films (which occurred on the same night in 2018), Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell, Broken Diamonds) agrees to be a last-minute babysitter for the Allen family, watching mischievous son Billy for the evening. While Michael Myers vanished in 2018 shortly after killing Laurie’s daughter Karen (Judy Greer, Lady of the Manor), the threat of his return still haunts the town’s streets. On this night, the biggest problem Corey has is Billy being a handful, but when an innocent game turns deadly, it sets into motion events that will follow the young man for the next three years until the story picks up again in 2022.

By then, we reconnect with Laurie Strode (Curtis, Knives Out), who has decided to stop living in the darkness and not spend her life in fear of a killer that attacks randomly and hasn’t been seen in over four years. Living with daughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, Son) and getting together regularly with Lindsay Travis (Kyle Richards) while still nursing a crush on former sheriff/Karen’s dad (Will Patton, The Forever Purge), she’s writing a memoir on surviving trauma and taking some of her own advice. The town doesn’t forget the evil she brought back, though, and she’s often reminded of her part in the deaths and legacy of the second night of terror Myers brought on Haddonfield.

With Allyson working at Haddonfield hospital hoping for a promotion, there’s not much time for a boyfriend, but when Laurie spots Corey being bullied by younger high school punks, she takes a liking to him and introduces the two. It turns out to be a good match for everyone. Allyson and Corey connect, Laurie’s guilt over Michael destroying Allyson’s family subsides, and Allyson feels like she can move forward in her life for the first time. Even so, during hope for the new, there is lurking darkness growing that will soon become unstoppable.

It’s hard to talk more from here without revealing Halloween Ends’ second and third-act developments, but they offer some interesting twists to what audiences are likely expecting. To some, this might be a refreshing change of pace from the sheer fan service paid in 2018 and the grime of 2021, while others may balk at the filmmakers attempting to over-psychoanalyze characters with shallow bottoms. I landed somewhere in the middle, but I think over time, I’ll appreciate what Green and company achieved here, a way to tie up loose ends while setting several characters (and actors) free to explore new outlets.

If you’re like me, you missed Curtis in the previous film, where she was primarily confined to a hospital bed. She’s back in full force here, and it is unquestionably her movie, even when the focus isn’t expressly on her. Laurie is never far from the minds and hearts of anyone in the film or watching it. That says something about the stamina of what Curtis has created and refined over the years. I appreciate how Curtis has worked to provide an honest look at the impact tragedy has on a soul, and more than anything, Halloween Ends shows how paths can diverge based on how you face those tragic events.

The timeline of events means that Matichak and Campbell must form a believable bond in a short amount of time, and they mostly get there, but the extent to which that bond holds feels shaky as the film moves into the finale. Without giving away crucial plot details, Matichak’s character has been through too much to walk away from security so quickly. Campbell has a tricky role to play, and he works hard to give it the necessary layers to make his mysterious arc feel natural. A mix of familiar faces rounds out the supporting players, and the new ones are Green’s usual cadre of actors you think you’d realistically find in a small midwestern town.

The violence is toned down from the last movie but gooses the grossness just enough not to cheat audiences out of what they’ve come to expect from this new wave of Halloween films. Save for a few well-timed jump scares that coincide with jangly sound cues, it’s not particularly scary as it works toward a finale that has been a long time coming. In many similarly-hyped films, the big brawl winds up feeling lackluster, but Curtis has ensured the end has purpose and pathos – and why would we expect anything less?

I don’t expect Halloween Ends to be the last Halloween film we’ll ever see, but the shape of the series is likely to look a little different now that the rights have reverted to the original producers. That can be a little scary, considering they are the ones that oversaw the franchise in its darkest days. I’m hoping they take a long look at how Curtis, Green, Carpenter, and the producers have teed things up for change and run with it. 

31 Days to Scare ~ Halloween Kills

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by 31 Days to Scare, Movie Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Facts:

Synopsis: The nightmare isn’t over as unstoppable killer Michael Myers escapes from Laurie Strode’s trap to continue his ritual bloodbath. Injured and taken to the hospital, Laurie fights through the pain as she inspires residents of Haddonfield, Ill., to rise up against Myers.

Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Anthony Michael Hall, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens, Charles Cyphers, Nick Castle, James Jude Courtney, Robert Longstreet

Director: David Gordon Green

Rated: R

Running Length: 106 minutes

TMMM Score: (4/10)

Review:  The release of a new Halloween film in 2018 that reset the timeline for the rocky franchise was a refreshing inhale of breath for both cast, creatives, and audiences alike.  Trapped for years with characters that were connected by blood (more like lazy screenwriting) and a once-human killer that grew more supernaturally inhuman with each passing chapter, the series was in terminal status when director David Gordon Green (Our Brand is Crisis) and actor Danny McBride teamed up with Blumhouse Productions and convinced original star Jamie Lee Curtis to return to the role she created.  Also snagging John Carpenter to come along and give his blessing helped get the longtime fans on board as well.  The well-received and ambitiously thoughtful effort was a revitalized movie that didn’t completely reinvent the concept of the reboot, but it laid groundwork that continuations to an original story were possible, especially with the involvement of those that were there when it all began. 

Perhaps you can believe the story now that Green and McBride originally pitched their first round of Halloween as a two-parter but later thought it best to see how a standalone installment would work instead, but there was a sweet finality in the ending of the 2018 film that didn’t feel like a wide enough door was kept open for what has led to the far less impressive goop that is Halloween Kills.  The first of two movies shot back-to-back in 2019 and originally intended to be released in 2020, this middle chapter of trilogy of films from Green and McBride picks up almost precisely where the previous film left off, on a Halloween night 40 years after Michael Myers (Nick Castle in some scenes, James Jude Courtney in the more physical ones) went on a killing spree in Haddonfield, IL. 

With Michael apparently trapped in survivor Laurie Strode’s (Curtis, Knives Out) compound which she set on fire with the help of her daughter Karen (Judy Greer, Lady of the Manor) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak, Son), the three Strode women head to the hospital to tend to their wounds.  Never count out the Haddonfield Fire Department, though, who have raced to the scene and find Myers very much alive and blazing mad.  As Myers begins to slash his way through Haddonfield, reports of the murders that took place earlier in the evening have gotten back to Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall, Live by Night), Lindsay Wallace (Kyle Richards, The Watcher in the Woods), and Marian Chambers (Nancy Stephens, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later) who are holding their yearly survivor’s celebration at a local bar.  Like Laurie, they’ve chosen to deal with their own trauma of that night in their own way but unlike Laurie have found comfort in sharing that experience with others.  With news of Myers return, the three instinctively jump into action and rally a group of townspeople along with them.  Now it’s just a matter of finding Myers and stopping him again.  But where is he going and who might he be looking for?

That’s the tidiest description of messy plot slapped together by Green, McBride, and Scott Teems and I was a little taken aback by how much the three had abandoned the subtleties introduced in their first outing.  Whereas the reintroduction of the Laurie character felt like an interesting way to look at a lifetime of living with PTSD, survivor’s guilt, and paranoia, the people we meet in the sequel are enigmas with only names that sound vaguely familiar to us.  Sure, we know who Tommy Doyle is but other that that…who is he?  As played by Hall, he’s someone harboring a lot of shame over lack of action even though he was a child when he was attacked while Laurie was babysitting him.  Same goes for Lindsey, though Richards doesn’t crank up the angst meter as far as Hall does.  We don’t have the luxury of being reacquainted with these faces from the past before they’re called on to take center stage…and they definitely are because the stars of the last film are curiously absent for quite a lot of Halloween Kills.

Of all the callbacks, I doubt anyone wanted to be thinking of Curtis being stuck in a hospital bed for much of 1981’s Halloween II but that’s where she’s confined to for lots of Halloween Kills.  When she does amble about, she’s not at full Laurie strength so whatever vengeance Curtis came back with in Halloween is a bit hollow here.  That’s at least better than what poor Greer gets, though.  Relegated to the role of “he’s coming for her!” paranoid protector, Greer is adrift and robbed of the modicum of found strength afforded to her at the end of the last movie.  The only Strode that continues to show potential is Matichak and while Allyson has a number of insanely unwise choices, she roars to life just as the movie is on life support in the final act.

As for the main attraction?  Well, what can I say?  I mean, Michael Myers has returned to his gruesome killing methods that reached a Grand Guignol peak in the two Rob Zombie barf-y films.  Murder is here for the sake of murder, and I have to wonder what kind of pleasure is to be derived from a filmmaker including a scene where a mortally wounded victim watches helplessly as their dying (or even already deceased) significant other is slowly stabbed by a multitude of knives by Myers.  Why?  The two characters have no bearing on the plot, the scene comes right after an insanely bloody murder scene, and it’s followed by more murder.  Myers kills a huge number of people in vicious, heinous (pointless) ways and even as an ardent fan of horror movies I wanted to tap out…this was no fun, no fun at all. (Side note, the amount of couples that die at the hands of Myers in this one is almost laughable…I guess the screenwriters didn’t want to leave anyone partner-less and in mourning.)

I’m not entirely sure why Green, McBride, and Teems decided to go in this direction.  The first film focused on Laurie and examined her trauma – this was interesting material to explore in a mainstream horror movie and a franchise not known for its sensitivity to such matters.  In Halloween Kills, they’ve shifted from Laure’s grief to a larger view of how the town has suffered.  This is another nook with great potential, but it’s wasted on appalling displays of grunting vigilante justice and toxic mob mentality as the ruling authority.  In that way, the movie becomes more obnoxious than disappointing.

I mentioned this script is very bad, right? At times, I wondered if the actors were just improvising dialogue because the number of times the phrase “Evil Dies Tonight!” is used is mind-boggling.  Eventually turning into a greeting of sorts from one character to another, I started silently saying under my breath “…next year.” knowing the true finale of the night he came back home wasn’t going to finish up until October 2022 with Halloween Ends.  After a head-shakingly crazy finale, I can’t even imagine how Green and company are going to keep this one going until the break of dawn.  Hasn’t Haddonfield suffered enough? After Halloween Kills, haven’t we?

Movie Review ~ Knives Out

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by Movie Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,


The Facts:

Synopsis: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Stars: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Christopher Plummer, Toni Collette, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, K Callan, Riki Lindhome, Edi Patterson, Raúl Castillo

Director: Rian Johnson

Rated: PG-13

Running Length: 130 minutes

Trailer Review: Here

TMMM Score: (8/10)

Review: Readers, there’s a mystery to solve and I need your help finding the solution.  Who killed the whodunit?  The suspects are as follows.  Studio execs that didn’t see the value in continuing to produce mid-range budgeted films that would often make their money back but didn’t have franchise possibilities.  Screenwriters that grew lazy with their material and started to rehash well-worn plots that didn’t keep viewers guessing as much as it did counting down the minutes until the inevitable twist was introduced.  Audiences that stayed away, preferring their trips to the theater be reserved for spectacles of populist entertainment.  The death was slow but not unexpected, with the last gasp occurring in the dead of a summer’s night in the mid 2000s.

A life-long fan of mysteries, I’ve been starving for an old-fashioned whodunit, the kind of jigsaw puzzle of a movie that wasn’t just about unmasking a teen slasher but doing some detective work to get answers.  It’s probably why I welcomed 2018’s remake of Murder on the Orient Express with an extra warm hug (more than most critics) and why I was eagerly anticipating the release of writer/director Rian Johnson’s Knives Out.  Here was the pre-Thanksgiving feast I’d been waiting for and if the early previews delivered on its promise, there was a distinct possibility it could lead to more of its kind in the future.  Boasting a star-studded cast, cheeky humor, and a solid but not entirely complex enigma at its core, Knives Out is decidedly entertaining but curiously lacking in connection.

You’re in a spoiler-free zone so read on with confidence knowing nothing not already presented in the trailers will be discussed. 

Famed mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World) has been found dead the morning after his birthday party where his entire family was in attendance.  Originally ruling the death a suicide, the police have gathered the family for another round of questioning when an anonymous tip attracts the attention of famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig, Skyfall).  One by one, every family member recounts their memory of the last night they saw Harlan alive, each producing a slightly different take on the evening.  Only Harlan’s young attendant/nurse Marta (Ana de Armas, Blade Runner 2049) seems to be able to speak the truth, but then again she has a physical aversion to lying that causes her to…well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

The first forty five minutes of Knives Out is occupied with Blanc and Lieutenant Elliott (LaKeith Stanfield, The Girl in the Spider’s Web) getting to know the family better, giving us a chance to see their internal dynamics as well.  Daughter Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis, Halloween) is a self-made businesswoman married to loafer Richard (Don Johnson, Paradise) and their charming but churlish son Ransom (Chris Evans, Avengers: Endgame) is the clear black sheep of the family.  Running his father’s publishing house is Walt (Michael Shannon, Midnight Special) and he grows frustrated with his dad’s refusal to take advantage of the profitable endeavors he has been proposing.  Married to a third sibling that passed away, Joni (Toni Collette, Krampus) and her daughter Meg (Katherine Langford, Love, Simon) are kept close even if behind closed doors they aren’t truly considered family.  Then there is Harlan’s mother (K. Callan, American Gigolo), a near silent crone that’s always watching and definitely always listening.

That’s a lot of people to juggle, and I haven’t even discussed a few extra bodies, but by some miracle Johnson’s script manages to make time for all of them.  Still, it never quite feels like enough.  Viewers will be surprised how little certain stars are participatory as the movie unfolds.  Sure, they have an impact on the plot and get moments to shine but with an ensemble this large it’s natural to miss out on featuring everyone all the time.  Thankfully, Johnson (Looper) learned a thing or two from his time on Star Wars: The Last Jedi and knows how to pepper the movie with spikes of energy if the pacing is starting to drop off.  Each time the plot seemed to be hitting a bit of a wall, it pivoted in some tiny way to keep you off kilter.  I would have liked there to a bit more, ultimately, to this family.  The way it’s scripted, they are slightly walking jokes waiting for a set-up and punchline.

As for the mystery of what happened to Harlan Thrombey, well I wouldn’t dream of giving that away.  What I will say is that I appreciated Johnson didn’t cheat when all was revealed.  Having seen enough of these movies over the years I can easily start to piece together the clues and so when I saw them pop up I started to place the important pieces to one side.  When it was time to step back and see the big picture, it was nice to see it all fit together…and not precisely in the way I thought it was going to.  The performances and cinematography are key to pulling this kind of sleight-of-hand off more than anything and Johnson’s cast of experienced professionals all are more than up to the challenge.

The biggest take away I have for you is this: Knives Out is a lot of fun.  In a movie-going era where so many films that get released are dependent on existing intellectual property, it’s a welcome relief that a studio like Lionsgate went the extra mile with this and supported Johnson in his endeavor to try something old but in a modern way.  It’s a little light, if I’m being honest, and I’m not sure what a second viewing will be like.  I know I do want to see it again and that’s saying something.  It’s supposed to snow this Thanksgiving weekend where I am in the Midwest and I can’t think of a better way to spend a gloomy snow day than in a warm theater watching a movie like this play out — the community experience for this one should be fun.

The Silver Bullet ~ Knives Out

by Silver Bullet - Trailer Park • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



Synopsis: A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Release Date: November 27, 2019

Thoughts: This November, writer/director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) is hopefully going to give this Agatha Christie murder-mystery loving guy something to be thankful for when Lionsgate releases the star-studded whodunit, Knives Out.  Packed to the brim with A-listers and a few solid B-list mainstays, this looks like a cheeky and fun black comedy with a bit of death thrown into the mix.  With favorites like Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Toni Collette (Muriel’s Wedding), Chris Evans (Avengers: Endgame), Daniel Craig (Skyfall), Michael Shannon (Midnight Special) among the suspects and sleuths, all bets are off on what Johnson has in store for us but I expect some twists to be turned and rugs to be pulled as we get to the final reveal.  Fingers crossed this is as entertaining as it looks.  Though I’m sure this must contain some sort of spoilers – the first look at Knives Out is fairly sparse and feels like it’s holding back big reveals for the finished product.

31 Days to Scare ~ Halloween (2018)

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by 31 Days to Scare, Movie Review • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Facts:

Synopsis: Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Haluk Bilginer, Nick Castle, James Jude Courtney, Virginia Gardner, Miles Robbins, Toby Huss, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Dylan Arnold, Drew Scheid

Director: David Gordon Green

Rated: R

Running Length: 106 minutes

Trailer Review: Here

TMMM Score: (8/10)

Review: Not only has masked killer Michael Myers lasted longer than a curious cat living next to a busy train track but he’s been revived just as often. Over the past 40 years the Halloween hellraiser from Haddonfield has been a brother to our heroine (Halloween II), an unwelcome uncle (Halloween 4 and Halloween 5), been used as a deadly tool by a cult (Halloween 6), and even missed out completely on one movie (Halloween III). He’s been resurrected (Halloween 8) and rebooted (Rob Zombie’s bizarre remakes) but the one thing that hasn’t truly happened to the Halloween franchise is the chance to revisit with any kind of integrity the characters that made such an impact on audiences four decades ago.

It’s not often a character gets to come back in two different timelines but Jamie Lee Curtis (Prom Night) has the unique distinction of rewriting her own character’s history for a second time. Though Curtis famously returned to the franchise in Halloween: Twenty Years Later (H20 for short…and giggles) the overall impact wasn’t what she hoped and the cleverness fully depleted in the follow-up to that movie. Now, at the urging of none other than Jake Gyllenhaal, Curtis has teamed up with director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) and comedian Danny McBride (This Is the End) for a new film which ignores every sequel to John Carpenter’s landmark 1978 film and serves as a fine horror film as well as a glimpse into the lasting effects of trauma.  With Carpenter’s blessing and also his updated score, the three unlikely collaborators set out to continue Laurie’s story with a few unexpected turns along the way.

As the 40th anniversary of The Babysitter Murders in Haddonfield draws near, there is renewed interest in the silent killer Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, the girl that got away. A pair of podcasters (Jefferson Hall and Rhian Rees) have come to Smith’s Grove Hospital to try to get Michael Myers to speak to them. His watchful doctor (Haluk Bilginer, Rosewater) has taken over for the late Dr. Loomis as Michael’s caretaker and doesn’t bat an eye when one of the interviewers hauls out that famous white mask and tries to use it to elict a reaction out of the aged murderer.  How the UK podcaster managed to get the mask out of the courthouse (sure, he says it was given to him but still) and not even in a plastic bag to preserve it is a detail no one seems to bat an eye at. Failing to get anything out of him, the two track down Strode (Curtis) in her protected compound on the outskirts of town.

Living in the woods like a survivalist with no apparent war to fight, Strode is damaged goods after two failed marriages and having her daughter taken away at a young age. Living with the trauma of what she endured has left her broken and bruised, unable to move on from a singular event in her life that still feels unresolved. Estranged from her daughter (Judy Greer, Jurassic World) but attempting to form a bond with her granddaughter (Andi Matichak), Strode is doing the best she can while self-medicating with booze and staying alert in case Myers breaks out and returns to finish the job. Of course, that’s what happens when the bus transporting Myers to a maximum security prison crashes and he escapes. Making a beeline to his hometown and leaving numerous bodies in his wake, Myers slices and dices his way through the town on October 31 while tracking down his main target. Unlucky for him, then, that Laurie has been preparing for this moment for 40 years and is not only ready for his return but willing to stick her neck out to be the one to take him down.

It isn’t a perfect film, there’s far too many extraneous characters that are introduced only to die without much care and there are narrative gaps and implausible leaps that feel outside of the grounded reality the filmmakers are going for. There’s one rather huge twist about ¾ of the way through that is so misguided I thought it was going to derail the entire film – thankfully (mercifully) the film gets back on track fairly quickly. It’s never explained how Myers was captured after the first film or why Strode didn’t just move overseas if she was that traumatized. Also…I still can’t get fathom why this was called simply Halloween and not given its own distinctive title. While it is a direct continuation to the original, it’s not a remake and should have had something to set it apart.  Also, I hate to be the one to break it to you but if you’ve seen the trailers for the film much of the surprises and scares have been spoiled for you.  It’s disappointing to see just how much of the movie has been shown already, way too many of the moments that could have held high suspense have been cheapened or outright ruined by advertisements that held nothing back.

Quibbles aside, Green and McBride (with fellow screenwriter Jeff Fradley) have crafted a supremely satisfying film, pleasing the fans of the original while injecting enough humor, scares, and gore for audiences of today who aren’t content with the slow burn terror Carpenter created in his original masterpiece. Nothing could ever match that and their Halloween doesn’t truly try to outdo its big brother, it just wants to get on the same playing field and it gets the job done. Curtis is wonderful in the role, unlike the character she returned to in H20, I very much believed this Laurie Strode is the same one we first met 40 years ago and she seems to be having a ball giving her most famous role a proper ending. I liked that the majority of the movie focused on the relationship between three generations of Strode women — Greer fits in nicely as Strode’s daughter harboring resentment at the seeming loss of her childhood and I quite liked Matichak who felt like a Laurie for a new generation. There’s already sequel talk and as much as I’d love to see what Green and McBride would cook up next (they originally wanted to film this movie and its sequel back to back) I almost hope they leave well enough alone and let these characters rest in peace.

The Silver Bullet ~ Halloween (2018)

by Silver Bullet - Trailer Park • Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Synopsis: Laurie Strode comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

Release Date: October 19, 2018

Thoughts: Michael Myers has sure been around the block. After the tremendous success of the 1978 original Halloween there were seven sequels of varying quality (#2, #4, and #7 are tops in my book) and then the icky remake and even ickier sequel from shock rocker Rob Zombie.  There were rumors another movie was going to materialize but no one expected the franchise to do an about face and effectively wipe the slate clean – which is exactly what’s happening with 2018’s all new Halloween. Treating the sequels as if they never happened, director David Gordon Green (Our Brand is Crisis) directs a script he co-wrote with Danny McBride (This is the End) starring Jamie Lee Curtis (Terror Train) and has the blessing of original director John Carpenter.  This first look is pretty creepy…but perhaps shows a tad too much for my taste – I’d have preferred it to show less so we expect more.  Knowing the fates of several characters already lessens some of the impact – but I’m counting on all involved to have a few tricks ‘n treats up their sleeves.

31 Days to Scare ~ Prom Night (1980)

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prom_night

The Facts:

Synopsis: A masked killer stalks four teenagers, responsible for the accidental death of a little girl six years earlier, at their high school’s senior prom.

Stars: Leslie Nielsen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Stevens, Eddie Benton, Michael Tough, Jeff Wincott, Mary Beth Rubens, Joy Thompson

Director: Paul Lynch

Rated: R

Running Length: 92 minutes

TMMM Score: (5/10)

Original Release Date: July 18, 1980

Review: Though the origins of the so-called slasher film dated all the way back to the early days of cinema and popped up in films like Psycho, it truly hit its peak in the early 1980s.  Given a jump start by John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween before being fully revived in early 1980 by Friday the 13th, the slice and dice films took off like a locomotive that same year which saw the release of no less than 19 stalk and kill films that set the box office aflame.

Nowadays many of these films are looked back on with wrinkled noses and heavy eye rolls thanks to their low-budget nature and grade school acting but there are a few that have stood the test of time and Prom Night is one of the better efforts of those early years of horror.  It doesn’t deserve to be front and center on the same shelf with the true classics but it earns a spot just left of the middle considering how derivative it could have been.

Opening with a childhood game that turns unexpectedly deadly, the bulk of the action in Prom Night takes place in the “present” (1980 and don’t you forget it!) where a ski-masked killer targets the half dozen teens that were involved as they disco the night away at their senior prom.  The red herrings are piled on with gusto but watching it again recently I was struck by how uncomplicated screenwriter William Gray and director Paul Lynch made the whole affair.  Most bait-and-switch plots of the era hammer home that they’re trying to distract you from the real killer but the set-up of Prom Night allows the central red herring to play out with ease, until the quickie ending undoes all of the layers of misdirection from the previous 90 minutes.

Prom Night was the second of three horror films Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween II, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later) starred in in 1980.  Playing a minor role in John Carpenter’s The Fog allowed Curtis some time to breathe before the one two punch of Prom Night and Terror Train, fully cementing her Scream Queen status.  Though she looks every bit the 22 years she was when the movie was released, there’s an ease and relatability to Curtis that helps you buy she’s a barely 18 year old senior.  Curtis doesn’t have to do much of the heavy lifting here because she spends the greater part of the final act of the film dancing away at the festivities…her now-legendary disco sequence is still a highlight of the viewing experience.

The rest of the cast is made up of forgotten faces (and Leslie Nielsen as Curtis’ father that disappears halfway through the film and is never mentioned again) all served up to the killer’s knife in marginally creative ways.  There’s an especially good chase sequence that extends longer than normal, showing that there was more interest in building up tension than merely skipping to another act of bloodletting.  Everyone in the film is much too old for their characters but there’s such a quaint charm to the façade that you wind up going along with it all.

Though it had several sequels (like Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II) and was remade in 2008 as a PG-13 terribly toothless mess, the only thing that tied these films together was the name of the high school so it’s best to ignore everything that came before it and give the original a try.  It’s been remastered beautifully for a BluRay release and it’s worth watching as an example of the early days of the soon to be mass produced slasher film.

 

For those of you too chicken to watch the film, you still deserve to watch Jamie Lee Curtis’ excellent disco moves in a now classic scene.