Halloween is a film franchise that is as big as it gets. Even non-horror movie fans know the name of Michael Myers, the 6-year old child from Haddonfield who murdered his older sister Judith on Halloween night in 1963 with a kitchen knife and how fifteen years later in 1978, he escaped Warren County Smith’s Grove Sanitarium and came home to kill again. The original franchise, written and directed by legendary John Carpenter, is beloved. So, what happens when rocker turned horror film director Rob Zombie is allowed to take the reigns and completely remake the Halloween franchise? Well, that’s up for debate.
In this episode we discuss both the original Carpenter film and the updated Zombie remake. We also discuss Bone Tomahawk, Ash vs. Evil Dead and TV. TERROR with Anthony Rotolo featuring Someone’s Watching Me. Plus much more!
–SHOW NOTES–
* Dark was the Night
* Army of Darkness
* Ash vs. Evil Dead
* Bone Tomahawk
* Tales of Halloween
* Howl
* The Last Witch Hunter
* Cockneys vs Zombies
* Stephen King’s IT
* Bitten (mentioned)
* Late Phases (mentioned)
* Faculty of Horror Podcast (mentioned)
* Becky’s suggests reading Steven K. Peacock
HALLOWEEN (John Carpenter, 1978) Plot Haddonfield, Illinois: it is October 31, 1963. 6-year-old Michael Myers (Will Sandin) murders his older sister Judith (Sandy Johnson) by stabbing her with a kitchen knife. Fifteen years later, on October 30, 1978, Michael escapes Warren County Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he had been committed since the murder. He steals the car that was to take him to a court hearing, the intention of which was for him to never be released.
The following day, Halloween, 21-year-old Michael (Nick Castle), now dressed in a blue jumpsuit and a white mask, returns to his hometown of Haddonfield, and begins stalking high school student Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Laurie informs Annie Brackett (Nancy Loomis) and Lynda van der Klok (P. J. Soles), that she believes someone is following her, but they dismiss her concerns. Later at her house, Laurie is startled when she sees Michael outside in the yard staring into her room. Michael’s psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), having anticipated Michael’s return home, goes to the local cemetery only to discover that Judith Myers’ headstone is missing. Loomis meets with Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), and the two begin to search for Michael.
That night, Laurie babysits Tommy Doyle (Brian Andrews), while Annie babysits Lindsay Wallace (Kyle Richards) across the street from the Doyle house. When Annie gets a call from her boyfriend Paul asking her to pick him up, she drops Lindsay off at the Doyle house. Annie gets in her car to pick up Paul but Michael, who was hiding in the backseat of her car, strangles her before he slits her throat, killing her. At the Doyle house, while he plays hide-and-seek with Lindsay, Tommy spots Michael carrying Annie’s corpse and tries to tell Laurie, who doesn’t believe in any “boogeyman” that Tommy says he saw. Later that evening, Lynda and her boyfriend Bob enter the Wallace house and have sex in the upstairs bedroom. While downstairs to get a beer for Lynda, Bob is attacked by Michael, who kills him by pinning him to the wall with his knife. Michael then appears in the bedroom doorway, pretending to be Bob in a ghost costume. Gaining no response from him, Lynda becomes annoyed and calls Laurie, just as Michael kills her by strangling her with the telephone cord.
