Movies
[Set Visit] Jamie Lee Curtis Breaks Down Why She Returned for This Year’s ‘Halloween’
We’ve written extensively about our visit to the set of David Gordon Green’s Halloween earlier this year, with one of our articles detailing our conversation with Jamie Lee Curtis about Laurie Strode’s state of mind in 2018, 40 years after her life was forever altered by the Halloween homecoming of Michael Myers. During the set visit, we spent over an hour speaking with Curtis, and she also touched upon the reasoning behind her return to the franchise, 16 years after Laurie was killed off in Halloween: Resurrection.
Curtis has of course previously reprised the role of Laurie Strode in both Halloween H20 and Halloween: Resurrection, both of which do not exist in the timeline of David Gordon Green’s film. As you’re surely aware by now, this year’s sequel operates as if *only* the events of John Carpenter’s original film happened, meaning Laurie is very much still alive.
So why did Curtis agree to play the character for one more film? And how does she feel about Halloween H20 and Resurrection, now with several years of hindsight?
“So here’s what you need to know,” Curtis began a lengthy answer to these two questions. “The truth of the matter is I did Halloween 1 and 2 because Halloween 2 picked up exactly where Halloween 1 left off, in that version of the storytelling, and I felt I owed it to the people who loved the original movie. I felt as the face of the movie, it was my responsibility, but I also recognized by then… I had already done Prom Night, Terror Train, kind of a bad thriller called Road Games in Australia, and then I did Halloween 2. I knew, if I knew anything, that it was time to say no more because if I hadn’t I would never have been able to do anything more and I knew that. I was willing to say I’m done, and it had nothing to do with the genre, it literally had to do with… if I wanted to do anything else I won’t get the opportunity to because the pigeon hole will be cemented closed and I felt that Halloween 2 was the way to end that.”
Curtis continued, “So all those years, the reason I had never returned to it is because I was doing lots of other things. It had nothing to do with lack of respect for the genre. So I forgot about it for a long time until H20, [which] came about purely because I was still in show business, John [Carpenter] was still in show business and Debra Hill was still in show business and I called them to have lunch and said hey guys, next year will be twenty years later and how crazy is that? How often does that happen? So the movie was conceived and there was a moment where John was going to direct it but then he had other commitments and I ended up, kind of again, being the only representative. But the idea of [H20] was to kind of complete the story; of course, with the Halloween movies… the word completion has many interpretations. The way I wanted to end that movie was the way we ended the movie. I wanted a concrete ending. I wanted for Laurie at that point to… when she turns he back at that gate with that axe in her hand, she is saying it’s you or me because I’m not running anymore. I’ve been running my whole life. I’m not running, so it’s you or me. For Jamie, that was a very important moment and a very important completion to that movie.”
“But of course what we learn, which by the way was not the original intention, was that it was not Michael, that it was an innocent man that Laurie had killed. So what I said to them was, if this is in fact how we are going to conclude the movie, without the audience knowing, then I have to come back for one more movie; for a very short moment to conclude Laurie’s story. I’m not going to make H20 and make it ambiguous. I said I will come in and finish my version of Laurie’s story, whatever year that was, whatever that is. Like that was, for me, the reason I was in Resurrection. So for me, I thought H20 was the correct thing to do at the time, I liked it, then I had to be in that other thing just to conclude the story and then I truly thought I would not return to this.“
And then, David Gordon Green called…
“I’m doing many things, kids are raised and I was on vacation in June when I got this phone call that David wanted to speak to me,” Curtis recalled. “They started to pitch me and I said no, no, just send it to me, and I read it and I thought it was a very clever, modern way of referencing Halloween. I’m sure everyone is coming up with the word; it is not a reboot, it is a re-telling. It’s a very interesting take on the movie because it references Halloween 1 in every way it can, stylistically, characterologically, visually, emotionally; it follows very similar themes but it’s its own movie so it’s a very clever mash-up of the first movie in a re-telling, like a direct sequel. It’s fascinating. When you see what they’ve come up with you’ll be wowed, because it’s a very modern and yet very true movie.”
With Gordon Green’s Halloween, it’s looking like Jamie Lee Curtis may *finally* get the closure to Laurie’s story that she thought H20 was going to provide all those years ago. Then again, as Curtis herself told us, “the word completion has many interpretations” when it comes to horror franchises like Halloween. Ain’t that the truth.
The battle between Michael and Laurie continues on October 19.
Movies
SCREAMBOX Investigates UFOs and Extraterrestrials: Several Documentaries Streaming Right Now!
As someone who is obsessed with UFOS (or more recently known as UAPs) and the concept of extraterrestrials, I love a good documentary. Sightings have been on the rise since the 1940s, with the atomic bomb seemingly acting as a catalyst for new visitors. But what are these UFOs/UAPs? Is there an explanation or are they simply beyond our explanation? Why are they here? Who are they? How much do our governments know? The questions are endless and so are the documentaries that attempt to uncover the secrets behind decades of sightings and alleged confrontations.
Whether you’re a seasoned viewer or new to the rabbit hole, there’s always a handful of interesting documentaries to get your neurons firing and leave you with sleepless nights. SCREAMBOX is investigating with the addition of several docs, all streaming now on the Bloody Disgusting-powered service. Here’s the breakdown:
Aliens (2021): Beam into this unidentified streaming documentary for a glimpse into Extraterrestrial life. Aliens are hypothetical life forms that may occur outside Earth or that did not originate on Earth.
Aliens Uncovered: Origins (2021): Before Area 51, hidden deep in the desert, the military discovered a hidden gem that helped them create Project Bluebook.
Aliens Uncovered: ET or Man-Made (2022): The crash of Roswell wasn’t meant for New Mexico. In 1947, a neighboring state had 3 major sightings that were swept under the rug.
Aliens Uncovered: The Golden Record (2023): In the late 70s, the US government launched a message to our distant neighbors.
Roswell (2021): This high-flying documentary examines the July 1947 crash of a United States Army Air Forces balloon at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. Theories claim the crash was actually that of a flying saucer, but what is the truth?
Also check out:
The British UFO Files (2004): Since the 1940’s the British Government has been investigating the Flying Saucer phenomenon. High-ranking military and government personnel, speak out for the first time, offering unique eyewitness accounts and inside information.
Alien Abductions and Paranormal Sightings (2016): Amazing Footage and stories from real people as they reveal their personal encounters of being abducted by Aliens.
And do not miss Hellier (2019): A crew of paranormal researchers find themselves in a dying coal town, where a series of strange coincidences lead them to a decades-old mystery.
These documentaries join SCREAMBOX’s growing library of unique horror content, including Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls, Here for Blood, Terrifier 2, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story, The Outwaters, Living with Chucky, Project Wolf Hunting, and Pennywise: The Story of IT.
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