Editorials
I’ve Read the ‘Halloween Returns’ Screenplay By Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton!
Can you believe it’s been nearly seven years since Rob Zombie’s Halloween sequel hit theaters? It’s no wonder the franchise was plucked away from The Weinstein Company/Dimension Films, where it now resides at Blumhouse with Adam Wingard circling to direct.
But before this impasse, Dimension and Trancas International had been developing the living hell out of the franchise. Back in 2009, they had tapped Drive Angry and My Bloody Valentine duo Todd Farmer and Patrick Lussier to write and direct, respectively, Halloween 3D, with Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton taking the reigns in 2014-15 to develop Halloween Returns for the two companies.
I’m not one to “review” screenplays, mainly because they change so drastically by the time they’re realized on film, not to mention that the director often takes the writer’s vision and contorts it into his own. But seeing as Halloween Returns is no longer in the cards, I thought it would be fun to share what could have ended up in theaters this coming Halloween.
From what I’m told, this screenplay dated 4-13-15 is a casting draft, which is slightly different (including the names of characters) from what was further developed internally at Dimension.
Halloween Returns was being pegged a “recalibration,” and what was meant is that the timeline is unique. There’s no mention of the actual year in the script, only passage of time, although it does live in the same universe as John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween. To confuse things a bit, Halloween Returns takes place in modern day, and is not period (this feels like a studio note), but in fact, does fill the gap between Carpenter’s Halloween and Halloween 4. You know, pre-Thorne Cult. So, in essence, it’s continuing the story of Michael Myers, who vanishes after Loomis shoots him off the balcony, only on a new timeline (seemingly ignoring Halloween 2). Whatever the case, it’s a cool parallel conceit that takes Halloween fans on a ride that answers the question, “What happened to Michael during Halloween 3: Season of the Witch,” which is given a loving nod multiple times in the screenplay.
Click “PLAY” to set the mood.
The film would have opened in HADDONFIELD on the same night as MICHAEL MYERS terrorized LAURIE STRODE at the DOYLE HOUSE. In fact, it opens with a shot of Michael standing up at the exterior of the Doyle home, where he’s stalking a young girl, KAREN. While she lives through the ordeal, Michael leaves dozens of victims in his wake – many of which come back in the later part of the screenplay.
What’s unique about Halloween Returns is that it’s told from Michael’s perspective, and follows his POV on many occasions. It’s a refreshing approach because, as the viewer will typically see Michael standing in the shadows and then mysteriously vanish, here the viewer will actually follow Michael as he moves out of frame (picture the scene where Laurie catches a glimpse of Michael out the window by the clotheslines – instead of it being from her perspective, the audience would experience it from Michael’s). There’s a heavy dose of this in the opening sequence, which eventually leads to his capture by DEPUTY GARY HUNT and his clinical psychiatrist, PAUL ROGERS. There’s an important line here that comes full circle by the last page: “Everyone is dead. You’ve killed everyone,” Rogers bellows. As he’s surrounded, Michael falls to his knees and allows himself to be captured.
News reports and clippings segue us to the title card and set the scene for Michael’s execution 10 years later. Rogers is at the center of the story, as is his daughter, SOPHIA, and her friends. NOAH is the son of a woman who is murdered in the opening scene, and the deputy who captured Michael.
A lot of the screenplay focuses on building the characters and setting the stage for Michael’s execution/escape. I’m not a huge fan of prison scenes in genre films as for whatever reason they don’t ring “true” to me. It’s sort of the same here, although there’s some great dialogue and additional mythology layered throughout (it’s noted that, even though Michael is unmasked, we never ever see his face).
The MEDICAL EXAMINER explaining the process of putting Michael to “sleep”:
“It’s a three-tiered system: One, he feels nothing. Two, we spike his nervous system into the red. And three, we push him into the black.”
This reads like a wonderful reference to Dr. Loomis’ dialogue in the 1978 film, “I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face, and the blackest eyes… the devil’s eyes.”
Noah begs Sophia to sneak him into the execution, as it would help him heal after losing his mother a decade prior. As Michael is about to shut down, he catches a glimpse of Sophia, which turns him back “on”. This is when shit hits the fan, and eventually, Michael adrenaline sets him loose. This sequence touches Rob Zombie’s Michael a bit too much for me, ending in a bloodbath and with Michael back on the loose. The police deem Michael dead, thinking he burned in the facility that ends up exploding, this leaves everyone in the community acting a bit too normal – Sophia, Noah and their friends are already on the mend and partying the next night.
Michael returns, obviously, and comes after Noah and Sophia at FARMER JOHN’S HAUNTED PUMPKIN PATCH and CORN MAZE.
Hunt and Rogers are trying to find Michael, as they’re the only ones who think he’s still alive, and have a conversation about Michael escaping 10 years prior. This leads to this fantastic gem of dialogue:
ROGERS
Well… all those years we thought we were watching him. But no. He was watching us.
(beat)
Every move. Patiently waiting. One night, we blinked, and he was gone. Right through my office window.”
This is an insanely important exchange that explains how Michael escapes in the script’s final moments. It also beautifully mixes in with the story’s overall narrative, theme, and direction. Rogers also reveals his motivation for not wanting to execute Michael:
HUNT
“You know the critical difference ‘tween you and me, doc?
You need to understand these people. I don’t.”ROGERS
“Shoot first, think later? That’s your plan? Well, watch the news, Sheriff, that credo is broken. I know exactly what you lost, and I feel it every day. Every second. There isn’t a moment that goes by I don’t feel what happened.And you know what? It’ll happen again. In a different down. By a different maniac. And it’ll keep on happening until someone like me can understand the ones doing it. Until someone like me can spot them before they snap.
That’s what I’m trying to do. And that’s why I’ve spend sixteen hours out of every day for the past ten years with that monster in that cage.”
Ultimately, Rogers and Hunt end up saving Sophia. Michael then stages a diversion, much like in H20, where he cuts up Rogers’ tongue, puts the “Shape” mask on him, and sends him running out to be shot by the police. Michael slips away into the darkness, as foreshadowed by the “blinking” conversation from earlier. But before he does, he writes something on the wall in blood: “THIS TOWN WILL NEVER BE SAFE AGAIN.” Rogers whispers:
“He doesn’t want to kill me and you…he wants to kill everyone.”
This harks back to the opening of the film when Rogers tells Michael that everyone is dead, which is why he disarms. But the goldmine is the film’s epilogue, which takes us into the interior of a hospital where Rogers is recovering. There, he speaks with another doctor… DR. LOOMIS.
ROGERS
“I tried to understand him…I wanted to help him, but when I saw what was inside of him, God help me, I tried to kill him.
I tried to kill him, Dr. Loomis. I tried.”DR. LOOMIS
“Him?
You speak of Michael Myers as if he were just a man.
He is not a man, Dr. Rogers. He never was.
He’s simply… and purely… Evil.“
Outside of some issues, which may or may not have been changed in later drafts, I absolutely loved the script’s direction – and knowing Dunstan was going to direct only made it better. Halloween Returns read like a classical horror film, using an immense amount of tracking and dolly shots, possibly from a low angle. There’s an old-school creep factor that permeates from Michael, even if the prison sequence diminished it a bit. There’s a lot more to love here, especially that Melton and Dunstan show restraint – Michael doesn’t necessarily kill everyone for the sake of on-screen violence. The death sequences are approached like a dance; they’re smooth and unnerving, unlike Zombie’s Halloween in which Michael just uses brute force. It’s a bummer we’ll never see this on screen as I believe this would have been a welcomed and beloved addition to the Halloween franchise; it would have scared new genre fans, while giving the purists a reason to cheer.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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