If you’ve already seen it, watch it again on the road to Halloween. Twice.
There are a small handful of films that I’d describe as being *perfect* for October viewing, most of them naturally set on or around Halloween. A few of my personal must-watches are Lady in White, Halloween (both John Carpenter’s and Rob Zombie’s… yeah, I said it) and of course, the finally beloved Halloween 3: Season of the Witch.
Pumpkinhead is another great choice, for obvious reason.
And then there’s Adam Wingard’s The Guest, a 2014 action-horror gem that is unquestionably the coolest movie you can watch on Halloween. Why, you ask? Well, not only does The Guest capture small town Halloween better than most films that attempt to, but it’s also, more than anything, a love letter to Halloween.
John Carpenter’s Halloween, that is.
Not surprisingly, writer Simon Barrett was inspired to pen The Guest after a double feature of The Terminator and Halloween he attended, and the film proudly wears the inspiration of both of those classics on its sleeve. In particular, The Guest plays out like a super cool, action movie version of Carpenter’s slasher masterpiece.
In The Guest, “A soldier (Dan Stevens) introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.”
Right from the get go, the Halloween inspiration is clear, as The Guest‘s opening credits see the title of the film spelled out in Carpenter’s trademark font. From there, the image of a carved Jack O’Lantern fills the screen; if your eyes don’t pick up on either reference than your ears surely do, as the ever-present score is unmistakably Carpenter-inspired.
Ripped straight out of the playbook of Carpenter and frequent collaborator Alan Howarth, Steve Moore’s insanely cool synth score is oh-so-gloriously ’80s, taking more than a little inspiration from the music heard in Halloween 3 – towards the end of the film, there’s even a fun visual reference to the oddball sequel (seen above).
How the hell can you not love any movie that pays tribute to Halloween 3?!
A slasher film inside of an action film, The Guest has way more than tiny nods to Halloween; in many ways, it’s something of an in-spirit remake, with Dan Stevens’ David Collins presented as a sort of suave, badass version of Michael Myers. A seemingly inhuman force who arrives in a small town around Halloween time, David is Michael without the white mask, and like Myers he leaves a trail of bodies in his wake. As it turns out, David is a government-created killing machine who is programmed to slaughter anyone who gets in his way, which might as well have been Myers’ backstory too.
The Guest even makes mention of David having previously survived an explosion at a hospital, no doubt a nod to the fiery climax of Halloween II (1981).
And yes, The Guest has its own Laurie Strode in the form of Anna Peterson, played by It Follows star Maika Monroe. At first taken in by David’s charms, Anna soon becomes the only one in her family who catches on to what he’s up to, ultimately taking the fight to David in an unforgettable showdown set inside a haunted attraction at the local high school.
Like Michael at the end of Halloween, David is seemingly defeated by Anna at the end of The Guest… but as Dr. Loomis learned time and time again, true evil never dies.
To date, The Guest‘s sequel tease has never actually led to a sequel, but we’re holding out hope that Wingard and Barrett will someday continue the story of the most unstoppable shape this side of Haddonfield, Illinois. For now, as a standalone film, The Guest is a truly badass cinematic tribute to Halloween that deserves to be watched, well, every Halloween season.
Michael wishes he was this cool.
