Where does the ‘Halloween’ series go now?

As originally reported by THR, there will be a new installment in the Halloween franchise and it is being written by veterans of the Saw series. It is claimed that this new movie will not be a reboot, or a remake but instead a “recalibration.” Bloody Disgusting was able to get some “Exclusive Halloween Details” that indicated the movie would not follow Rob Zombie’s films and that it would not be in 3D. If it isn’t a reboot/remake or a sequel to the more recent Rob Zombie films, what could it possibly be?

The franchise already has a history of rewriting its own canon and ignoring movies that came before, hello Halloween H20, and it’s hard to imagine the series picking up where Halloween Resurrection left off. If you were somehow able to forget, that film saw Busta Rhymes karate kicking Michael Myers out of a window on an internet reality show set in the Myers house. The Rob Zombie films then rebooted the series and over explained the background of Michael Myers, turning him into a run-of-the-mill serial killer in training with a mom that just happens to be a stripper. In Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers it was revealed that the source of Michael’s murderous desires was being cursed by the Cult of Thorn. This curse made him nearly invincible and required him to kill all of his family members. If all of that sounds ridiculous or a bit too contrived, that’s because it is.

The original 1978 Halloween was a straight forward slasher flick that was partially so effective because Myers was “pure evil” for no discernible reason and was killing teens after he stalked them for a while. The movie opened by showing Michael kill his sister when he was only 6 years old. There was no explanation needed, he was just evil and killed people. It wasn’t until the 2nd film that it was even revealed Myers was related to Laurie Strode and there could possibly be an occult connection to his seeming invincibility. The 4th and 5th films in the franchise were more or less straightforward 1980’s style slasher flicks with 1989’s Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers hinting at more occult elements to the story and 1995’s The Curse of Michael Myers expanding on the occult connection. In 1998’s Halloween H20 everything that occurred in the series after the second film was ignored, making the 4th-6th films non-canon, only to be followed by a sequel (Halloween Resurrection) that was bad enough to kill the franchise for a while. The reigns were later turned over to Rob Zombie to reboot the series, and he made two films.

For this upcoming movie, the writers may need to just ignore everything that happened outside of the first film. Explaining the motives of an icon like Michael Myers is mostly a fool’s errand, and only hinting that something occult may be at hand is far more interesting than actually explaining that it is. To make the series relevant again, the character of Michael Myers needs to be taken back to his roots. He should be a silent stalker who creeps around, just outside of the frame for most of the movie, taking out characters that are at least somewhat likable. No back story or explanation is needed, just make Myers actually frightening again. The movie should be set in a suburban neighborhood as there is definitely room to comment on how American suburbia has changed since 1978. The majority of the movie should take place over the course of one day. Don’t bring back any of the other characters from prior films, start fresh with Michael being the only connective tissue to anything that has happened previously. The movie should be about trying to escape a nearly unstoppable killer during Halloween night, not building a connected cinematic universe to spawn more spin-offs as is the craze in a post Avengers world.

If a new movie in the series has to be made, that is my suggestion. I wasn’t a fan of the Rob Zombie remake because there really wasn’t much that I would change about the original film, and I didn’t think it was wise to dive more into young Michael Myer’s backstory further demystifying the character. The later sequels, prior to the reboot, veered into generic slasher territory resembling the movies that were ripping off the original film. The new movie needs some creative artistic direction and to not become just another disposable sequel that leaves no lasting impression.