‘Halloween’: 40 years of the Boogeyman

Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Michael Myers is not allowed to die. That was executive producer Moustapha Akkad’s unwavering stance heading into 1998’s Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, an anniversary film that Jamie Lee Curtis was hoping would be the last. But legally, Akkad had a clause written into the contract stating he would not allow the writers kill off their antagonist. Unsurprisingly, Curtis almost walked off the set of Halloween H20 in protest. Writer Kevin Williamson came up with an unexpected plot twist that satisfied both the studio and Curtis, who felt the character of Laurie Strode deserved a proper swan song.

Halloween: Resurrection (2002) all but untied the iconic ending of Halloween H20 through a series of flashbacks, which were filmed during H20’s production, and exposition delivered by two nurses. Larry Brand and Sean Hood (Cursed, Conan the Barbarian, Hercules: The Legend Begins) helmed the script ⏤ creating a story to end Laurie’s arc for good and embark on a completely new chapter for the franchise. With Whitney Ransick and Dwight H. Little (who had directed Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers) passing on the film, Rick Rosenthal (director of Halloween II) was approached for the job. He accepted.

In the film’s first 15 minutes, Laurie Strode is seen committed to a mental ward, and the audience quickly learns that she killed an innocent paramedic, whose larynx had been crushed at the end of the previous movie. The skillful Michael Myers [played by stuntman Brad Loree (Shanghai Noon, Watchmen)] then switched outfits before slipping off into the surrounding forest of Hillcrest Academy. Now, three years later, Laurie has been waiting inhumanely patient for Myers’ inevitable return.

She hatched a plan to lure him to the rooftop, where a trap awaits to drop him from several stories to the darkness and foliage below. Of course, once his leg is caught and he’s hanging upside down, Myers toys with Laurie to convince her he’s not the man behind the mask.  She goes to remove it; they struggle; he flips her over the edge of the building; and stabs her in the back. “I’ll see you in hell,” Laurie says, kissing her brother and tumbling to her death.

“It’s always hard for me to criticize other people’s work. I know how difficult it is to pull all the disparate creative minds together to make a film (good or bad). But I was disappointed at how quickly ‘Resurrection’ spent the equity we had rebuilt in ‘Halloween H20,’” says script writer Robert Zappia (Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later).

The remainder of the film switched gears entirely into reality TV-meets-ghost-hunters territory. A group of college kids, including Sara (Bianca Kajlich), Bill (Thomas Ian Nicholas), Rudy (Sean Patrick Thomas) and Jim (Luke Kirby), enter a contest in which they must spend a night in Michael Myers’ childhood home. Dangertainment, a company founded by Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) and Nora Winston (Tyra Banks), promises a hefty scholarship to all participants. In true slasher fashion, they are picked off one by one.

The film began shooting in May 2001 with an expected fall ‘01 release date. But due to producers wanting a stronger storyline, reshoots were ordered over the coming months that fall. Halloween: Resurrection was initially pushed to the following spring and then later to mid-summer.

“Rick and I had a fun a time onset. We’re both very passionate artists. We definitely had our moments of fun and moments of creative differences, but that’s all the name of the game,” says Nicholas, most famous for his roles in Rookie of the Year and the American Pie films.

He continues, “I think it was an interesting concept and crossing of two ideas. We were gearing into that technology phase [of Blair Witch Project]. It was executed as well as it could be. For me, I was stoked that my first horror movie was part of what I consider one of the original franchises of horror.”

Halloween: Resurrection opened July 12, 2002 and raked in $12 million opening weekend. It went on to gross a very modest $30.3 million, domestically. Its Rotten Tomatoes score stands at a paltry 12 percent.

Below, Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later script writer Robert Zappia discusses his pitch for the movie, and Thomas Ian Nicholas revisists his role and pivotal moments in the story. Also, composer Danny Lux digs into his approach to the classic Halloween Theme and generally unforgettable score, while Natassia Malthe, playing the maid in the party scenes, shares her thoughts on her role.

The Pitch

Zappia: It was in my deal that I had first crack at coming in and pitching a take for ‘Halloween 8.’ In keeping the story as “real” and streamlined as possible, I pitched that Michael Meyers was captured and imprisoned. His signature mask, knife, jumper were checked into the evidence room as Meyers awaited trial. The trial is set to begin.

Of course, Michael gets loose, breaks into the evidence room and collects his things, then goes about murdering the witnesses (survivors from past films) who have gathered in the town to testify (starting with Laurie Strode and John Tate). I thought it would be a fun way to have actors from past films back together again. But alas, we got ‘Resurrection’ instead.

The Myers Effect

What the audience only gets a glimpse of is Bill’s bizarre obsession with Michael Myers. During the interview sequence, in which Dangertainment is shooting up-close and personal interview segments, Bill discusses Michael Myers’ legendary status to a near unhealthy degree.

Nicholas: My character Bill was so sycophantic toward Michael Myers in the original screenplay that I signed on. I remember reading for it and then was asked to come into a director-producer session. It wasn’t quite a screentest, but it was the step before that. I was supposed to be the one that dressed up as Michael Myers in that one scene.

I look back, and I’m always bummed they gave that to Busta Rhymes instead. I think I was a little too short for it. But that would have been funnier to have Brad Loree facing off against me. After that, I made a deal with them. I said, “If you’re going to take that away, then kill my character first…” So, my death was moved up.

I was just doing ‘American Pie 2’ at the time, so I was following in the general nomenclature of being a recognizable face. You turn on a movie like that, and you go, ‘OK, I know who is going to survive the longest.’ It was a big shock when my character died early.

I remember a stanza [in the Dangertainment interview scene] that clarified that I was a big fan of Michael Myers. But it was all foreshadowing what I was going to do with dressing up as him.

Malthe: I didn’t have an audition. Rick spotted me dancing at a nightclub, and he liked my charisma, so he gave me a role on the spot. I was interested in being in everything to do with movies and TV. It was the beginning of my career, so I thought everything was just as exciting as the next. Bit roles or bigger roles, every line counts.

I used to love watching [horror movies] when I was a kid. But then I had a really bad experience with a horror movie or a few, and I found that I couldn’t handle them. I get way, way, way too engrossed when I watch them and scared, so I stopped terrorizing myself.

Negative Reviews

Reception to Halloween: Resurrection is and was overwhelmingly negative. It’s Rotten Tomatoes score, which culls together reviews from such sources as New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter, stands at 12 percent.

Nicholas: I’ve heard lots of things said about the film. If there are any comments on my performance in it, then, I obviously have a really think skin because it didn’t even phase me. [laughs] My first big film and negative reviews were back in 1993 when I was 12 turning 13, so I’ve heard positives and negative opinions about myself. The bottom line is… you’re never as good as you think you are, and you’re never as bad as they say you are.

No Screams for Sara

In the interview segment, Sara is giving her thoughts on why normal people turn to murder. One of the crew is snapping photos and knocks over one of the lighting rigs, which causes a big blast of light and sound. Sara screams so loudly, a glass of water explodes. Reportedly, Bianca Kajlich could not physical screaming, so her screams were dubbed in later. The actors in the scene reacted to dead air, instead.

Nicholas: That happens all the time. That’s the name of the game of filmmaking. Sometimes, you’re doing a reverse shot of a super emotional scene. But then, they need your eye line closer to the camera, so you’re looking at a piece of tape. That’s why they call it acting!

Myers House: Reinvented

The main plot of the film takes place inside a reconstruction of the Myers house on a soundstage. On screen, there is a clear tone of feeling trapped in a confined space. In reality, the stage setup didn’t exactly evoke such an atmosphere during production. The actors were also equipped with body cameras, tying into the pop culture trends of found footage at the time.

Nicholas: We had three different sets for the house. One of them was the exterior for the pull up of the vans. That needed to be a real neighborhood. Then, we had a secondary exterior house on a soundstage and then a third version for all the interior stuff. The weirdest part was when we would do the scenes for all the cameras.

Those cameras were real feeds, and that’s really what you get in the film. We all should have been credited as camera operators. [laughs] We would do all the scenes like normal with the camera, and then, we would clear all the crew out and do the scene just in the house by ourselves filming from the head cameras. If they were really on when the real 35mm PanaVision was there, you’d see everyone in the scene.

Camaraderie On & Off Set

Nicholas: We definitely hung out on the weekends and got into trouble. Bianca and I had a mutual friend. I was and am still friends with Sean Patrick Thomas. There was definitely a hang element. It was a trippy, too, because I was just watching an Amazon show the other day called ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,’ and Luke [Kirby] was on it as Lenny Bruce. But it took me like three episodes before I recognized him.

Element of Comedy: Too Far?

The film has been criticised for its overbearing element of comedy, from sexual innuendos to Freddie’s ku-fung sequences. Historically, comedy is often utilized in horror as a way to break the tension and let the audience know they take take a breath.

Nicholas: Not necessarily. There’s a certain kind of vibe that happens in horror movies where sometimes enough things will happen and something really grotesque will happen. The last sort of reaction you have is to laugh. I find that laughter coincides with horror films for some reason.

It’s based upon the general uncomfortable nature people have in those moments, or they’re sort of left with nothing else to react with. I did one project that was very satirical called ‘Living Among Us’ that was sort of the same thing. We touched on the found-footage element, which we call American New Wave.

There was a lot of laughter in there from the audience, mainly from the most gruesome moments. Dismemberment sparks the biggest laughs from the theatre, for sure. Entertainment is entertainment. So, if you’re entertained, it’s hard to really control the reaction.

Working with Katee Sackhoff

Nicholas’ character Bill interacts most with Katee Sackhoff’s aloof, fame-hungry Jen. Throughout much of the runtime, they flirt and trade witty repartee.

Nicholas: The interaction between us was fairly organic. We weren’t going for something. That was just how it played out.

The Party

The film jumps between the intense claustrophobic feel of the Myers house and the vibrant, high school party scene. Ryan Merriman is the focal point, as him and his sidekick Scott crash the party dressed as characters from Pulp Fiction. But as the night wears on, the computer room fills with other party goers intrigued by the broadcast, which was all CGI’d in post-production.

Malthe: It was the first time I had seen a green screen, and we needed to use our imaginations. I thought, “Wow, what are the leads doing, and how do they do it?” I thought we captured the true youth vibe and fun of that age group, which is always good for a horror movie .

It was more improv, I guess. I had a lot of fun on set and really liked getting to know the cast. I remember everyone comparing Ryan to a young Harrison Ford. He was incredibly nice, and Rick was very nice as well and super encouraging.

Vanity

In one of the most memorable moments, Bill and Jen are in the upstairs bedroom, belonging to Judith Myers. Bill narrates the parallels of Judith and Jen sitting at the “same” vanity brushing their hair. As he teases her to lift her shirt to “light up a thousand computer screens,” Michael Myers lurks from the shadows. Jen raises her shirt, but quickly pulls a fast one on Bill

Nicolas: The reaction Rick Rosenthal used on that particular take is just so genuine from me. It’s the boyish hopefulness, and it’s quickly dashed. [laughs] And then embarrassed.

Psycho Homage

Bill is the first of the bunch to meet his fate. While he plots revenge on Jen for her prank, Michael Myers busts from the bathroom mirror and proceeds to stab him to death. As the camera pans to the wall, it becomes an off-screen kill as the knife’s shadow inches up the cracked, deteriorating molding. Myers then stabs Bill squarely on the top of his skull in a gruesome display.

Nicholas: That was just candy glass [in the mirror], which breaks a lot differently than real glass. When Michael is killing me, and we see the shadow of his knife on the wall, it’s an homage of ‘Psycho.’ Rick is watching the shadows on the camera and directing us and saying, “Tom, get lower.” Eventually, he says that so many times that I’m on my knees in front of Brad, who liked to be really funny behind the mask.

Since we were only shooting shadows while he’s killing me, he said, “Suck it, you pig.” [laughs] Then, I started laughing hysterically. You talk about laughing while watching the movie, well, I was laughing while we were filming.

It’s a gruesome death. I love the reaction of that by the audience. I remember at the premiere, first they’re scared and startled that Michael comes through the mirror unexpectedly, then there’s the sequence of stabbing, stabbing, stabbing. Then, you’re still recovering from the shock, and then, the moment happens when the knife goes through the skull. Everyone’s like “Ohhhhhhh.”

Just Hangin’ Around

A few moment later, at the start of act three, Jen discovers Bill’s lifeless body hanging from the attic’s wooden ladder. It serves as the plot device to make a big reveal that Michael Myers is alive and well in the house and killing the cast.

Nicholas: I get to scare the audience again after Michael Myers stuffs me in the attic. Katee’s character is looking for me and pulls the ladder down. I drop down, and that’s me on a harness as a dead body upside down. It mainly happens during the scene when we were filming with the cameras because that take was much longer. I was hanging upside down for so long, blood burst in my eye.

I had to do reshoots on ‘American Pie 2,’ which was challenging because I had burst a blood vessel in my eye from hanging upside down for so long. At the end of ‘American Pie 2,’ in the scene where we’re all talking it out and talking about the rule of three, everyone’s light is pretty normal. And then there’s this super orange glow on me. It was mainly put there to cover up my blood-burst eye.

Working with Brad Loree

Nicholas: He’d do that kind of [comedic] stuff all the time. He’d say something through the mask at moments when it wouldn’t obviously ruin the shot, but it was always hard to keep a straight face. It’s funny I had trouble keeping a straight face while filming a horror movie. Go figure.

Scoring the Film

Love of the Craft

Danny Lux explains the creativity he finds in composing.

Lux: I love the concept of marrying music to the story telling on the screen. Creativity comes from the inspiration on the screen for me. Usually, I find I can get more creative and use more interesting sounds and writing ideas when the picture has a darker feel to it. This can be a mysterious drama, etc…so horror movies fall into that category in an extreme manner when it comes to how big your musical ideas and sounds can be incorporated into these kinds of scores.

Updated Halloween Theme

The revamped version of John Carpenter’s classic Halloween theme has often be considered one of the best, particularly in its haunting undercurrent and almost otherworldly approach.

Lux: I was always a very big fan of the first ‘Halloween’ movie and the Carpenter Main Title is truly iconic. I did not set out to try and re-invent it but rather just add some more modern rhythm production to it and add some orchestration elements that tied into the rest of the score, i.e., the female vocal and some string enhancements, etc. In the end ,I thought it came out great, yet still sounded very true to the original version.

The Ceremony

One of the most unforgettable compositions is “The Ceremony,” which soundtracks the moment when the cast of characters is lighting candles around the dining room table. Cool blue hues splash on the screen, and the visual is paired with Lux’s delicate but powerful style.

Lux: I don’t recollect having that many deep conversations about specifics with the producer Paul Freeman and director Rick Rosenthal. Both were very open to let me sort of run with most ideas. That scene just felt cult-like and gothic to me, so the music that I wrote was just me reacting to what the scene felt like to me as a viewer. You are right to point that scene out as there is no other piece of score that has that sound in the rest of the movie.

You’ve Heard of The Tunnel

Donna’s death in the underground tunnel is cut with shots of a highschool party. The tension and sense of dread is juxtaposed against a backdrop of youthful naivety and humor.

Lux: I played the earlier part more ambient and creepy which is how much of the score plays when they are searching around the house throughout the movie. Then, right before we cut to the party, the music swells into the party song. When we cut back to Donna being chased, now we are in full “Michael Myers” score reflecting back to the Halloween Theme. It was intentional to play the main Halloween Theme just about every time Michael Myers was approaching to make a kill, so to speak. As we cut back, his theme plays until he reaches her, and then it switches into more action-slasher music.

Traditional Ways

Similarities can certainly be drawn between the scores of Halloween: Resurrection and its previous installment, 1998’s Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later. Both feature heavy theatrics, attempts to make the otherwise low-scale story feel much grander and sweeping.

Lux: I was informed on the onset that much of the ‘Halloween H20’ score had been thrown out and replaced with some cues that were tracked from ‘Scream.’ John Ottman approached ‘Halloween H20’ in a more Bernard Herman kind of way, which was probably very cool, but in the end, I was told the studio didn’t like it and wanted it to be a more traditional “slasher” sound.  For me, the more hybrid sound but leaning more orchestral was intentional, as they wanted it to sound more like a traditional “slasher” score but still wanted it to feel like a “big feature” kind of sound.

Less is More

Throughout much of Lux’s score, the Halloween theme appears in traces, adding a minimalistic texture, in parts, and a sense of looming tragedy.

Lux: It was pretty simple concept for the most part.  The request was to try and infuse the Main Theme as much as possible during the big Michael Myers moments. The theme only plays when you see him and in the big opening sections but is always tied to him. In retrospect, it would of been fun to explore a few more of the sub themes of the original movie, but it just did not go that direction.

The Final Chase

The shy and mousey Sara has an epic chase sequence in the climax of the movie. After discovering her friend Rudy’s body pinned to the kitchen door, Michael Myers pounces, and she runs toward the basement to escape.

Lux: Honestly, I don’t remember overthinking it. I just tried to make it as exciting and scary as possible. The movie is basically a very long action movie that has such huge peaks and valleys in the energy. The goal is that by the end it really feels like the musical peak to the movie. The end fight scene has lots of action, fire and he even gets electrocuted. There is plenty on the screen to react to, musically speaking.

It might be the most fun gig I ever had in terms of what I could write and just how over the top and huge the music could be. Of course, it is all dictated by what was on the screen. I had a blast doing it, and I hope, as a viewer, I made the movie scarier and more fun to watch. That was my true goal. I love that I got to be part of this iconic movie franchise.

First Reaction to the Movie

Nicholas: I thought it was good for what it was. I would say that at this point we went from being on the lower rung to having more films beneath us. I’ve heard some pretty negative reactions to Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’s. But now, it doesn’t really matter because none of us actually exist. The canon’s all erased.

Mementos from Set

Nicholas: I probably have a copy of the script somewhere in my studio. Lord knows where. Well, technically, I did snag a Michael Myers jumpsuit. That part of the story didn’t change until I was onset, so I definitely took that. [laughs] I fulfilled my destiny later on, and I bought a super legit Michael Myers mask from Cinema Secrets in Burbank for $1000 that was done off the mold of William Shatner. So, I could be Michael Myers on any Halloween I wanted to. [laughs]