Halloween Hokum: Please Kill Michael Myers Already
How Many Times Can The Shape Come Back To Haunt Laurie Strode
Halloween Kills killed at the box office. The umpteenth Halloween movie entry showcasing the sadistic stylings of Michael Myers did boffo box office in yet another go round of slashing feature film fun.
Gore Gods, I summon thee with urgent beseechment: When will it finally end?
My question is an authentic, desperate plea yet I already know the obvious answer. It won’t ever end as long as the business end holds up. And that’s no guilt trip, as Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and the Clive Barker created Hellraiser Cenobites all produced their dozens of sequels and prequels. Before them, Dracula, the Wolfman and the Mummy did the same to adoring audiences. Movies are a business after all, and only the truly innocent to hopelessly ignorant aren’t aware of that profitable fact.
Although Halloween Kills performed well financially, fans and critics joined in a chorus of disappointment to even outright hate. Already, this entry is no darling favorite of the fanbase. So where does this put the producers considering the creation of the next blood soaked installment?
Maybe it’s simply time to call it a nightmarish day.
Holiday Horror
Holidays bring all of us joy and thrilling expectations. No matter the age, we wait for Santa or the Easter Bunny, or whatever your belief system is, to bring some fun and happiness into our too often sedate lives. Think of Michael Myers as the Santa of Sadism. He’s become a holiday favorite, a classic even, and when that happens, there’s no turning back for those who profit from his productions.
But the law of diminishing returns, and a public jaded to yet another Laurie Strode stalkfest weakens things considerably. Profit can be dulled from simply too much exposure.
Michael Meyers has had a great run. He’s been dispatching randy teens since the 1970’s. I’m an enormous fan of the early Halloween films. The first two are go to favorites of mine, and the third is a wonderfully clever way to free Myers from the Halloween franchise. Unfortunately, fans rejected a Halloween movie without Mr. Myers calling the bloody shots, so producers went back to the bloody well for the rest of the still grinding on run.
John Carpenter and co-writer/producer Debra Hill created something powerful with their first Halloween film. Honestly, it’s kind of sad for me to want Michael Myers to finally be dragged unceremoniously to the great cinematic boneyard, but I feel it’s time his ticket expired for good, or at least a long while. Of course there’s always another day for silver screen icons to reappear. This last installment supposedly will have a final coda - so my plea to call it a day won’t happen anytime soon. Perhaps after the final to this trilogy is old news, the producers will let Halloween as a horror franchise rest and meditate on a way to resume without frustrating or boring the bejeezus out of us.
I didn’t even know there was a new movie. I agree with you. Done to death. Or undeath. The franchise is a rotting corpse, and should be cremated and scattered to the wind.