It was the year 1978 when the horror began… and now, more than 40 years later, it continues. John Carpenter’s “Halloween” was a masterpiece and not just the best horror movie of that year, but classic horror at its best. It helped establish the slasher genre and inspired a whole slew of other movies of the genre as well as a bunch of sequels. Carpenter is a master of horror and created a movie with a great story, intense score, and a murderous maniac who just won’t quit.
None of the 9 (!) sequels that followed held a candle to the original that saw Michael Myers escape the asylum “the night he came home”. But when it was announced in 2016 that Carpenter himself would be coming back as executive producer for a new title, a direct sequel to the 1978 classic, horror fans were thrilled. The 2018 “Halloween” directed by David Gordon Green had Jamie Lee Curtis return as Laurie Strode some 40 years after the horrendous occurrences of the original movie. Earning more than $250 million at the box offices worldwide, it was no surprise the studio was set to continue the saga.
Mike Myers will return this Halloween in “Halloween Kills”. His killing spree is set to end in October 2022 with the third part of the trilogy “Halloween Ends” – bringing the “The Saga of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers” to an end.
The 12th entry in the Halloween franchise is coming our way
The 2018 “Halloween” directly follows the story of the very first movie directed by John Carpenter. All the absurdities of the many sequels that followed were ignored to bring a direct sequel to the original. The movie deals with how Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family handled her horrific experience with maniac Mike Myers (Nick Castle) in the past four decades since that memorable Halloween night. But whoever thought the ending of that movie would in fact be the end of Mike Myers was wrong. He will return… and as Laurie Strode says in the teaser trailer for “Halloween Kills” herself: “Next Halloween, when the sun sets and someone is alone, he kills!”
The new “Halloween Kills” will continue Laurie’s and her family’s fight with Myers once again. It is set in the same night and will continue where the last movie ended. Seemingly, the Strode’s were able to trap and kill the masked murderer – or so it appeared. But as we already know from experience, that maniac is not easily killed. Myers will strike again, the Strode’s will continue their battle. The saga is set to continue on 15. October 2021, with the third in the trilogy scheduled for a release Halloween 2022, which will (finally) see an end to that masked murderer.
A horror franchise took the world by storm
Nobody could have anticipated what the 1978 “Halloween” would turn out to be. It put John Carpenter on Hollywood’s radar and started the slasher genre, which spurred movies the likes of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Friday the 13th”. It also sparked a whole slew of sequels, as well as novels, merchandise, and games. All eleven films have been novelised, while a few other novels, as well as comic books, were written based on the series’ characters. In 1983 the video game “Halloween” was released by Wizard Video for the Atari 2600 which is loosely based on the film. With the recent revival of the series, a new game was released in 2017. This time around, Myers takes on a new life on an online slot machine created by developer Microgaming. Some of the best slots casinos available in South Africa feature the online game among their wide selection of casino games available to be played online. The “Halloween Online Slot” uses the iconic characters of Myers and Strode and includes the legendary soundtrack of the original film. It seems the dreadful saga keeps continuing one way or another.
More than 40 years have passed and Michael Myers’ killing fest is nowhere near ceasing. This Halloween will bring more of the maniac’s madness and will continue poor Laurie Strode’s fight against the killer. Let’s have John Carpenter himself have the last word. In an interview with NME, he said the following about the upcoming “Halloween Kills”: “Holy Toledo! It’s the ultimate slasher movie. It’s Halloween on steroids. It’s great.” – and we can’t wait!