One of the fatal flaws seen in a variety of sequels is the need to re-explain previous events in a film. Sure, as a filmmaker, you want to make sure that the entire audience is up to speed on what’s going on. But sometimes, it’s just better to keep it simple. Thankfully, in the case of the upcoming “Halloween” sequel, filmmaker David Gordon Green went against his original idea to reshoot a famous scene from the original thanks to a very famous voice of reason.
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In a new interview with Bloody Disgusting, Green talks about how he wanted to re-film the ending of 1978’s “Halloween” for his new sequel. For those that haven’t seen the original (how dare you, first of all!), the film ends with Michael Myers being shot multiple times by Dr. Loomis as the slasher attempts to kill Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode. Of course, when the camera pans down to see Myers’ body, he’s mysteriously disappeared.
“We had this very complicated overhead view of Loomis shooting the gun, Michael going over and then the apprehension, assuming everybody was going to need a little bit to get back up to speed with where we are and we haven’t seen the movie in a long time or we’ve never seen the movie, had to invite everyone to the party and that kind of thing. We kept pushing it off,” explained Green, regarding the idea to re-film the scene, and its aftermath.
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“Jamie would’ve recreated, with a blend of Jamie and a body double similar to 19-year-old Jamie,” he continued. “We had all these ideas.”
The filmmaker even hired body doubles to cover for Dr. Loomis and a police officer. However, as his ideas began to grow, as did the cost to do this scene, Green was interrupted by a familiar face in the “Halloween” franchise — filmmaker John Carpenter.
“This was Carpenter actually calming me down on set,” Green said. “I’m like, ‘Nobody’s going to know what’s happening and where we’re coming from.’ He’s like, ‘Just trust ‘em and leave ‘em alone and let ‘em figure it out.’”
According to early reviews, including our own from TIFF, Green apparently listened to Carpenter, and in turn, his new “Halloween” is a true worthy successor to the original. And now, the director has a cautionary tale for all those budding storytellers and filmmakers. Less is more, and trust your audience.
“Halloween” hits theaters on October 19.