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John Carpenter

#1 at the Box Office, Halloween Smashes Records

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Three days into its release, David Gordon Green’s Halloween has smashed box office records, raking in domestically $77m during its opening weekend, making it #1 at the box office, while also rendering it the biggest horror movie opening EVER with a female lead (in star Jamie Lee Curtis) and biggest movie opening of all time with a female lead over 55.

Additional records set include: second biggest horror movie opening ever, second biggest October movie opening ever, biggest opening for a slasher film ever (even adjusted for inflation), biggest Blumhouse debut, and biggest Halloween franchise opening ever.

Whew! Michael Myers truly has come home.

Said Halloween producer Malek Akkad of Trancas International Films, who’s been shepherding since 1995 the franchise his father Moustapha Akkad co-created in 1978 with director John Carpenter, Debra Hill and producer Irwin Yablans, “I’m thrilled to see the reinvigoration of something my father helped to start, and happy to see the overwhelmingly positive response of fans and critics alike to the return of Halloween. This weekend’s success and fervor over what we’ve been able to achieve is both humbling and altogether exciting, and it’s a testament to my producing partners Blumhouse, Miramax, Rough House and director David Gordon Green, and the incredible job Universal has done in the marketing and release of the film.”  

The eleventh film in the franchise and co-written by director Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is intended as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic, and thusly disregards all of the series subsequent entries. Trancas International Films’ Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Miramax’s Bill Block produce, with McBride, Green and returning star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator Carpenter, who also serves as the film’s composer.

Check out the film’s trailer below, and get your film tickets here.

Halloween Premiere Photos, Video & More!

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Director and co-writer David Gordon Green’s Halloween held its official premiere to a packed house this past Wednesday, October 17th at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, and HalloweenMovies was there to document the buzzed-about event forty years in the making. Read on for video, photo galleries and more.

Attended by director and co-writer Green, co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley and producers Malek Akkad of Trancas International Films, Jason Blum of Blumhouse and Bill Block of Miramax (among others), as well as returning series star and executive producer Jamie Lee Curtis and fellow key cast members Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney, the cast and crew arrived to a Grauman’s courtyard decked out with a façade emulating the infamous Myers house from John Carpenter’s 1978 originating classic.

Additionally in attendance for the event were Halloween 2018 stars Rhian Rees, Virginia Gardner, Dylan Arnold, Miles Robbins, Drew Scheid, Jibrail Nantambu and executive producer Ryan Freimann and co-producer Ryan Turek, as well as FX artist Christopbher Nelson and Halloween 1978 producer Irwin Yablans and cast members PJ Soles and Kyle Richards.

Following the carpet, producers Akkad, Blum and Block took to Grauman’s stage to kick-off the screening (see the video below).

Followed by McBride and Green.

And lastly the grande dame of final girls herself, Jamie Lee Curtis.

On the heels of the wildly received premiere, a filmmakers after party was held poolside at the Roosevelt Hotel on Hollywood Blvd.

 

The eleventh film in the long-running and successful franchise, Halloween is now in theaters. Get your tickets here.

“We’re from Haddonfield, Couldn’t Be Prouder!” Television Spot Heralds Halloween

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The latest television spot from director David Gordon Green’s Halloween brings the cheer, and the fear.

The eleventh film in the franchise and co-written by director Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is intended as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s 1978 classic of the same name, and thusly disregards all of the series subsequent entries. Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block produce, with McBride, Green and returning star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator Carpenter, who also serves as the film’s composer.

Halloween opens wide in theaters this Friday, October 19th via Universal Pictures.

“It Needs to Die!” Halloween ‘True Crime’ Clips Come Home

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“My suggestion is termination. There’s nothing to be gained by keeping evil alive.”

Ahead of this Friday’s release of David Gordon Green’s feature film Halloween on October 19th, Universal Pictures has released a couple of compelling ‘true crime’ clips heralding the film’s debut – one of which contains a dire warning from Dr. Sam Loomis. Read on for a look.


The eleventh film in the franchise, co-written by director David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is intended as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic of the same name, and thusly disregards all of the series subsequent entries. Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block produce, with McBride, Green and star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator Carpenter, who also serves as the film’s composer.

How Long Can You Survive the 8-bit ‘Escape Michael Myers’ Video Game?

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Forty years in the making, Laurie Strode’s final (?) confrontation with Michael Myers hits the big screen this Friday, October 19th from Universal Pictures, and to get you in the mood, the retro-style ‘Escape Michael Myers’ video game, in which the boogeyman chases our beloved and beleaguered final girl through a graveyard, the streets of Haddonfield and beyond, is now available for free online at www.escapemichaelmyers.com

It’s pretty addictive, although we here at Trancas haven’t been able to survive any longer than a minute and a half. How will you fair against The Shape?

The eleventh film in the franchise, co-written by director David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is intended as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic of the same name, and thusly disregards all of the series subsequent entries. Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block produce, with McBride, Green and star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator Carpenter, who also serves as the film’s composer.

My Favorite Horror Movie: Michael Gingold on John Carpenter’s Halloween

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With 1978’s Halloween currently in theaters (the film returned to cinemas on September 27th via CineLife Entertainment/Trancas International Films/Compass International Pictures), we’re continuing at HalloweenMovies.com our celebration of the John Carpenter classic via a series of essays on the subject.

Culled from the 2018 best-selling book My Favorite Horror Movie, which features 48 essays by horror creators on the films which shaped them (from our own Editor-in-Chief Sean Decker to Contracted star Matt Mercer and beyond), they serve to explore just why 40 years later, The Shape still terrifies.

In our final essay from the book, horror luminary Michael Gingold digs deep into Haddonfield.

HALLOWEEN
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MICHAEL GINGOLD

All through my preteen years, I couldn’t handle horror films. I was that kid who was freaked out by scary  stuff. Forget watching through my fingers; I would actually stand while viewing genre flicks on TV, just in case they got to be too much and I had to run from the room. I was a big fan of Godzilla and similar monster movies, but the harder-core stuff—even the ones that were rated PG—was too intimidating. I did want to see Jaws when it first hit theaters just because I was so into sharks at the time, though the “May be too intense for younger children” note on the ads forestalled that possibility.

Things began to change around the time I turned twelve. I went to see Invasion of the Body Snatchers with my family and made it through unscathed (though today, I’m stunned it got away with a PG rating). Through the following spring and summer, I began getting curious about horror, and seeing a few of the R-rated examples—like Phantasm and Alien—along with Jaws, finally. They all had the desired effect, and I hid my eyes during Phantasm’s silver sphere scene and Alien’s chest-burster. Still, I began not only getting comfortable with being frightened by film, but enjoying the sensation—the natural high it created. My intrigue was fueled by a cover story in Newsweek called “Hollywood’s Scary Summer,” and the emergence of a new magazine called Fangoria (which featured my old friend Godzilla on the front of its first issue). And later in 1979, I saw the movie that made me love being scared.

I was vaguely familiar with John Carpenter’s Halloween, having seen a television ad or two when it first opened in October 1978. At that time, a newspaper-workers’ strike had shut down The New York Times, the paper in our household, so I didn’t read much about the movie then; in fact, I read more about it during a family vacation to England in the summer of ’79, when it had opened in the UK to lots of positive attention. Back then, however, before the video market took over, popular movies were rereleased all the time within a year or so of their initial openings, and so it was with Halloween, which returned to theaters in October ’79. That’s when I first saw it, and I didn’t know what hit me.

Never mind the now-classic opening single-take shot from young Michael Myers’ point of view; the damn music frightened me before the film proper even started. Carpenter’s simple but chilling 5/4-time theme had my hackles raised within the first minute, and the movie had me in its grip from then on. I don’t recall if I screamed out loud, but my grandmother, who took me to the movie (my parents just weren’t into the horror stuff), was genuinely concerned afterward at how frightened I had been.

She needn’t have worried. I had indeed been scared half to death by Halloween, more than by anything I’d ever watched before, and yet I had found it exhilarating. It was a huge change in the way I experienced movies. A year before, I had barely been able to take a made-for-TV schlocker like Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell; now, a movie that was originally advertised with the tagline “When were you last scared out of your wits by a movie?” had completely lived up to that promise—and I enjoyed the hell out of it. (The reissue ads, conversely, were stocked with laudatory quotes from critics. Contrary to popular belief, Halloween attracted a number of positive reviews from the start; one of my favorite excerpts—I can’t recall the source now—was “It’ll scare the seeds out of your pumpkin.”)

Part of the reason Halloween was so effective was that it literally got me where I lived. I grew up in exactly the kind of suburban town where Michael comes home to do his dirty work, and what makes the scenes between his prologue slaying of his sister and his All Hallows’ Eve rampage work so well is how ordinary, and thus relatable, they are. There’s nothing special about Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie and her friends, nor are they the hopped-up sex and party monsters of so many subsequent slasher films; they’re just typical teenage girls with typical teenage concerns. Producer and co-scripter Debra Hill reportedly wrote most of the heroines’ dialogue, and demonstrated a remarkable skill at capturing the tone and tenor with which young women conversed—not to mention that Lynda’s (P.J. Soles) favorite expression “totally” anticipated Frank and Moon Zappa’s hit song “Valley Girl” by four years.

Once we’ve gotten to know our central trio, along with young Tommy (Brian Andrews), whose dread of Halloween and “the boogeyman” helps amplify our own, Carpenter tightens the screws with merciless precision, demonstrating a remarkable handle on composition, framing and pacing. Even as I was caught up in Laurie and co.’s escalating fright, Halloween was the first time I was aware that a movie was directed, and I was able to admire Carpenter’s craft at the same time it was holding me in a death grip.

I became an instant Carpenter fan, eagerly anticipating each new film from the director (I didn’t have to wait long; The Fog debuted only five months later). I reviewed Halloween for my junior-high-school newspaper; one of the first pieces of criticism I ever wrote. I attempted to teach myself Carpenter’s Halloween theme on the family piano, and almost mastered it. I read Curtis Richards’ novelization and was puzzled by why the author felt it necessary to throw in the distracting backstory about Samhain (if only I knew…).

And when Halloween II opened in 1981, three friends and I went on Halloween night. This was back before sequels and franchise pictures had taken over the movie scene the way they have now. We weren’t dutifully catching the latest entry in an established series, we were getting more Halloween! The entire audience was primed for it, and we all responded with screams and laughs at the right places, shouted advice to Jamie Lee Curtis and “Shut up!” when that dumb cop says something stupid during the climactic action. Some consider Halloween II unworthy of its predecessor, but I’ll probably never be able to judge it objectively, because seeing it that first time was one of the best moviegoing experiences of my life. Part of the thrill was that we all went in costume, figuring the disguises would help our 14 and 15-year-old selves get into this R-rated movie without a parent or adult guardian, and we were right; seeing it unchaperoned was part of the excitement.

In the years since, I’ve seen hundreds (thousands?) of horror films, but none will ever hold the place in my heart that Halloween does. Halloween was the movie that crept into my psyche and unlocked that area where the fascination with the dark, scary and unknown resides. It transformed me from a casual fan of fright cinema to a passionate follower of the genre – just at the right time, when horror had its explosion of popularity in the very late ’70s and early ’80s. It was the film that I held all subsequent scare films up against. And it led me to a career in the horror field, fulfilling the dream that Halloween first inspired. One of my proudest achievements is the 8,000-word-plus history of the cinematic Michael Myers saga that I wrote for the booklet accompanying Shout! Factory and Anchor Bay’s Halloween: The Complete Collection deluxe Blu-ray boxed set. (On the other hand, when I took a gig scripting a very-low-budget movie called Halloween Night, my attempt to honor Carpenter’s legacy was completely stymied by the execution.)

I’ve seen Halloween countless times since that first viewing back in ’79, and while it doesn’t frighten me now like it did back then, I am still in thrall to what a relentlessly well-crafted film it is. To me, it’s one of those perfect movies, one that doesn’t have a wasted moment, in which all the elements click together perfectly. From the performances to the music to Dean Cundey’s mobile cinematography, which draws us right into the action (though it does not, as commonly thought, take Michael’s point of view at any point after his childhood prologue), every part of Halloween works in concert toward one goal: To terrify you, to leave you shaking when it’s over, yet to make you feel elated rather than worn down. Halloween did that to my 12-year-old self better than any other movie has since, and that’s why it remains my favorite horror movie.

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Check out the new trailer for the re-release of 1978’s Halloween below, and for theatre and ticketing info, please visit www.CineLifeEntertainment.com

TAKEN FROM THE BOOK
MY FAVORITE HORROR MOVIE
© 2018 CHRISTIAN ACKERMAN/BLACK VORTEX CINEMA
MYFAVORITEHORRORMOVIE.COM

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Trancas International Films or any other agency, organization, employer or company.

Halloween: 40 Years of Terror Convention is Happening Now

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Presented by HorrorHound Ltd., Sean Clark, Trancas International Films and Compass International Pictures, the Halloween: 40 Years of Terror convention which runs today, October 12th through the 14th at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena, California is upon us, and promises to be the biggest celebration ever of the storied, four decade-spanning franchise.

Featuring celebrity guests from all eleven films in the franchise (the impressive list, which includes notable cast, directors and crew is massive and continues to grow, and contains many first-time ever appearances), one-of-a-kind events, special gallery offerings, cast Q&As, a Horror’s Hallowed Grounds location bus tour, exclusive H40 and Halloween merchandise offerings, a Saturday night after party with live music by Halloween 4, 5 & 6 composer Alan Howarth, myriad vendors and much more, it’s an event not to be missed.

With VIP tickets having already SOLD OUT, admission to the Halloween: 40 Years of Terror convention CAN STILL be obtained here (although I’d predict not for long, so don’t dawdle). For further information on the convention, including schedule, lodging and more, visit the official site here, and stay up to date with them on the convention’s Facebook page here.

Diff’rent Strodes: A Tale of Two Lauries

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Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton Takes a Look at 2018’s Final Girl, Twenty Years Removed

For genre fans, the name Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton has become synonymous with modern horror journalism. From his humble beginnings working with The Horror Channel in the early 2000s and his co-creation of the revered Dread Central in 2006 (where he served as Editor-in-Chief for well over a decade) to his recent establishment of the popular Brainwaves Horror and Paranormal podcast in 2016, Barton’s erudite knowledge and unflinching editorial candor have made him a highly respected luminary within the horror sphere.

With that, I’m thrilled to welcome back Barton to HalloweenMovies.com as a guest writer, as here he takes a breezy look back at the tale of two Lauries, from director Steve Miner’s 1998 film Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later to director David Gordon Green’s upcoming Halloween, which opens in theaters this October 19th from Universal Pictures.

Sean Decker, Editor-in-Chief, HalloweenMovies.com

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Diff’rent Strodes: A Tale of Two Lauries

Trauma. There’s no right or wrong way to deal with it. Everyone handles their demons in far different ways, but sometimes said demons are so diabolical… so maniacal… that even if you survive their onslaught, there’s no way you could ever be the same. As noted in my earlier piece, the Halloween franchise is home to very different plot threads, and that’s part of what makes it so enduring and exciting. It’s also home to two vastly different portrayals of the same character by the same actress – the indomitable Jamie Lee Curtis.

At the end of John Carpenter’s Halloween, Curtis’ character of Laurie Strode was left shaken, bloodied, broken, and barely breathing. The events of Halloween II were a direct extension of the horrors of that night. Strode was still very much hanging by a thread. Was it the boogeyman? As a matter of fact, it was.

This all led to Halloween: H20. In Steve Miner’s 1998 film, twenty years had passed since the massacre in Haddonfield, and Laurie still held on to the possibility that the events of that horrific night were not yet at their end. The result? She chose to fake her own death and assume the fictitious identity of one Keri Tate, a dean at a private school in Northern California, residing there with her 17-year-old son, John, the only other person to know her true name.

In H20, things haven’t been easy for Strode, and given the sound of her relationship with John’s father, who she describes as “An abusive, chain smoking, methadone addict,” her life has remained in the proverbial shitter. It’s no wonder she chose to hide. To start fresh. Her son didn’t deserve to be a product of the pain she’s been put through and struggles she’s had to face. Starting over and regaining some semblance of normality is high on her agenda. Make no mistake… Laurie in H20 is not weak; in fact she’s damned strong. She may have her demons, exemplified by alcohol abuse and a cabinet full of prescription pills, but she endures.

Unfortunately, her greatest fear is speeding toward Hillcrest Academy, and this time The Shape is looking to finish what he started. Their confrontation forces Laurie to channel her strength and anger into doing what needs to be done. However, the relentless killing machine that is Michael Myers ends up slipping away again, and this “seemingly” costs Strode her sanity and ultimately her life.

But now, forty years since Michael’s initial rampage, a different Laurie is back; and this one is doing anything but hiding. Instead, her psychological scars are on display, and not unlike like Myers, she’s been lying in wait for just the right moment to exact her own revenge. She’s empowered, angry, strong, and calculating. Gone is the sweet girl-next-door babysitter, and in her place is a warrior. One who will never let anyone or anything take from her again. She has a daughter and granddaughter whom she will fight tooth and nail for, and a single-gear drive that keeps her laser focused. She knows now that both she and Dr. Loomis were right: Michael Myers IS the boogeyman, and this time she will be ready.

There’s a lot of psychology at work in the best entries of the Halloween franchise. That’s what makes it so very special and why it has endured the test of time. How would you react if everything you knew and loved was taken from you? Especially your innocence. Ultimately it’s the loss of Laurie’s that is the most compelling victim of Myers, and David Gordon Green dives into the exploration of that loss, and the reclaiming of power – a conversation itself  pulled from the headlines – in Halloween.

Laurie roars.

Curtis is the kind of actor who has an incredibly dynamic range, and that’s part of what makes her character of Laurie Strode as legendary and iconic as The Shape himself. This undeniably epic collision that’s on our horizon… it is a gift for Halloween fans and the genre as a whole. We’re headed toward the exciting climax of a rivalry that has been brewing for decades. One whose epitaph is bound to be etched into stone and splashed with blood.

This is as big as it gets. Are you ready?

Trick or treat.
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Co-written by director David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween serves as the eleventh entry in the franchise and is intended as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s seminal 1978 film of the same name. Produced by Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block, with McBride, Green and star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and John Carpenter, the latter who also serves as the film’s composer.

Halloween opens wide in theaters on October 19th 2018 via Universal Pictures.

Halloween Tickets Are Now On Sale!

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No tricks, just treats! With the frenzy nearing a fever pitch for David Gordon Green’s upcoming and hotly-anticipated Halloween, tickets for what is shaping up to be the movie event of the season have now gone on pre-sale at Fandango!

Having received rave reviews from its premiere screenings at Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest and Salem Horror Fest, you can NOW BUY TICKETS HERE to see the film when it bows in theaters everywhere from Universal Pictures on October 19th.

Says Variety’s Peter Debruge of the film, “David Gordon Green does horror fans a favor, bringing Michael Myers’ slasher-movie saga back to its roots,” while Katie Walsh of Nerdist proclaims: “David Gordon Green delivers the best Halloween sequel ever.”

That’s not all. Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly states, “Long live Michael Myers, so maybe someone can finally kill him — in a big, funny, scary, squishy, super-meta sequel that brings it all back to John Carpenter’s iconic 1978 original,” Dreadcentral’s Jonathan Barkan muses, “After years of waiting for a Halloween sequel that felt like it did justice to John Carpenter’s original masterpiece of slasher horror, David Gordon Green has brought us a vision of terror that gives fans what they’ve been craving,” and originating filmmaker Carpenter himself has declared that following his 1978 original, Green’s is the best in the franchise.

The eleventh film in the series and co-written by director Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is intended as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s ‘78 film, and thusly disregards all of the series subsequent entries. Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block produce, with McBride, Green and star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator Carpenter, who also serves as the film’s composer.

Exclusive NYCC Halloween Poster Revealed

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With New York Comic Con in full effect now through Sunday, legendary artist Todd McFarlane has unveiled his brand new exclusive-to-NYCC poster for David Gordon Green’s upcoming October release of Halloween.

Want one? It’s simple. Just follow the film’s official Twitter account @halloweenmovie for updates from #NYCC this weekend.

Halloween next plays tomorrow, October 6th at Beyond Fest in Hollywood, CA at the Egyptian Theater as part of ‘Halloween Day’ (along with 1974’s Black Christmas and 1978’s Halloween, with Halloween series producer Malek Akkad in person, and more) before opening wide in theaters on October 19th, 2018 via Universal Pictures.

Co-written by director Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is produced by Trancas International Films’ Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block, with McBride, Green and star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator John Carpenter, the latter who also serves as the film’s composer.