Even it's far from the most spectacular horror franchise out there, the Halloween series has been close to my heart since my teens. Especially after watching a cut version of Halloween 2 alone, which scared the shit out of me. It was a Swedish sell-through tape, but after that I found an uncut Swedish x-rental and sometime much later I bought the first DVD in the series. John Carpenter's Halloween actually disappointed me at the first watch, not near as gory or cool as Rick Rosenthal's! But of course it's been growing on me ever since and it's a masterpiece of suspense.
But you all know my love for remakes, sequels and everything else heretic, and I dug myself up through the series until I saw Halloween: 20 Years Later in cinema, which was an amazing experience. I still dig that movie a lot! But back to this text, which is about Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. Not the favorite movie in every horror fans collection, but it's always there together with the rest of the bunch. Say what you want about it, but it's still better than the over-blown and ultra silly part 5, which introduced the sect-theme also visible (even more) in Curse. But where part 5 just was a humorless try, Curse wanna make up for what's been happening and creats maybe the first "aware horror" film, something Scream did the year after, Hellraiser: Hellworld and Jason Goes To Hell also later, a movie where people actually consider Michael Myers as dangerous serial killer who by now have transformed into an urban legend. It's time for halloween again in Haddonfield and the new generation of kids is mocking the legend of Myers, making signs with his face and name - bunch like they did in Scream 4.
Curse of Michael Myers goes from a pretty routine slasher to more of a gothic feeling, where even the heroine and her boyfriend are dressed like the Bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster. That's not the only pop culture references in the film. Watch out for a Divine sticker on the fridge of Paul Rudd (yes, that Paul Rudd - utterly bizarre!) and later on the heorine is locked into... Room 237! The sidestory about the abusive father and submissive mother, the super-Rebublican family of the heroine (they're living in the old Myers house) is wasted away on a couple of kill scenes instead of something like the route they took in Amityville 2, a mix between strong family drama and gory kills. You can't have it all.
Even if it mostly gets scathing reviews from both fans and foes, The Curse of Michael Myers is slightly better than it's reputation. From time to time it actually feels like an episode of The X-Files, one of those episodes based on black magic or other versions of the occult. Michael Myers himself is less scary. A bit too causal in his apperance, walking more with a hipster swag than that of a supernatural serial killer. He’s not really interested in what he’s doing it seems.
My favorite part, which I think they should have focused on, is the fragments of radio shows we hear in the beginning. People, conspiracy nuts, is debating if Myers is alive, that he's controlled by the government. Someone mentions that the caught Myers and too him to Langley and he there killed eight agents. THAT story would have been interesting to see, something more deep into the government intelligence, instead of just another "crazy sect wants the last blood of the Myers family to do blah blah blah...". You know the deal.
“Michael Myers in space!”, a voice on the radio also tells us - because someone else thought the government sent him out there. This could have been a reference to what almost all the other horror franchises have done, brought their baddie into space - but this was before Pinhead, Jason, Leprechaun and the Critters took the space route to a new twist, so somehow even Michael Myers from the past laughs at the idea that he would go up in space.
...and it seems he's still correct about that, no Myers in space. Not yet.
"Not the favorite movie in every horror fans collection, but it's always there together with the rest of the bunch."
I haven´t seen it but since it´s sequel I guess people hate it....
"That's not the only pop culture references in the film. Watch out for a Divine sticker on the fridge of Paul Rudd (yes, that Paul Rudd - utterly bizarre!) and later on the heorine is locked into... Room 237!"
Rudd big actor nowadays, very talented guy, watch The Shape of Things (2003).
hahahhahha......Room 237.....no Bates motel reference?
"From time to time it actually feels like an episode of The X-Files, one of those episodes based on black magic or other versions of the occult."
Ah....I haven´t seen that show in many years.....I wonder how it holds up?
"A bit too causal in his apperance, walking more with a hipster swag than that of a supernatural serial killer."
Not cool man, no hipster swag.....
"Someone mentions that the caught Myers and too him to Langley and he there killed eight agents. THAT story would have been interesting to see, something more deep into the government intelligence, instead of just another "crazy sect wants the last blood of the Myers family to do blah blah blah...". You know the deal."
Yeah, they could use this today, post 9/11, Myers used a weapon against terrorist, but something goes wrong.
Something ALWAYS goes wrong, but you know what I mean.....
"This could have been a reference to what almost all the other horror franchises have done, brought their baddie into space - but this was before Pinhead, Jason, Leprechaun"
Wait....Leprechaun went up in space...?
I missed that.....
"so somehow even Michael Myers from the past laughs at the idea that he would go up in space.
...and it seems he's still correct about that, no Myers in space. Not yet."
It might happen, good review and thanks Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | January 27, 2014 at 17:15