From Blumhouse Productions, creative consultantJohn Carpenterand directorDavid Gordon Green(who also wrote the film withDanny McBride),Halloweenis a terrifying look at the after-effects of the trauma that Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) experienced when Michael Myers put on the mask and went on a killing spree in Haddonfield, Illinois on Halloween night, four decades ago. But now, there’s also Karen (Judy Greer), the daughter who was taken away from her and who struggles with her mother’s non-stop paranoia, and the teenaged Allyson (Andi Matichak), who’s stuck in the middle of the rift between her mother and her grandmother, to keep safe, by any means necessary.
At the film’s Los Angeles press day, held on the appropriately Halloween-decorated backlot of Universal Studios, producerJason Blumand executive producer John Carpenter spoke at a roundtable interview about how much the film industry has changed in the 40 years since the originalHalloweencame out in 1978, seeing Jamie Lee Curtis step into this role again, the ebbs and flows of horror, whether they ever consider fan expectations in filmmaking, the iconic music, and whether this movie would have existed without Jamie Lee Curtis. Carpenter also talked about how he feels about theBig Trouble in Little Chinasequel.
Question: So much has changed in the 40 years since the firstHalloweencame out. Have you felt a shift in the industry?
JOHN CARPENTER: Sure, I have. It’s a whole different business. The technology is different. We were shooting on film, in those days. That was it. You didn’t think about anything else. The studios are all different, too. There used to be one person at the studio, who was the creative.
JASON BLUM: Yeah, that’s gone now. There are massive committees, but we don’t have to deal with that. That’s why we make low-budget movies. We don’t have committees, but if you make expensive movies, then you have committees.
CARPENTER: There you go. It’s totally different. Everything is totally different. When I was working, Universal used to have its own departments. They had their own security. Now they don’t. They’ve hired it out to private people. It’s a really weird, different, alien landscape for me.
What was day one on the set like, once shooting finally started?
BLUM: I wasn’t there.
CARPENTER: I wasn’t there either. [Jason’s] philosophy is the best, though. He lets directors direct. They do it for a budget. It’s their movie, and that’s what you want in a producer. I applaud that. That’s unbelievable.
BLUM: The movie went through a bunch of stops and starts, before we really started prep, so it was very satisfying. It was one of the harder movies to pull together because there were so many moving pieces, so when it finally got going, it was very fun. I think what made it the most fun was having John and Jamie involved in it. For me, that was really the most personally satisfying bit of the whole thing.
John, were you on set with Jamie Lee Curtis, at all?
CARPENTER: I was, for little bit.
What was it like to see her playing Laurie Strode again?
CARPENTER: It was strange because it wasn’t my set. I wasn’t the director. I was a visitor. I didn’t know the crew. I didn’t know anybody. I know Jamie, so we just talked. It was a strange experience. I was an outsider, which was perfectly fine for me. I didn’t mind. They were a young crew, looking forward to their careers in Hollywood. I don’t have to look forward to mine. Mine is over. I can sit at home and look back on it. I don’t have to work.
John, speaking of reflecting, have you watched your old movies? Have you watchedHalloween?
CARPENTER: No. [The last time I sawHalloweenwas when] Jamie Lee and I did a commentary for it. The way they make money is that they keep hawking these same DVDs, over and over again. They get Jamie and I talking on it, or they do some little thing. It’s just to get your money. That’s all it is. So, when we sat there for that, four or five years ago, I saw it.
What was your reaction to seeing thisHalloween, for the first time?
CARPENTER: Oh, it was great. I love what they did with it. It was amazing. I’ve seen it go through some changes, too. I just think Jamie is amazing. I’m so proud of her. It was all pretty treacherous. For a producer, it’s treacherous.
We are very much in the midst of a horror boom right now. What do you think it is about horror stories, right now, that is clicking with people?
BLUM: My feeling about horror being a big deal right now is that it’s very cyclical. It’s a big deal, so now everyone is gonna make horror movies and there are gonna be a lot of crap ones, so then everyone is gonna say, “Horror is not working anymore.” And then, there’s gonna be much less horror movies, but there will be a great one that’s gonna stand out. And then, there’s gonna be a boom again.
CARPENTER: You’ve got the secret. You’re partially responsible for bringing in the new horror stuff.
BLUM: Since I started, I feel that it’s dipped down.Paranormal Activitybumped up found footage, and then it dipped. Now, it’s ramping back up again. I guarantee you that, in 12 months, there will be so many bad horror movies because people feel like they can make money, if they make a horror movie, and people will be like, “I’m never gonna see another horror movie again.” That’s the market. That’s how Hollywood works. The good ones always come to the top, which is good. I think that if you make a really good horror movie when it’s dipped, it’s muted. IfThe Quiet Onescame out four years ago, I don’t think it would have been as big of a thing as it was because it’s hot.
This film is very tense and very scary, but it’s also a crowd pleaser.
BLUM: David [Gordon Green] and Danny [McBride] really did that.
CARPENTER: They nailed it.
BLUM: They got it.
CARPENTER: It’s a girl movie now. The girls are triumphant, finally. They’re heroes. They’re kicking ass. I love it.
BLUM: Absolutely!
Was there ever any thought about this being the end of Laurie Strode’s journey? Was there ever a version of this where she was going to die?
BLUM: With (producer) Malek [Akkad], you can’t have that conversation. There was a discussion, but it ended quickly.
Do you ever think about or consider fan expectations?
CARPENTER: No, I don’t.
BLUM: I try not to think about that. This will piss a lot of people off, but I really feel like there’s a place for fans and a place for research, but it has to be far away because it can be very crippling. You’re never gonna make everybody happy. I like to read what the fans say, and then forget about it. You have to go with your gut. I love a test screening because I love going and sitting with an audience and seeing how it plays, but we don’t overly rely on that.
CARPENTER: The only thing that I’ve ever cared about is a good story. I don’t care what the fans think. They will get sucked in, if you tell a good story and you tell it well. That’s what sucks everybody in. The essence of movies is a good story.
Is there a version of this movie that could have existed, had Jamie Lee Curtis read the script and decided that it wasn’t something she was interested in?
BLUM: My red line was that we weren’t gonna do the movie without John. I hoped and prayed that Jamie was gonna do the movie, but if she had said no, we still would have done it. But if John would have dropped out, we would have dropped out. Maybe it would have been a whole different thing if she had said no.
CARPENTER: But she loved it because it was a great part.
BLUM: Luckily, she said yes.
CARPENTER: It’s great. She gets to be the hero.
David Gordon Green and Danny McBride don’t seem like obvious choices to write and direct aHalloweenmovie. What sold you on them?
BLUM: I admire their filmmaking. We do something that I think is unusual in Hollywood, which is that we make scary movies and genre movies, but I don’t look for directors who’ve made other great genre movies. I just look for other directors that I admire. Anytime I see a movie I really like, I meet with the director. The scary parts of a scary movie are the easier parts. The harder part is the drama, the acting, the storytelling and the script. If you’re good at that, you can make a good scary movie. We can help with the scares. We didn’t have to help them. They are such fans, and they knew exactly how to get great scares from people.
The music in this is fantastic.
CARPENTER: Thank you. We had a combination of two things – the old music that we did for the original film, and the brand new music that we added to it. I worked with my son and my godson. We’ve made some albums of our own, so we’ve worked together. We had several spotting sessions with David, where we’d go through the movie and I’d say, “What do you have in mind for this scene? What are you looking for here?” He would tell us, emotionally. He’s very literate in music. He’d say, “This is what I want here. This is what I wanna feel here.” We just followed his landscape and what he set down for us, and then I added a couple of things that he didn’t ask for, just to give him stuff. He knew what he wanted. He knew where he wanted the main theme. I think it all turned out pretty good.
John, are there other films of yours that you’d like to see Jason Blum bring back?
CARPENTER: I would partner with Jason anytime. I mean that. I think he’s really good and smart.
It feels like we’re seeing a trend of less remakes and more continuations, an example of which isBig Trouble In Little China? How do you feel about that approach?
CARPENTER: They want a movie with Dwayne Johnson. That’s what they want. So, they just picked that title. They don’t give a shit about me and my movie. That movie wasn’t a success. Barry Diller crapped on it.
