Halloween (2018)

It's your killer host. My name is Parker, your resident horror fanatic. I'm Caroline Scarity Scream Queen. I'm Ian, Scary Movie Skeptic. And welcome to What's Your Favorite Scary Movie is a horror film podcast where we're on a journey to find our favorite scary movie one at a time. Whether you hate them or love them, join us and discover yours. Spoilers ahead, so plan your movie screening every weekend before the episode release. Guys, I'm scared. Of what? The Boogeyman. Ian, do you believe in the boogeyman? No. Ah! Get out of here, Patriarchy! Part two of our Halloween extravaganza commences with the 2018 40 year reboot. Actually, reboot, pfft, wrong. Direct sequel to 1978's Halloween. Also our very first episode, so we're all holding hands right now and crying.

Fake news. Ian Tissues. Stop. Halloween 2018 was directed and co-written by David Gordon Green, who directed Pineapple Express from 2008, and wrote and directed Prince Avalanche from 2013. He will return to write and direct Halloween Kills in 2020 and Halloween Ends in 2021. It was also co-written by Jeff Fradley of HBO's Vice Principles and co-written by Danny McBride Writer and actor in HBO's Vice Principles and Actor in Pineapple Express 2008 and Up in the Air 2009. Have you watched Vice Principles? I'm curious. I have not, but as you can see, a lot of um crossover and the only word I can think of right now is incest, but you know, whatever. A lot of uh cross contamination here with these projects.

Halloween was also executively produced by John Carpenter. John Carpenter makes his return after directing and producing the original, producing the sequel, and Halloween 3 Season of the Witch. This is his return. And he will be producing the next two as well. We have Jamie Lee Curtis coming back as Lori Strode after her return in Halloween 2 in 1981, Halloween H2O in 1998, and Resurrection in 2002. She was also in The Fog in 1980, Prom Night from 1988, and Scream Queens, the series. And we'll also be coming back for more Halloween in the upcoming sequels. Also, Activia. Active. I had to say it. I'm sorry. That's just what I think of when I see her. We also have Judy Greer as Karen.

She was in, in Parker's words, the horrendous 2013 remake of Carrie. Also in like every single flick, chick flick ever, 13 going on 30. Carrie's horrendous to begin with. Hey, calm it down. Okay, I have to say something about Judy Greer, though, because she pops up as like a best friend in everything. She was in the wedding planner, 27 Dresses. Friend zone. Like always. She's in everything. You know what she's whose best friend she's not in this movie? Lori Strodes. Michael Meyer. Him too. But she'll also be coming back for more Halloween in the upcoming sequels. We also have Andy Matichek as Allison. She's not in much that's too exciting besides one episode of Orange is the New Black.

You'll notice the opening credits said Introducing. In the same way that the original Halloween said introducing Jamie Lee Curtis. Ah. She ends with the knife in her hand. But she'll be back more for the upcoming sequels as well. Nick Castle plays the shape. It is his return to Halloween after playing the shape in the original. That's it. Congrats. If anyone's making a triumphant return, it is Nick Castle. Yeah. He's done some writing and directing, but not much acting besides Halloween. Just getting those royalties. And we'll be back as the shape for more in the sequels. Just can't get enough. What a career. Imagine being on the subway, striking up a conversation, which is crazy in the first place.

But then they ask, What do you do? Oh, I'm a shape. Alright. The IMDB summary reads Lori Strode confronts her longtime foe, Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. The Rotten Tomatoes critic score is 79%. The audience score is a 70%. The critic's consensus is quote Halloween largely wipes the slate clean after decades of disappointing sequels, ignoring increasingly elaborate mythology in favor of basic yet still effective ingredients. And as we were discussing before the podcast, and as the Rotten Tomatoes Consensus alludes to, the original Halloween series had eight installments. There were two Rob Zombie reboots, and this is the 40-year return direct sequel to the original, which as it says ignores a lot of the things that those sequels established, such as, spoiler for Halloween 2, but there's a fun little nod at the beginning when Alison is talking to her friend Dave, where he says, Isn't he your grandma's brother or something like that?

In Halloween 2, it is revealed that Lori Strode is Michael Myers' sister. And nobody well, I can't say nobody, but uh a lot of people didn't appreciate that because it's more scary to have him just fixated on her for no reason. Wait, so it it is her brother? No, not here. It was in Halloween 2 from 1981. These are not related. No. This is a direct sequel to Halloween 1978. What this movie did was it said there have been this many sequels. We are going to make a movie that is directly related to only the original from 1978, and the rest is Gonzo. Wow. That's that's hurting some feelings. Yeah, maybe now, but you know, scary movies get carried away with their sequels, and this one helps.

Ian's got some some one-liners tonight. I'm just saying, I know we've talked in the past about like the ridiculous amount of Friday the 13th, is what he's talking about. I've actually watched six Halloween. I have not made it quite all the way through before my life. Um I do not dislike any of them, actually. I think they're all pretty good. They're pretty fun. I especially liked Halloween 2 from 1981. I thought that was really fun. Uh yeah, I I do not dislike, so I think they are worth watching. Yeah, Friday the 13th, those get a little repetitive. But I think the Halloweens are pretty exciting. But we're here tonight to talk about Halloween, the sequel. 2018, yes.

And uh we will, you know, have two more to talk about in 2020 and 2021. Oof. Yeah, the trilogy. Three movies, three women. Our movie starts with finally some representation that I can relate to. A couple of podcasters going into the asylum to get their true crime research in. God, they're just sheep. Sheep, I tell you. True crime, so unoriginal. But let's talk about this this first scene. Yes, they are British. Because what a great way to start the movie. Yeah. So Explain. They go into this eerie courtyard led by Michael's main doctor. Yeah, Dr. Santane. He is taken over after Dr. Loomis has uh, you know, presumably passed away, as has Donald Pleasant. So RP, my friend.

Opener. Yeah, so they go into this courtyard, and all of these um captives are enjoying a little vitamin D tied via chain to the ground with squares marked out that they can't reach to. So Dr. Sartane says you can't cross this line. And Michael's facing away, and so they're trying to get him to talk. Rile him up. Yeah, he hasn't said a word, and then this British guy, British podcaster, pulls out the mask, and you see Michael's fists clench, which is great reaction, and then all the other crazies start going nuts. Definitely couldn't have walked around and faced Michael Myers. Definitely not an option. Uh, but why do you think it is a great way to start, as you said?

You know, what what made it so exciting? Because you think you're gonna get some information, but Michael remains mysterious and it's just beautifully done. Do you think that the proceeding storyline is a result of that interaction? Or do you think what happened at the bus fiasco would have happened regardless of if the reporters had come? It would have happened regardless. Yeah, they were just convenient because they just like delivery service postmated that mask to him. But uh they were already planning on transferring him. That's why the podcasters were going then. They were saying we need to talk to him before he's moved to the state institution, and so he was gonna break down no matter what.

I could believe that. But then my question is why hasn't he broken out in years prior? Because he's not been transferred. Overall, we've hit that first scene, and right after that first scene, we go straight. I love the like really hard cut to the title card because he's like um you know coaxing Michael, and he's like, say something, and then it's like Halloween, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. And it does try that a very it does a very uh good replica of the original Halloween opening credits, but the pumpkin, you know, reviving, and then zooming on in on the eyeball. Just guess. Zooming in on the eyeball of the pumpkin, which is carved to look like none other than Mikey.

But post-credit, so what do y'all think of the entire movie? I really enjoyed the fact that we got a little bit of a revenge story happening. Um I feel like, you know, there's there's my first reaction to Halloween and Jamie Ely Curtis was like, oh my god, run away. Like, do something. You know, you're like screaming that at the TV the entire time you're watching it, and this time she had all the answers, and I loved that. And I love that you call it revenge because you know, we've watched well, we watched Revenge and we talked about rape revenge movies or just revenge movies as they call them. But um this is still trauma and an interesting approach to the same type of movie or formula for a movie that's not necessarily like like woman raped by a big group of men hunts them down.

You know, it's a similar situation because she's haunted by her past and what's happened to her, but it's uh handled a different way and put into, injected into the slasher formula here, and it does it's really fun to watch, especially as the movie uh goes towards its climax, the kind of back and forth between Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers, or I guess Lauric Strode and Michael Myers switching the like hunter roles back and forth. And like when she was hunting in the house, and then every room she checked, that gate would come down. I was like, yes, like this is exactly what you need in this scenario. Um yeah. I also love the fact that it like kind of taps into you know, like any movie that has like any kind of like destruction.

You're always like, what happens after this? You know, like even superhero movies, like who cleans up that mess? And like, you know, slasher movies, it's like there's a lot of people that have to deal with this like murder and like terrible situation after the fact, so we get to see a little bit of it. And actually, so many movies that we've watched, especially from this era, um, kind of end with that sort of image. Like, I'm thinking of Carrie, where Sue Snell goes to like has the dream of herself putting the flowers on Carrie's the rebel of her house, and then she wakes up in bed screaming. And uh when we watch The Descent, and the main character whose name I can't remember, is in the car and she's escaped.

Well, spoilers for these movies, but she's escaped from the uh caves, she's driving away and she sees her friend's like ghost in her car, and then in some cut she wakes back up in the cave. So a lot of these movies hint at like they're not getting on, they're not necessarily escaping completely. But yeah, like you said, this movie is like let's totally revisit the life of someone who's dealt with this. And I love that it was like years removed, and you're seeing like the family dynamics as well. And it's super fun that it's 40 years in real life too. Like we have waited for I mean we're young, but the world has waited 40 years since 1978 to get this movie, and so like not only have we waited, but like Jamie Lee Curtis is 40 years older.

Uh it's cool how the movies like line up that way, and so you get kind of a sense of realism with the progression of the characters because they are that it's happened. I will say, even though there's that element of revenge when the movie ends, I still feel an element of like incompleteness in the sense that like it maybe it's spoiled by the sense that we know that two more are coming. But also, even though the place is on fire, I don't feel like we got confirmation that well that was purposeful. And they also show the the knife in Allison's hand at the end, so yeah, there's um one, they gotta cash in on that m money.

So of course they're gonna make another one. But that's another thing about the 80s slasher that this movie definitely continues the trend of is that Michael Myers is not human. He is, but he's also something more than that, because no matter how many times he's died or they've tried to kill him, he doesn't. And so even if this were just going to be a one-off, I would still assume after the credits rolled that he's alive, even if they weren't going to make another movie, because Michael Myers isn't and even so I wrote down Lori keeps talking about the boogeyman. When the podcasts come to uh when the podcast comes, when the podcasters come to visit her in her home, she uh she says, like, don't you believe in the boogeyman?

And he says, I believe in Michael Myers. And Jamie Lee Curtis, or I should be calling her Lori Strode if I'm gonna be calling other people their names, uh, Lori Strode talks about Michael not like Michael. He's become more to her, he's become something more like ghostly and haunting to her because she hasn't been able to escape him. And so that's something else that I like about him not dying, is that he never dies for her. And as much as she kept saying, like, like that great line where she said, I pray every night that he would escape. Who the hell did you do that for? So I can kill him. She just wants to be rid of him, and she just wants to confront him, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's going to be able to forget him.

Do you think that she feels right now post-credits in the car with her fam? Do you think she feels like she got him? She probably feels a little bit of victory. I mean, I d I don't know, but I I wonder if the movie the next movie will start with like them on the lamb, or if it'll kind of been like be like um they're like finally settling into a normal life and then he shows back up and she has to like be like, Am I still paranoid? Maybe she'll be in a nursing home or something by then. Do you think that if the doctor hadn't have started driving towards the house if he would have like sought out Laurie?

Or do you think he just like wandered in because they were already on the driveway? I definitely think that I I like that they've erased this mythology of them being related and that there's something that drives Michael to Laurie every time. And I I do think he was specifically seeking her out. He was killing other people on the way, but I think there's a reason he goes back to Haddonville, and there's a reason he's going back and like finding Allison and trying to find Lori, and it's because there's something that there's a connection between them that neither of them is necessarily comfortable with or wants, but keeps haunting them. And I think there's also an opposite connection there that Lori has an attraction to Michael that she can't understand and that she can't stop.

And so I do think he would have, but um I also think that because of this uh like story he's created for himself, that now there's no way for outside forces not to bring them together too. So I mean it's it's almost like if Dr. Sartane hadn't taken him to Lori's house, then somebody would have, you know, somehow they would have been brought together by external forces as well. I feel like I would have just like moved if I were Lori. But that's the thing, and actually I wrote down so the climax of the film, Michael breaks into Lori's house and she has this like survivalist commando fortress going on that she's, you know, twisting and turning through, kind of trying to trap him in this basement uh thing with fire.

And there's a part where she's in the basement with her daughter. What's her daughter's name? Karen. She's with Karen in the basement, and she hears Michael walking the floorboards and she shoots through the ceiling at where she thinks he is. And Caroline, you like shout it out and you're like, Why are you giving away your spot? And I wrote down like she wants she well, I think more than just trying to trap him, I think that even if she didn't have that like fire trap set up, she wants to see him. Like she wouldn't have been happy just hiding in the basement while he went through her house, like and letting someone else take care of it.

She wants to find him, she wants to fight him. And you can see that because there's no reason why she should have left that basement ever. And she leaves at least once. Yeah, she's been preparing forty years for this. I think she's excited to see Michael, even if it's also difficult for her. Let's talk a little bit about the deaths in this movie, because there are some really great ones. And it all starts out the first deaths at this gas station. Actually, that's false. The first deaths are this father and son driving out to go hunting. This sweet policeman. Before we see it, yes. He wasn't dead though. He grabs him. True. You're right. So father and son driving out to go hunting.

And this sweet, beautiful boy just wants to go to dance class. I must dance. I know, and I thought, if I could relate to anything. Podcasters in this movie, a young boy just wanting to go dance. I was like, man, who stole my life? Beautiful. But that beauty does not last long because escaped convicts, snapped neck. His dad has also a weird snapped back neck that we see later. A lot of death. That boy shoots Dr. Sartane. Just a whole clusterfuck of confusion and madness. All the other ones are running around holding hands chasing butterflies, apparently. And they're like, dude, my lucky break. I'm going home. I think, no spoilers for later, but my favorite sequence of the movie is these podcasters.

I think that this uh kind of chase, but confrontation between Michael and the two podcasters in the uh gas station restroom. I think it has the most suspense, the most tension, the most dread. There's the most, like, for me, out of these like little like chase stabs sequences throughout the movie, it has the most like please get out, please get away uh moments for me, the most struggle. Happen stance, or do you think that was premeditated by him? He had to get that mask. So he was he was looking for that. Yeah. Uh Ian. Question, question. Michael Myers knows what he's doing. Who was the creepy person in the van that nods to the man podcaster?

Do you think she just saw what was happening behind him? She's just a little spookalicious white trash Illinois woman. Ooh. This sequence, I think, is also really masterful because while they're just showing the like what the podcasters are doing, pretty much every frame has Michael in the background. Like he drives the car past. You can see him sitting in the car, you see him walking in his white uh suit. I did see that. And then I saw him beating someone. Yeah, you see him beating someone. You go back, you see that he's stolen his clothes, and the attendant is dead. So I love this sequence too, because you know it's coming and they're so clueless. And then even when he's in the bathroom and the lady podcaster knows something is amiss, she's still like, excuse me, someone's in here.

Like, I I think this is really well and I sequence in that when she's in the bathroom, like I was thinking to myself, like, oh my god, get out. But also, like, there's nothing you can do in that situation. Yeah. I also think the reason why I love this sequence so much more than like the ending sequences, is you know that those three girls aren't gonna die. You know that Lori and Karen and Allison aren't gonna die. I mean, maybe like one of them could. Maybe I mean Karen seems like the most expendable. But um those podcasters, in fact, you probably suspect they're going to die. I mean, hope maybe you could hope that one of them would get away and maybe like war in the town or something.

But I think there's a lot more excitement in these minor characters that you don't know anything could happen to them. And so that's something that I really love about the podcasters. Also, I think a very accurate depiction of what podcasting looks like. You know, they're st they're in this hotel room, like steeped in research, just papers everywhere, writing furiously, listening to old tapes, thousands of dollars just being thrown around here. I was like, oh yeah, that is my life. I was frustrated. They didn't use uh like uh an additional mic, they just used the actual recorder, novice work right there. Same recorder we have, so quality you're listening to right here. An older version. I could have done away with the boyfriend cheating at the dance plot line.

Oh yeah, did he get killed? No, he just disappeared. That means we're gonna have to see him again. I don't know, but I loved the. I thought he was gonna be the killer. No. We know who the killer is. Um, I also loved the um backyard murder with her chubby little friend. Oh, sad. But I said this in the movie and I had to repeat the joke because it was so good. His cape gets stuck on the fence, and I said no capes. Edna. Edna Mood. Edna No capes. No capes. Loved that scene. I also really loved Allison's friends. The babysitter? Uh for some reason I just really connected with these characters, and the little boy was so cute.

Yeah, hilarious, too. I loved that whole scene, and I thought during the movie this is 100 times better than old school babysitting scenes from the original. But definitely that's why it's in there. You know, there are tons of callbacks throughout this entire movie. Babysitting, she uh has like the clotheslines out back, and you keep expecting to see Michael in between all those billowing sheets. A few of these like uh references to the original film, and I do think that the babysitter is another one of the really exciting sequences, especially because this has a lot more uh comedic tone to it, especially uh with her and the child. And then even when Michael is in the closet, it's a little funny until it's not.

Yeah, I think that's a really exciting kill, but also in a really well-executed slasher sequence. Yeah. Poor kid. But I just loved the characters. I love the pothead boyfriend, I love the babysitter, I love the kid. Yeah, and that pothead boyfriend, he gets strung up on that wall just like when the door opens. No, I'm talking about when he stab Dave is stabbed against the wall. I know. Well, it reminded me of Nightmare on Elm Street. The murder when they open the kitchen door and the boyfriend's there again. I think you're thinking of Halloween one because the exact same uh murder ha in Halloween one, I believe it is Bob, gets stabbed up against the wall.

I get those movies mixed up a lot. How dare you? And I mean, also even the babysitter having the ghost sheet over her when she's dead is another callback to the first one when Michael comes into Linda's room uh to strangle her with the phone cord and he's wearing the ghost sheet. Um, also, uh something I was trying to remember where I read this. It was a really long time ago, so I've no way of knowing. But I read somewhere that a criticism of why slasher movies don't work anymore is because we have cell phones and technology, and there would be no way for us to like there'd be no way for a murderer to get away with something like the slashers in these movies do without us being able to like get help.

And so I thought this movie uh acknowledged that by the boyfriend being a douche and throwing Allison's phone into the punch, and then that's kind of all we needed to know, and they didn't like beat it over the head with every character having to lose a cell phone. You know, they would try to call each other and they couldn't get through, and so I liked that it told us like we know what you're thinking. Here's the reason why they can't communicate with each other. Now let's get back to the action. Super high viscosity on the punch, by the way. Yeah, I wondered if that was putting punch. I was wondering, is that some sort of like Sherbert or something?

So I was like, ew, the phone kind of like Um Even with the babysitter scene though, I never once thought like, oh my god, call someone because it just happened so fast. This movie is kind of thinking back on it, it's kind of like after the killing gets going, it's kind of just like kill after kill after kill, and it doesn't get tiresome. I actually think that the kills in this movie are pretty exciting. How long is this movie? Because it goes pretty quick in my opinion. It is an hour and 46 minutes, so it's not super long, but it's not a short one. It's uh it's a very like goes quick. Yeah, yeah. I I agree that what I did remember thinking when the credits started, I was like, oh wow, it's a shorty.

I appreciated the murder when he uh just got his knife. So he got the hammer, goes into a house, picks up a knife, and then goes to the next house, and the woman's on the phone saying, like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that happened. I'll lock my doors. And you see it's the same shot the whole time. You see him walk around back, and then she comes towards the camera in the window, and he comes in behind. And right through the neck stabs her. Also, I'm glad you brought that up because during this like trick-or-treating sequence where there he's walking around through the masses, there are a lot of uh seemingly, I mean I I don't know the facts, but seemingly like single shot takes where it's kind of following him and rotating around him and going to windows and then like going away.

And there's a very long sequence without any cuts. And one, I like that because of the original, but also it's just it it's visually interesting, and I feel like besides these like classic slasher POV things, not something that I see all that much anymore the way that it was done. Well, what I loved about that is that you're kind of taking in everything that Michael is taking in, and there were several times when I was like, Oh, he's definitely gonna go for this person next, but he doesn't, but and like the choice you you kind of like tap into like the finding the lack of logic for who he's killing. Yeah, scary because um the woman who walks out to the car and then her boyfriend husband or whatever goes in to get something else, and she looks scope, it was in his pocket the whole time.

Yeah, she looks straight at him and is kind of freaked out, and he's looking at her, and you're you're like, something's gonna happen here, and then it doesn't. So Yeah, I think that's I'd be freaked out too if I saw that. Actually, this movie uh was criticized pretty heavily for the twist where Dr. Sartane wanna be comes a killer and wants this uh has this intense desire to see Michael Myers kill and then kind of become Michael Myers. And uh that was pretty heavily criticized in this movie, saying that it was like an insensitive turn of events. And I think if you think about this movie in context of what it is, and especially the psychiatrist being such a strong figure in the first movie, and him having this big thing about Michael is pure evil, and he gives this nice monologue about that.

I met him fifteen years ago. I was told there was nothing left, no reason, no uh conscience, no understanding, and even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply evil. I think that it actually makes a lot of sense and is a very necessary twist in this story, because the whole story is what is this killer, and kind of the point is that he isn't anything, he just is a killer and he is evil. And so the fact that that's kind of crept the psychology of that has crept its way into the psychiatrist, I actually think is a really interesting turn of event.

Um, even if people, I don't know, got a little up in a tizzy about what that might say about psychiatry. I just I think it's kind of nice that like in a way, like i Michael is his life's work. So Yeah, he said like studying to become a psychiatrist, he was studying Michael. Like he was obsessed. And it almost seemed like a little bit of like closure before he died. Like he didn't know he was gonna die, but like for me when he was killed by Michael, that seemed like logical, but like for a moment he like got to feel what it was like to kill someone. He puts on the mask, but I think it's respectful because he takes off the mask and gives it back to Michael.

Yeah, I can see that. So it's like he's he's role-playing for a moment and then is like back to work. Yeah, and I also think that I mean you can't always marry fiction to reality. So I don't know, sometimes when people get upset about things like that, you know, it's a movie. I don't think anybody's watching this movie and be like, oh psychiatrists. It was brief. If he would have taken on the new role of Michael for the rest of the movie, I would have been pissed. Yeah. Final thoughts on the final confrontation. I will say, the scene where Lori is backed up against the door, kind of looking over her shoulder through the windows, and then his hands jab through the windows and grab her and kind of slam her against the door.

I am pretty obsessed with that. And every time I see a horror movie where somebody's against a wall, I was like, God damn it, somebody just crashed through that wall and grab him. I want it every time. Now I crave it because I think it's such a cool image of him like It's a good one. I know I thought to myself in that, like, Lori, rookie mistake, like, why do you have a door with these two glass panes in it? Like maybe a little sight line, you know, over the shoulder. Well, don't put your head right in the most vulnerable spot, Lori. Jeez. Yeah. Something I wanted to mention about the um soundtrack is, you know, famously John Carpenter wrote the or composed the score for the original Halloween extremely quickly.

I can't remember the exact turnaround, but it was like insanely fast. He created that score and it's become a really famous theme. This time they kind of uh expanded upon the original Halloween soundtrack and amped it up a little bit. I was just playing for y'all that uh that track from Allison's chase scene when she's running around to all the houses. But um this time he expanded the soundtrack with his son, Cody Carpenter, and his godson, Daniel Davies. And so I thought that that was um really lovely. That it was kind of like the expansion of this soundtrack as a family affair. Jamie Lee Curtis was doing interview rounds for this movie, and she talked repeatedly about how they didn't know this obviously when they started making the movie, but this movie was released in the midst of the uh Kavanaugh hearings, and she kept drawing it back and saying how, and I loved this sentiment about how this movie wasn't made politically, but it reflects so clearly like the political state and turmoil that the country was in at the well, maybe not over, but uh this idea of women being suppressed and not believed, and even when they're trying to like save the people around them by being like, hey, we're in danger, nobody listening to them and thinking that they're insane and making things up.

Trauma isolates people. Trauma that is untreated, uncared for, and has wreaked the havoc that trauma will wreak on a human being without treatment, without support. She has lost her family, she has lost all friends, any real contact with anybody. And she lives in a paranoid state of preparedness and conviction. Um, and that combo, preparedness and conviction, has basically removed anything else from her path. It's always good to think about, especially horror movies, contextually in the time that they're made in, because horror is so often reflective of what we're currently afraid of. Yes, obviously, like heightened here, but also I think in the original there was an element of that when she ran around banging on doors and no one would pay attention.

Yeah, and actually this time they have a very similar scene where Alison's banging on doors and somebody answers the door and helps her. So I I I also like that it's not all black and white here. But apparently we're not supposed to shit on the government anymore in this podcast, so what? I got a tweet that said, Really enjoying the podcast, but stop uh like shitting on the government, it's distracting. You know what I think is distracting? Having my rights taken away by the government. There were a lot of guns in this movie. Oh, so you are gonna bring up the government. I just I I feel with the amount of visuals of guns and you know, in scary movies we're constantly saying, like, oh my god, like protect yourself, blah blah blah.

It is curious that Michael very specifically does not use guns. Never has a gun. And he's kind of just like on the fly picking up whatever he can. I think it's very obvious that like he wants to have that like tactile, like tactile, like. Yeah, he wants to feel the kill. Yeah. So do you think this movie is basically saying like guns don't make a difference? A pro gun. I think that maybe if we're thinking in terms of what Ian just brought up, Michael wanting to feel that intimacy with his killing. Lori wants to kill Michael and wants to be done with him, but maybe she doesn't want to feel the same thing, and that's maybe why she was so focused on projectile, long distance type weaponry.

Because even her trap that uh air quotes succeeds at the end is not at her own hand. It is this big fire contraption she set up. So maybe there's something curious that Ian's onto here. Well, I think the the thing about the trap is like she knows that guns are not gonna kill Michael. Yeah. Does she? Well, Michael is shot in the first movie uh by uh Dr. Loomis, and he falls out of the window and then disappears when they look out again, mirrored by Lori in this movie. I don't know. Maybe that's why she goes to so many measures. Michael does get shot quite a few times in this movie, and it doesn't do anything.

Maybe a statement there on the uh on the uh just foolery of gunfire. You know, guns, we don't need them, they don't do any good anyway. Michael, he can survive those gunshots. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. This might be an eye of the beholder kind of situation for the guns here. That well, maybe that's it appeals they made it on purpose so that it appeals to everyone. Yeah, I'm sure. I mean this movie, hype, this was a huge event in 2018. In fact, I pulled up the box office mojo information on Halloween 2018. It made a worldwide gross of over 255, almost 255 and a half million dollars. Um on opening. And no, that's total.

Total lifetime worldwide gross. It is number one slasher movie in the box office of all time, number three of all time for October openings, and number five all-time fall openings. Wow. So it really made quite a dent uh in history there, and that's one of the reasons why we're getting two more, and why they're looking at trying to reboot other horror franchises for their anniversaries. There's this, as we talked with the Friday the thirteenth episode that happened in season one, there is so much controversy over. The rights for Friday the 13th because people want that 2020 reboot, and unfortunately, I really don't think that's gonna happen. Alright, so what would you say from Halloween 2018 as discussed?

So many entries in this movie to the most memorable murder awards. We had a good one last week too, a good one this week again. Well, most memorable murder for me would be the anonymous woman in the window. Through the neck? Yeah, and then to the face to the furniture. Crazy. Also, right before that, really incredible shot where you see his mask reflected in the window. Yeah. So that is kind of uh completely just like a whole package of good murder. Carol? I gotta say the podcasters. Both of them, because the man Wee Man, that was a gruesome gruesome head injury, and then he was still barely alive and watched the woman. Michael Myers got some head.

Damn. Wanna talk about heads? That jack-o'-lantern head that he carves at the end. That's pretty good. But I'm going to definitely agree with Carol and go with the podcasters just because that whole sequence, I love a chase. I want more chases. Honorable mention to the doctor who just like had his brain splattered everywhere from I dropped some hummus on my sweater while that happened, so I didn't actually see. I looked at it and I was like, hmm, ground meat. You both said, ew, and I was like, wait, what? I missed it. So I'll have to rewind and read it. You have the same image if you get one. Give me a uh on a scary scale.

Scary scale rating. Do you think this is a scary movie? No. I would say no. But also remember that our ideas of what horror is have evolved a little bit. Yeah. So maybe you're you've become a little hardened. I definitely think so. I I probably would have been really freaked out if we had watched this movie without, you know, building up to it. Yeah, I think there are a lot of really horrific moments. It however it is a movie. I maybe I do agree with you, Ian, that I was never I was never uh I never had the desire to cover my eyes. It wasn't like the first one. Like the first one I specifically remember being a little more tense.

Not that I didn't have any tense moments, but I I feel like they set you up more and you're more just like a voyeur to what's happening than than being an outsider getting scared. Yeah, we are in on the fun a little bit more in this one. I was thinking though, there are a few moments where this movie does feel a little bit more cruel than the first one, like when he's just walking to those people's houses and killing them, and it's really merciless. Uh, except for that baby. Didn't care for that, even though that's probably gonna starve and die anyway. I agree that it doesn't seem like there was much of an aim to have us in that state of uh complete darkness and dread.

Yeah. I think it was just less creepy. We know everything. We know Michael, or like we know that there's not a lot to know about Michael, and there's a lot less like lurking and more like here he goes, he's blue. And maybe that reflects a little bit the experience of Lori Strode. She's ready for him and she knows the dude too. So maybe we're just all in it together and ready to see this conflict. And like I said, even towards the end, there's kind of a fear of Lori at some points where she's the one who might jump out and scare us. Now, would you give this movie a smash or a slash? Total smash. Hard, hard smash.

Hard, rough, quick, hard, or maybe like an all-minute. We gotta get in a cab and get home. Quick smash. That cab, who knows what it's gonna see. Home can't wait. I agree. I agree. Caroline, call an Uber. Me and Halloween, we gotta get out of here. No waiting for Uber. Just whistle. Whistle cab. Sock on my doorknob. Alright. I agree. Doorknob. Oh, that knob. Oh man. Well, I wouldn't want to sock on the other one because I'm too busy uh smashing Halloween. Smashing pumpkins. Boo. Pumpkins. Yeah. Week. Okay, so that's three smashes. Wow, we are on a roll this uh this season. We have all thumbs up across the board so far. Uh what would you say then is your favorite scary movie?

Halloween 2018. Ooh. Yeah, I gotta say Halloween 2018. I'm gonna stick my flag. I'm gonna keep it in Trick or Tree. I uh I had so much fun watching that last week. I've been thinking about it all week. I also think if we're talking Halloween themes, Trick or Tree takes that cake. I mean, there was more Halloween in Halloween 2018 than there was in Halloween 1978. Speaking of cake, would you give my carrot cake bars a smash or a pass? Uh yeah, it's a smash. Smash. Light smash. Smash. Well, I do love carrot cake. Alright, so here's the deal. Parker's chocolate cake. Passionate smash. Why don't we get that again? Passion. That's a super special occasion.

Smash. Your carrot cake bars or is like a shut the fuck up. It's like a We're moving on. Yeah, it's a Tuesday night. It's a little dry hum. Yeah. Let's take that conversation out to Pasture because we need to know what's happening next time, next week, on What's Your Favorite Scary Movie? We will be leaving, unfortunately, the Halloween season behind. But do not worry, the nice cozy fall has set in. Soon to be coats and scarves. And we're taking a quick reprieve from our usual type of content. And we are going to be doing a wrap-up episode of the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, which I've been attending, and me and Caroline and Ian have been watching screeners for.

So we will be all studied up and we will be ready to discuss some hot new independent horror movies that you'll be able to be on the lookout for in the next few uh increments of time. I cannot give any specifics on that. One word preview. Nudity. Mm-mm. That is true. And he's not talking about on screen, if you know what I mean. And if you want to hear about everything we covered at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, we have some hot reviews up on our website, www.scarymoviepod.com slash reviews right now that you can go read, and even a few more coming, including some interviews with directors and some wrap-up articles. You can also keep up with us on social media at ScaryMoviePod where we'll post links whenever we post new reviews.

And then easy peasy, it's right there. But until next time, when we discuss that, you can go over to Apple Podcasts and leave us a rating and a review because that is critical for us spreading the good word of what's your favorite scary movie. The gospel. Yeah. The gospel. The gospel. Gospel of scary. Hey, uh, Caroline, do we have any reviews? We do. Hot off the press from Al Palcino. Ooh, punch. Al says, I have always loved a good horror movie, and I love the insight Parker, Caroline, and Ian bring to movies new and old. It's intriguing to hear the perspectives of people who are not as into horror as I am. Overall, great podcast. She's talking about Caroline and Ian there.

Yeah, yeah. Overall, great podcast, and I will highly recommend this to my horror-loving friends, HeartHeart. Pew pew. Al Pal, that was gorgeous. And we thank you for listening and following along. I actually received an Instagram message from somebody saying that they were listening and they wanted to make a request for a movie for us to watch. And I was so touched. And I was like, you know what? I recognize you because you like a lot of our stuff and you interact with us on social media, and that always makes us smile. If you leave us a review, you too could get a scream on next episode. Um, my name is Parker Heron. You can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and Letterboxd at Parker Delray.

My name is Caroline. You can find me on Instagram at Carol Manifesto. And my name is Ian Hoyt. You can find me on TikTok. Just kidding, I have no clue what TikTok is. You can find me on YouTube at Ian Hoyt. Hmm, topical. And again, you can find us on all social media at ScarymoviePod and reviews and calendar at scary moviepod.com. And you can always reach out to us with requests, feedback, comments. We love to hear from you guys at scarymoviepod at gmail.com. We're also starting to post these episodes on YouTube. So find us on YouTube at Scarymoviepod. And don't forget, if you enjoy this podcast, make sure to go to our website, scarymoviepod.com. Slash donate.

Yeah, and uh throw us some bucks and bones so we can keep. We got we need some new aux chords, guys. We need some better aux chords that we're gonna give you. Yeah, and batteries. We go through batteries like I go through butter. And speaking of throwing us a bone, hop into my DMs as well because you never know. All right. We'll see you next week.