The horror genre was built on long-standing franchises, and there are few quite as iconic as Halloween. John Carpenter's 1978 classic was a game changer for slashers, and Blumhouse recently brought the property back to theaters with David Gordon Green's 2018 sequel. Blumhouse's Halloween was a huge success, with two more sequels coming to create a bonafide trilogy. And it turns out that John Carpenter had a hilariously blunt response to seeing Michael Myers' new mask.
2018's Halloween ignored the myriad sequels of the past, and focused on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) 40 years after surviving Michael Myers' attack on Haddonfield. Those decades weren't kind to Laurie's psyche, and they were equally unkind to The Shape's signature mask. Because once he escaped Smith's Grove and procured his mask, it was appropriately aged and cracked given the time. Make-up effects designer Christopher Nelson was tasked with creating an older version of Michael's mask, and recently shared John Carpenter's hilarious reaction to it. As Nelson put it,
We're upstairs and [director] David Gordon Green comes to me and goes, 'Hey, have you gone and shown John the mask yet?' and I go, 'No, should I?' and he goes, 'Yeah, show him the mask.’ And I go downstairs and I'm all excited to show John the mask and John's sitting at the monitor and I walk up, and my buddy Kevin Wasner, who's my key [makeup effects artist] on the movie, he knew what was coming so he just kinda walked over to the corner of the room. And I go, 'Hey John, what do you think of the mask?' and he goes, 'Looks like shit.' And I just went, 'Aw,' and I look at Kevin and he's just like, 'I told you he was gonna say that!’
On top of his work as a filmmaker and composer, the legendary John Carpenter is also known for his biting sense of humor. While he didn't direct, Carpenter was involved in David Gordon Green's Halloween sequel, including writing the music. And on top of that contribution, he clearly provided some on set laughs.
Christopher Nelson's A+ story about John Carpenter comes from his podcast The Thing With Two Heads. When speaking with original Michael Myers actor Nick Castle, the conversation eventually turned to their various interactions with the great John Carpenter. Creating the iconic villain's mask for the new Halloween was no doubt a high takes task, but it's refreshing to hear there was still a sense of levity and fun on set.
Halloween ended up being a massive success, with the new version of Michael Myers' mask showing how time had passed, and even including evidence of his original conflict with Laurie all those years ago. The horror villain will be back for two more sequels, starting with Halloween Kills. Picking up immediately after the events of the last film, the (delayed) sequel will largely focus on Haddonfield's response to Michael's return, and unpack the events of the 1978 original movie.
Halloween Kills is currently expected to hit theaters on October 15th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2020 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
