Taking Shape

by Dustin McNeill

  I know that most everyone involved with H20 wanted Laurie Strode to ultimately slay the Shape, everyone except Moustapha Akkad. This resulted in a creative struggle, which you’re credited with having resolved. Tell me about that.

  From the very start, Jamie was absolutely adamant that she had to kill Michael Myers in this one. She was like, ‘Why am I even coming back to this franchise if it’s not to give Laurie Strode a victory? What’s even the point?’ I agreed with her. The character deserved to have a win. However, I also knew that Moustapha Akkad was not about to let Michael Myers die. Moustapha, in his exact words to me, said, ‘Michael Myers is my long-lost son. I wouldn’t kill anyone in my family, so we’re not killing him off.’ I totally understood that too. He owns the character, after all.

  So we came up with this idea that it wasn’t really Michael Myers in the mask. It was actually the ambulance driver that he switched places with. Jamie Lee Curtis and I got a pumpkin together and took it with us to pitch Moustapha on that ending. He bought it, but Steve Miner had to agree to film a sequence to be used in the following movie explaining how this happened. That was pre-filmed along with the ending of H20 since we were already set up on location. That was the ultimate proof to Moustapha that Michael Myers did, in fact, survive H20’s ending.

  Was there any expectation or discussion of you continuing on with Halloween 8?

  It was never even suggested, but I was way too busy doing other stuff. The thing is, they’re always developing the Halloween movies. I knew they wouldn’t have any trouble finding someone else to do it. Really, the only reason I even did Halloween H20, apart from being a fan, was to be able to work with Steve and Jamie Lee. It was a delight to work with them and to write, but I didn’t have enough time on it. I was so incredibly rushed. If only I’d had just another week, I could’ve refined the script even more. But I knew someone else would pick up from where we left off.

  How do you view the cinematic relationship between Scream and Halloween H20?

  That connection is just part of the beauty of 90’s meta, right? We’ve reached a whole new level of meta now, but it was new back then. It’s also a byproduct of my childhood. I watched Halloween, which inspired Scream, which led to H20. I love how they’re watching Halloween in Scream. And what movie are they watching in Halloween H20? They’re watching Scream 2! I look at that now and kind of groan, but we thought we were being cheeky at the time.

  Are there any scenes in Halloween H20 that you watch and feel a strong authorship over?

  Remember when Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams are running from Michael and they lock themselves behind a gate? Only they drop the keys so they can’t get through the door? That really happened to me and a friend up in New York City. We were attacked by a mugger in the Village who chased us home. Our brownstone apartment had this little gate outside the front entrance, just like you see in the film. We managed to get inside the gate, but we dropped our keys and were stuck there. Fortunately for us, the mugger wasn’t Michael Myers, so he just ran off instead of trying to kill us. That really scared the shit out of me because it was late at night and I wasn’t at all a city boy. I mentioned that idea to Steve Miner and he liked it. He had the crew construct a little gate on location and it became part of the film. It was a fun collaboration.

  That location was also pretty fantastic. It’s been in a ton of movies and shows. I’m pretty sure it has a longer filmography than I do. I’ve been back to it several times over the years for weddings and parties. I thought Steve Miner did a beautiful job of utilizing that environment for the final confrontation scene between Laurie and Michael. That turned out really well.

  You keep mentioning the word fun, even though you were figuring out scenes mere days before cameras were set to roll. To me, that doesn’t sound very fun. It sounds stressful.

  Well, sure it was stressful. That’s filmmaking – it’s never not stressful. You jut have to learn to live with the stress and still have fun. I enjoy the process. At the end of the day, it’s only a movie.

  FILM: HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION

  While the first sequel of the Dimension era nearly plunged Halloween into the direct-to-video market, their second effort elevated the franchise to new heights. Halloween H20 earned an impressive $55 million at the domestic box office while garnering better than average reviews for a slasher film. As a franchise, Halloween was suddenly respectable. The cast appeared on various late night talk shows and the Sci-Fi Channel aired a half-hour special on its making. H20 even landed on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. The franchise was healthy again. Going forward, there was but one problem - the Shape was dead.

  THE SHAPE IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE SHAPE

  Compared to its predecessor, Halloween H20’s development was relatively uneventful with the exception of one brief battle over whether or not to finally kill the Shape. Nearly everyone involved with the film was in favor of doing so with the exception of Moustapha Akkad, who sought to continue producing Halloweens well beyond this installment. Legally, Akkad had the power to prevent his colleagues from permanently slaying the slasher. He presented Miramax with an ultimatum – allow the Shape to survive H20’s ending or the film was cancelled. Jamie Lee Curtis was perhaps most opposed to letting Michael Myers get away as she felt this would negate her triumphant return to close out Laurie Strode’s storyline. Fortunately for the filmmakers, screenwriter Kevin Williamson had devised a solution to this impasse.

  Per Williamson’s plan, H20 would appear to end with Laurie decapitating her brother, thus providing closure to the Laurie Strode storyline. This was a false ending, however. It would later be revealed in Halloween 8 that the Shape switched places with an EMS worker at Hillcrest, crushing his voice box and knocking him unconscious. This meant Laurie had actually decapitated an innocent man, not her brother. This swap-out also explains the Shape’s strange behavior while pinned under the van in H20’s final moments. Recall how he grabs at his mask as though a foreign object and reaches out to Laurie for help. This deceptive ending required only one change to the scene as originally written - the removal of a single line of dialogue. As first conceived, Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg’s script saw the Shape whispering Laurie’s name as he reached out to her. This moment would no longer fit if it was a random first-responder under the mask and was therefore omitted. Williamson’s plan meant that Curtis would need to return at least briefly in the next sequel in order to resolve H20’s conclusion. The actress begrudgingly agreed to a thirty-second cameo in Halloween 8 on the strict condition that no one spoil H20’s ending until the release of Halloween 8. Akkad also agreed to this plan, pleased that his franchise would be allowed to continue for years to come.

  Production on H20 officially wrapped on April 20, 1998. The following day, a skeleton crew returned to the Hillcrest location to capture shots of the Shape walking around in an EMS uniform. While Halloween 8 lacked even a rudimentary premise at this embryonic stage, it did have a way to continue on from H20’s seemingly final ending.

  EARLY PITCHES

  In the wake of H20’s release, the series needed a direction to go in. Miramax approached Moustapha Akkad with the prospect of doing another Myers-less sequel à la Halloween III. Akkad was staunchly opposed to this idea just as on Season of the Witch. To back up his position, he held a poll on HalloweenMovies.com in June 1999 asking fans if they would want to see an installment without the iconic slasher. Thousands voted overwhelmingly in favor of Michael Myers returning for Halloween 8. On August 7, series producer Paul Freeman officially announced the new film as Halloween H2K: Evil Never Dies. At this point, there was no story, no script, and no director, but there was now a working title. He also revealed that the new film would likely shoot in Salt Lake City just as the Return/Revenge/Curse trilogy had. The tentative plan was for Dimension Films to release H2K in the fall of 2000. Akkad updated fans the following May that H2K had stalled due to unspecified “legal mumbo jumbo” and was no longer scheduled for release.

 
; Per his contractual agreement, H20 screenwriter Robert Zappia was guaranteed a first stab at pitching Halloween 8. His idea saw the Shape captured by authorities and imprisoned while awaiting trial for his many crimes over the years. This trial would see the return of numerous survivors from the previous films testifying for the prosecution. Inevitably, the Shape would escape police custody and retrieve his mask, jumpsuit, and knife from the evidence vault. With the survivors all in one place, Michael would go about murdering those who had eluded him in the past, starting with John and Keri Tate. (This would have fulfilled Jamie Lee Curtis’ contractually obligated cameo appearance.)

  Among the other pitches made for Halloween 8 included one by Jason X scribe Todd Farmer and another by Halloween 6 writer Daniel Farrands, who intended to pick up the story of Tommy Doyle from the sixth installment. Reuniting with Halloween’s Lindsey Wallace, the pair would scour the files of Dr. Loomis hoping to learn about the fifteen years Michael spent at Smith’s Grove. This would be intercut with a present-day story that suggested the Shape had somehow survived the ending of H20. The big twist was that it was not Michael Myers beneath the mask but a crazed Laurie Strode. Farrands’ idea was widely rejected by the powers that be.

  EVIL FINDS ITS WAY HOME

  In August 2000, Moustapha Akkad invited screenwriter Larry Brand to pitch his vision for Halloween 8. Brand had come recommended by Paul Freeman after Freeman had read and liked one of the writer’s unproduced screenplays. In their meeting, Brand shared a unique idea he had for a non-franchised horror film that might work well as a Halloween sequel. Given that his first job in the industry was as a production assistant for Orson Welles, Brand held a special fondness for the auteur’s many works. This included his infamous 1938 radio broadcast, War of the Worlds, in which Welles convinced much of his listening audience that aliens were invading the planet. Brand’s idea for Halloween 8 sought to reverse that concept by staging a live webcast from inside the Myers house. The Shape eventually appears and begins killing the participants, though the viewers at home believe it’s all part of the show. Rather than audiences believing something fake was real as in War of the Worlds, they would now believe something real was fake. Akkad liked this direction and asked that Brand expand his idea into a full screenplay.

  Brand’s original script was dubbed Halloween: MichaelMyers.com, though this was never seriously considered as the final title. This was due in part to the fact that neither Akkad nor Miramax owned the titular MichaelMyers.com domain. The film was renamed in pre-production to Halloween: The Homecoming, though this too was changed in favor of a title that assured audiences the Shape was alive and well. On February 28, 2002, HalloweenMovies.com officially announced the title as Halloween: Resurrection. Brand developed his screenplay across multiple drafts in collaboration with Miramax executives and the Akkad regime. The producers eventually sought a fresh set of eyes to enhance the material and scribe Sean Hood was hired six weeks before the start of filming. (Fun fact: In the film, the Halloween party is being held at Micki Stern’s house. In real life, Micki Stern is Hood’s wife.)

  Director-wise, Resurrection got off to a rough start. Producers initially teased that Halloween 4 helmer Dwight Little might return to the series, though he declined the invitation. On February 14, 2001, both trade publications and the official Halloween site announced filmmaker Whitney Ransick as director. Ransick would be dismissed just prior to the start of filming over unspecified disagreements, though he insists he was never officially attached to the film. (Larry Brand disputes this in his Taking Shape interview.) The producers eventually turned to Halloween II director Rick Rosenthal to lead the sequel, marking the first time in franchise history that a director returned to helm a second installment. (Fun facts: Both Ransick and Rosenthal helmed episodes of Smallville after Resurrection. H20 director Steve Miner also did an episode of the superhero drama. One of Rosenthal’s episodes featured Shape performer Brad Loree and one of Ransick’s featured actor Dan Joffre, who played Security Guard Willie. Resurrection’s Ryan Merriman also appears in an episode of the Superman prequel series.)

  Resurrection opens with the shocking revelation that it was not Michael Myers whom Laurie Strode beheaded in Halloween H20’s final moments but an innocent first-responder. In actuality, the Shape managed to overpower the EMS worker, crush his larynx, and swap outfits. Laurie subsequently appeared to suffer a psychological break and was committed to Grace Andersen Sanitarium where she’s been for the past three years. It’s all a ruse, however, as she has been quietly preparing for her brother’s eventual return. The Shape does make an appearance and infiltrates the facility, killing two security guards in the process. Laurie manages to ensnare him a trap on the roof, though he ultimately outsmarts her. Stabbing her in the back, Michael throws Laurie from the rooftop, killing her.

  The story then shifts to Haddonfield where entrepreneurs Freddie Harris and Nora Winston are prepping for the newest installment of their reality webseries - Dangertainment. Freddie and Nora have chosen six diverse Haddonfield University students to spend Halloween night locked inside the actual Myers house in hopes that they might somehow uncover the secrets of Michael’s unrelenting evil. Lasting the entire night will result in the students having their tuition paid in full. The contestants and the house itself are all rigged with cameras so that viewers can watch along at home. Participants include the good girl Sara, her sassy best friend Jen, culinary-minded Rudy, critical studies major Donna, band geek Jim, and the obnoxiously libidinous Bill.

  Pressured to join in by Jen and Rudy, Sara has reservations about the webcast, which she voices to online pen pal Deckard. In reality, Deckard is high school freshman Myles Barton, who tunes into the Dangertainment webcast at a Halloween party that evening. Unbeknownst to the participants, Freddie has rigged the Myers house with fake evidence and props related to Michael Myers’ childhood. He also plans to make an appearance dressed as Michael in an effort to boost viewership. The webcast begins just before sundown and goes relatively smooth until the housemates figure out they’ve been tricked by Dangertainment’s producers. Their outrage soon turns to abject terror as they realize the real Michael Myers has come home.

  The Shape immediately murders Jen, Bill, Rudy, Donna, Jim, and Nora – leaving Freddie and Sara trapped inside the house. They’re able to stay one step ahead of their homicidal host thanks to text messages from Deckard who tracks the Shape’s movements via the webcams. Freddie is attacked and left for dead while Sara escapes into a secret tunnel beneath the house. This subterranean passage is revealed as where Michael has been hiding these past decades. Sara emerges from the tunnel in the garage but is immediately found by the Shape. Grabbing a chainsaw, she attacks him but accidentally cuts into electrical wiring. This causes an explosion that sets the room ablaze. A somehow still-living Freddie charges into the inferno to personally fight the Shape. He wins the showdown after electrocuting his opponent in the groin with a live wire. The writhing Shape becomes entangled in cables, frying him alive. Freddie and Sara escape the blaze. Later on, the Shape’s corpse is taken to the Haddonfield morgue where his eyes suddenly pop open – cut to credits.

  It is impossible to discuss Halloween: Resurrection without acknowledging its position as one of the most panned entries in the franchise, fair or unfair. This is due to the inclusion of a number of extremely polarizing elements, the biggest being reality television and stunt casting. Reality television aside, a lion’s share of Resurrection’s warts don’t actually hail from Larry Brand’s original screenplay. They were grafted onto the sequel by studio execs, producers, and its director. Resurrection was dealt some terrible cards throughout its development, which makes for yet another damning indictment of the modern studio system. If you haven’t revisited Resurrection in a while, do so. It’s almost surely a bit better than you remember.

  We also must acknowledge that Resurrection was at a disadvantage for having to grapple with so much baggage from the earlier films through no fault of its own.
Neither Brand nor Hood are to blame for retconning Halloween H20’s ending. Nor are they responsible for killing off Laurie Strode in the first fifteen minutes. These decisions were made years before they boarded the project. Resurrection’s opening sequence unevenly frontloads the film with dramatic weight, capping off decades of storyline that began all the way back in John Carpenter’s original. That makes those first fifteen minutes an impossible act to follow.

  “I suppose we do run the risk of pissing our fans off. But we justify making more Halloweens by believing that there is still more fun to be had with them. Fans of the Halloween films still have a lot of questions and we believe, beginning with Resurrection, we can give them the answers.”

  - Malek Akkad, Fangoria

  Furthermore, Resurrection is the only Myers film in the franchise without Dr. Loomis or Laurie Strode among the main cast. By this point, everyone we’ve ever cared about in the series is either dead (Laurie, Loomis) or retconned out (Jamie, Tommy, Kara). This imbues Resurrection with a strange sense of unfamiliarity. Given the sequel’s chilly critical reception, you have to wonder how much longer Halloween could have survived without these iconic protagonists. It’s also worth noting that Michael Myers is aimless here for the first time since Carpenter’s original, no longer fixated on murdering his family. While this quality was widely praised in 2018’s Halloween, it goes unappreciated in Resurrection. In this installment, the Shape is nothing more than a boogeyman returned home to find unwelcome houseguests.