Taking Shape
Page 44
One part of the new Halloween that seems to be almost universally disliked is Dr. Sartain. What was your take on the character and the plot twist of his being a villain?
I noticed that reaction to him too. I think there’s often a desire, especially in horror movies, to have this big twist at the end. Sometimes that can feel a little forced, so it’s a balancing act. If you give away too much too early, then it’s not going to surprise anyone. But if you’re too vague with it, then the twist doesn’t feel earned. With Sartain, I could tell they were trying to lull the audience into believing he was this great authority on Michael Myers, essentially Loomis 2.0, and then upend everyone’s expectations with the twist. I think in the script they hint around a little bit more about his real agenda than in the film. One thing they added in the reshoots but still deleted were these flashbacks to Sartain helping Michael escape on the transfer bus.
It might’ve been interesting to see more of Sartain orchestrating things behind the scenes. Like why is Michael suddenly being transferred to prison? Why now, after all the years? And why just before Halloween? Sartain obviously wouldn’t have wanted to lose him as a patient, so maybe he set up that transfer specifically so that he could help Michael escape. We never really learn the depth of his actions in helping Michael.
In the original Halloween and the sequels that followed, the final girl is often saved at the last moment by a man. In the new Halloween, Laurie isn’t counting on anyone to save her. She’s out to save herself. How do you view this updated take on the final girl archetype?
I think it’s a good trend to see happening. Your protagonist needs to act, not react. So it’s nice to have a woman who isn’t waiting on a man to come and save her. Laurie’s a great character in that respect. I did kind of get a Sarah Connor, Terminator 2 vibe from Laurie in the script, almost like that was a model for updating the role. I think it works well. It’s great seeing Laurie take control of her life in this one.
I was really taken by the final line of your novel as it relates to Allyson. The story ends with her holding Michael’s knife, which you wrote was “a source of fear transmuted into a totem of strength.” What a great final line to end on. Tell me about that.
In the original script, Laurie gives Allyson the knife but there’s no explanation for why she does it or what it might mean. I’ve read where some people think it means that Allyson is going to become a killer, but that’s not at all how I saw it. I was trying to come up with some meaningful reason for that gesture. I thought this might possibly be the last Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis, so perhaps they were setting up Allyson as the new final girl that could continue on in the series. So maybe Laurie giving Allyson the knife was a passing of the torch, so to speak. This was long before anyone knew they were doing two new sequels with Jamie back to back. There is some ambiguity to the ending, however. Maybe Laurie dies, maybe she doesn’t. Maybe the Shape dies, maybe he doesn’t.
As a character, Allyson didn’t have much to do in the original script before the reshoots. She had more scenes but less to do, if that makes any sense. I think she’s a more active player in the revised ending. When they began restructuring the film in post-production, they took out a lot of stuff with Allyson because they were trying to make the film more about Laurie. They didn’t really add any new scenes with Laurie, but they did remove scenes that had Allyson. It was kind of like addition by subtraction. By reducing the number of scenes that had Allyson, more of the film’s weight fell on Laurie.
In the film, we see Michael trapped in the burning basement, but we don’t exactly see him on fire. Your book does depict that and vividly so. Were you at all concerned the filmmakers might contradict that in the next film?
It’s basically the same thing happening but with less description. I lean a little more toward finality in the book because they do cut away much sooner in the movie. I think they cut maybe half-a-page of that last scene because when the movie goes back to the burning room, Micahel is no longer standing there. That’s the only real difference. I remember thinking, ‘They’re probably going to tell me I’m taking it too far with the ending, that they don’t want to see Michael all that damaged by the fire’ but they never said anything about it. I also wouldn’t say I had him all the way to death, so maybe I could write my way out of it if I had to.
I’ve seen online where people are speculating all the different ways he could’ve survived this. One person thought it would be cool if the mask was now burned into his flesh and actually part of him. Who knows if they’ll do that or not. I don’t think he’ll be growing those fingers back, though.
A Note About Sources
While most of the research for Taking Shape encompassed treatments, screenplays, workprints, and filmmaker interviews, the authors also turned to outside sources for insight into the series. While these works are cited within the text itself, a handful merit special mention here. Foremost, we truly stood on the shoulders of those who produced supplemental features for Halloween’s home video releases over the years. From audio commentaries to featurettes to documentaries, these have always been a wealth of information.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to Fangoria Magazine for so thoroughly documenting Halloween‘s legacy as it occurred. The following issues were especially helpful: 8, 15, 22, 23, 49, 78, 79, 87, 94, 147, 148, 151, 166, 167, 176, 177, 206, 214, 215, 225, 264, 265, 266, 285, and the special issue - Fangoria Legends Presents: John Carpenter. Additionally, issues 54 and 55 of Scream Magazine were valuable for Justin Beahm’s candid interview with Rob Zombie.
Book-wise, there were several titles that aided in our research. These include The Man Who Created Halloween by Irwin Yablans, Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters by Jack Halberstam, Games of Terror by Vera Dika, Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Kneale by Andy Murray, and John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness by Gilles Boulenger. We also enjoyed The Devil’s Eyes and The Devil Walks Among Us by Dr. Samuel Loomis.
Special Thanks
Highest Thanks to Natalie Tomaszewski for editing this absolute beast.
Very Special Thanks to George Todoroff for carving up an awesome cover!
Special Thanks to Steve VanMeter for technical support, spiritual guidance, and proofreading.
Dustin would like to thank coffee, elixir of the gods. He would also like to thank his wife, Lindsay, for her support and patience while this book took shape. Further thanks to Gigi for babysitting and allowing him to write.
Travis would like to thank his family; Steve Barton, Jonathan Barkan and all of his interview subjects at Dread Central for being a part of his formative writing journey; Darren, Greg and Andy for a killer time at the H40 convention; George, Josh, and Micah for being pals; and of course, Dustin, for inviting him on this journey and being a great partner at that.
Also, coffee. Definitely coffee. Preferably French Vanilla – with maybe a Marlboro to go with it.
The authors would like to jointly thank:
Justin Beahm, Larry Brand, Kenny Caperton, Dean Cundey, Richard Curtis, Rob Draper, Daniel Farrands, Dominique Othenin-Girard, Glenn Garland, Renae Geerlings, Nicholas Grabowsky, Robert Harders, Sean Hood, Stef Hutchinson, Andrew Kasch, Ben Living, Patrick Lussier, Peter Marullo, Phil Parmet, John Passarella, Scott Pensa, David Pollison, Larry Rattner, Octavio López Sanjuán, Jacob Simmons, Skip Schoolnik, John Squires, Matt Taff, David Thwaites, Brandon Trost, Lito Velasco, Tommy Lee Wallace, Kevin Williamson, Robert Zappia