More on HALLOWEEN

Last week I justified talking about HALLOWEEN on this site because of the way it put me in mind of “parallel time” as a plot device used on DARK SHADOWS. Continuing in that vein this week, I must take to task one of the dudes over at Bloody Disgusting. Normally they and I are kindred spirits, but this guy ripped on the new HALLOWEEN flick and them’s fightin’ words. Gonna have to school him, then. Before I proceed, though, SPOILER ALERT.

What Mr. Bloody Disgusting is all hung up on is the fact that Michael didn’t kill the baby. He says the movie “derails” at that point. Um, no. Not even remotely.

Going back to the original John Carpenter film, we see Michael passing little kids on the street out trick-or-treating. He doesn’t kill them, though he easily could have. Does that “derail” the film? Of course not. The fact is, Michael doesn’t kill every person he comes across. It is the randomness of the thing that makes it most frightening. I would ask you, why *should* Michael have killed the infant? It wasn’t in his way. It couldn’t have gotten in his way if it had wanted to. It was just a fun moment of suspense for the audience. Michael wasn’t having a moment of moral debate.

The other thing that bothers Mr. Bloody Disgusting: why is Michael after Laurie, when the brother-sister angle has been retconned? “These ideas are never even touched on,” he laments, once again proving that he simply does not *get* it. Why *is* Michael so dead-set on finding Laurie? We don’t know—and that fact makes it even scarier. In the first movie we don’t know and we *still* don’t know. If you must have an explanation, stick to the franchise’s *other* offerings, dude. They offer motivations aplenty. Me, I agree with something Quentin Tarantino said. To paraphrase, it is the unknowable-ness of the whole thing that gives it its power.

You are entitled to your opinion, good sir. But I’m fairly certain me and Quentin and 229 million dollars’ worth of other fans are right on this one.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

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