One of the best aspects of 2018’s Halloween reboot was that it brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode, one of the original scream queens, centering her as the protagonist of the film. That will not be the case in the film’s followup, Halloween Kills.
According to David Gordon Green, cowriter and director of this film trilogy, while Laurie will still be the “emotional core” of the film, it will be Allyson, Laurie’s granddaughter, who will take on more of a leadership role. Additionally, there will be a lot more focus on the town of Haddonfield reacting to yet another influx of violence and child death in their community.
“If the first film was somewhat retelling the origin of Meyers and getting us up to speed with where Laurie had been all those years, then part two is about the outrage of Haddonfield,” Green told Total Film. “Mob Rules was our working title for the film. It’s about a community that’s united by outrage, and divided in how to deal with evil.”
I think it’ll be super interesting to see how the people of Haddonfield deal with what has happened to them. Considering how conspiracy theories, true crime, and social media have all intersected—especially in times of tragedy—it would absolutely amplify the trauma. For someone like Allyson, who knew the victims and happens to be related to the infamous Laurie Strode, how she might get pulled into all of this would be interesting.
According to Green, a lot of Laurie’s story will be her dealing with the injuries from the first film, while the other women in the family deal with the aftermath.
“When we met [Allyson], she was a very relatable, lovely girl-next-door type of character,” Green explained. “Allyson here, just hours later…she is ignited. She is, in some ways, leading the charge and one of the more bloodthirsty of the group. Whereas Karen [Laurie’s daughter, played by Judy Greer], who has dealt psychologically with her mother more intimately, is trying to resist those temptations.”
Judy Greer’s Karen (what an excellent name, in retrospect) is probably the character I’m most interested in seeing develop in sequels. The daughter of someone who was so deeply traumatized, that worked hard to unlearn a lot of those issues, only to be subsequently traumatized by that same boogeyman? It’s a great story, and to then watch her daughter fall down that same trap is a great generational conflict.
The sequel is due to come out in October 15th, 2021, and the final installment in this trilogy will be October 14th 2022. Despite wishing there had been some female writers involved in 2018’s Halloween (and missing some of the sequel franchise aspects), I found it to be a compelling film and watched it twice in theaters. I enjoy this horror series, and I look forward to seeing where it goes. Again.
(via /Film, image: Ryan Green/ Universal Pictures)
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