All the Facts on Those 13 Tracks...

A digital lobby card for 13 TRACKS TO FRIGHTEN AGATHA BLACK.

Last October I was contacted by a writer from a horror film platform who wanted to interview me about my film 13 TRACKS TO FRIGHTEN AGATHA BLACK. We spent quite a bit of time discussing the piece before I was sent some questions to answer. A month later, he used a photo from my film and a snippet of an answer I gave him for a completely different article on making indie horror films. I decided to go ahead and publish the original Q&A because a) his questions were interesting, b) I felt a bit misled, and c) dude - my time is valuable.

How did you make the move from entertainment journalist to independent filmmaker? Or did it go the other way?

I moved to Dallas, Texas right after I graduated from college (I went to OU for film production). At the time, there was a lot of film and television production in the area, so it seemed like a solid place to start. But just a few years after the move, all of the tax incentives went away and most of the high-profile productions left with them. But I stayed and redirected my career where I found work as a marketing copywriter and entertainment journalist. I never lost my passion for film and continued to make short films on the side. 13 TRACKS was my first feature, which I made after years of covering low budget horror films for publications like Fangoria and GoreZone.

The gorgeous Dutch Colonial location in Dallas, TX. 

Are the challenges worth the reward in independent filmmaking? What is the hardest part? The most rewarding part?

There are many challenges making microbudget films, but those challenges are part of the reason I love making them so much. I would say the hardest part, for me, has been finding the ideal locations within the production budget. However, I’ve had a lot of luck securing unique homes and practical sets that add value and scope to my projects. That terrific Dutch Colonial home we used in 13 TRACKS is a character in itself. The most rewarding aspect would be collaborating with really talented people who believe in the project and are 100% committed to seeing it through.

A still with record props from 13 TRACKS TO FRIGHTEN AGATHA BLACK. 

I still listen to horror stories from the vinyl albums I had as a kid. I listen to them all year long, not just in the fall. The idea of the story felt a little like you knew me. I didn’t think there were others like me. Where did you get the idea to integrate these stories into a horror film? What was the inspiration?

 

Brother, you are not alone! Several years ago I discovered a blog where some lovely soul had uploaded dozens of vintage scary story and sound effects albums. I had owned a few as a kid, but was unaware of just how many of them were made in the 60s/70s. Most people who came of age in those decades are probably more familiar with the scary sound effects records, but there were plenty of creepy spoken word titles created for the youth market as well. Vincent Price, Boris Karloff and other horror icons from the day recorded several – many of which have become part of my go-to records year-round. (I still have a turntable, and spin records all the time.) After discovering the blog, I downloaded everything that was posted and began listening to them obsessively. At some point, I thought it might be intriguing to make a film that celebrated them in a way that was true to their spirit. Some of my favorite horror films revolve around complicated heroines whose inner thoughts are shared in voiceover. LET’S SCRAE JESSICA TO DEATH and MESSIAH OF EVIL are films that haunt me to this day. I simply traded the voiceover conceit with the scary stories (which often act as stand-in for the thoughts of the protagonist).

 

Was it challenging to be working in two different media at once (film and audio stories)? Which came first: the screenplay or the scary tracks?

It was a fun, creative challenge that I enjoyed spending time on. I was fortunate to meet a very talented songwriter/composer named Andrew Jones who loved scary story records and psychotronic movies as much as I did. I would have never attempted to make the film (which relies so much on the audio component) without him. He recorded the sound, the audio for the stories, and composed the score.

 

The screenplay definitely came first. But because each track was so integral to the plot, I had some idea about the tone or the basic structure of what I wanted. For instance, there is a story that the protagonist Agatha hears at one point – that sort of guides her into a house across the street (where some bad things are occurring). I wanted the track to contain a story that would be a lighthearted one geared towards kids from a different era while at the same time offering a jarring juxtaposition with the terrible things Agatha was experiencing inside the house.  Hopefully creating an uncomfortable tension…

 

Bridie Marie Corbett in a production still from 13 TRACKS.

I watched this movie three times. It’s way more complex than it appears on the surface. There are a lot of layers and ways reality ties in with delusions (if they even are delusions) of the main character. What was your writing process like? Did it involve a lot of string and index cards to keep things straight?

That’s really nice to hear! There are several layers to the film that a viewer might pick up if they are really listening to the stories. But I also tried to make the narrative as accessible as possible for causal viewers. When writing the script, I didn’t have an involved process like index cards. However, after the basic script was completed, I did have extensive notes regarding what each story would need to convey – the key information that Agatha would need to motivate her in moving forward. I also had several different kinds of stories in mind, some more adult-oriented, to represent the different subgenres within the “spooky vinyl” umbrella.

The incredible cast and crew film an exterior scene. 

How would you recommend a person watch this? Should they pay more attention to the scary tracks or are they just there for mood? Do they tie into Agatha’s real life?

Well, the tracks are very important to the narrative – and the film wouldn’t work without them. They are often the key motivators for the protagonist to move forward. I think Bridie Marie Corbett (the actress who plays Agatha) is very compelling and helps to bridge both tracks and the action being played out onscreen. Though the film can be viewed on different levels, I did have to make a decision on what was really happening so that I could help tell the most compelling story I could. The stories do tie into Agatha’s real life and there is a reason that she is being influenced by the records – but it’s not necessary to understand all of it to grasp the basic plot. I do like ambiguity in my horror films as well.

 

You have some impressive talent working on this film. Emma Siate, for example. Did you know Emma before this? If not how did you get her onboard? Are there other talented folks you’d like to point out?

Emma was part of a local special effects outfit called Pink Mist. I believe it was started by Andy Joe Arrasmith – and the two of them did the effects for the film. I forget how we were introduced, but I know they read the script and were impressed with the unique storyline. The two of them were wonderful to work with and certainly made the few effects scenes really memorable. Loyd Cryer, the man who singlehandedly created the popular Texas Frightmare Weekend convention, was a producer on the film. He helped secure Pink Mist and the voice talent of iconic actor Udo Kier I truly lucked out with 13 TRACKS – and was able to connect with lots of great local (Dallas) talent. My lead Bridie was certainly a find – the film wouldn’t work without her engaging performance. My cinematographer Daniel Frank had only shot one previous film, but he was so intuitive and committed to the project. He was a terrific collaborator. As I already mentioned Andrew Jones was my true creative partner on the film. And my husband Dan Gremminger did all of the art for the record albums, which really helped sell the premise.

Emma Siate and Andy Joe Arrasmith (Pink Mist) work on Alissa Horton's (the Crooked Old Woman) makeup.

Speaking of talent… independent films can suffer from low budgets and unseasoned actors. Not that that is a bad thing; it’s just a reality. And, there’s a lot of charm in that. It’s one reason independent films stand out (for me). This film doesn’t quite feel like you made it with people who were eager to get a start. It feels like you have seasoned talent. Was it hard to assemble this team? How did you decide who would get the roles and the jobs?

Thank you! Again I feel I got really lucky with the cast. I got some really good advice from my A.D. Lisa Lafayette (who is also an incredible actress). I cast most of my actors from a production portal called Backstage. I put out a call and was able to view reels of local actors interested in the project. That’s how I cast Bridie, and the terrific Lara Williams who played Agatha’s friend Nancy. I had worked with Moira Wilson on a previous project – and she introduced me to Van Quattro. Both of them are great local actors who have been in the business for years.

 

Cast and crew gather around cinematographer Daniel Frank, 

The stutter editing (I'm not sure what to call it). Whose idea was that? It was very effective. Especially in the knife in the face scene... we get all the violence by seeing before jump to after. It works because that stutter effect appears several times throughout the movie, making it a stylistic choice.

Well, sometimes when you are making a microbudget film you don’t always have time to get all the coverage you need for a scene. This can be very unfortunate when editing and the action doesn’t cut together properly. The knife in the face scene is one instance where we had great footage, but it didn’t cut together, so I had to get creative in the editing. I decided halfway through the film that using jump cuts married to skips in the audio (record jumps) would be a clever way to incorporate the old vinyl into the action – while saving some moments that didn’t exactly cut together. Then I began to use it as a freaky device to illustrate Agatha’s fragile POV. I’m so glad you found it effective!

 

LtoR Cullen Thomas (George) watches as director Bradley Steele Harding discusses a scene with Sandy Johnson (HALLOWEEN 1978) on the set of OCCULT CANVAS (2027). 

What’s coming up next for you? Are there any projects you can talk about?

I am just finishing up post-production on my follow-up feature to 13 TRACKS called OCCULT CANVAS. It’s an homage to early 70s made-for-TV horror productions from Dan Curtis – and shows like NIGHT GALLERY. I had such a great experience making 13 TRACKS that I wrote the film with parts for many of the same players. OCCULT CANVAS is a much more ambitious project than 13 TRACKS and definitely took longer to shoot. While it proved to be a much more difficult endeavor, it has also been very satisfying creatively. Inexplicably, Sandy Johnson, who played Michael Myers’ sister in the original HALLOWEEN (my favorite horror film), agreed to appear in it. I am still a bit dazed that I was able to conjure that bit of incredible casting. I am looking forward to its release early next year.

Stream 13 Tracks to Frighten Agatha Black on Tubi, Prime, and Pluto.

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Back to the Basement: Filmmaker Tony Brownrigg revisits his late father’s most famous film with Don’t Look in the Basement 2.

By Bradley Steele Harding

    In 1973, a small independent horror film shot in Texas quietly began playing regional runs on the drive-in circuit. Originally released to little success under its shooting title, The Forgotten, it was subsequently sold using such disparate monikers as Death Ward 13, Beyond Help and The Snake Pit. It eventually found its largest audience as Don’t Look in the Basement, a provocative yet ambiguous declaration that audiences found too irresistible to resist. The new title was helped greatly by an ad campaign lifted directly from the previous year’s Last House on the Left, which proclaimed, ‘To avoid fainting, keep repeating: it’s only a movie…’ It was often paired with that Wes Craven classic on a popular double bill that played successfully for several years throughout the US. 

    Basement revolved around the exploits of several eccentric patients at the secluded (and woefully understaffed) Stephen’s Sanitarium. Subjected to an unorthodox experimental therapy, they are encouraged to live out their individual psychoses as a pathway to a cure. Things go awry after a therapeutic session turns violent and a new nurse begins to unravel the terrible secret (indirectly related to the declarative title). The film’s sweaty, claustrophobic aesthetic and memorable performances from a game, if unpolished, cast helped contribute to its devoted cult following through the years. 

THE SNAKE PIT was one of the many alternate titles for DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT.  

     It was the first theatrical film directed by Larry Buchanan protégé S.F. Brownrigg, who would go on to make a series of popular Texas lensed horror films. Throughout the ‘70s the indie filmmaker made such drive-in mainstays as Scum of the Earth (1963) and Keep My Grave Open (1977). Utilizing a cast and crew of local talent, the late Brownrigg cultivated a company of dedicated individuals who ensured a level of professionalism with each film. For years the director attempted to get a sequel to Basement into production, but was never able to line up the appropriate deal. After his death in 1996, Brownrigg’s son Tony, a respected filmmaker in his own right, also tried to get a follow-up off the ground. Yet despite the original film’s success and subsequent cult following, interest in a second chapter was difficult to generate. 

    It wasn’t until recently that Tony was finally able to secure financing for a trip back to the basement. Starring Andrew Sensenig (We Are Still Here), Frank Mosely (The Ghost Who Walks) and Arianne Martin, it's a true sequel to the original film that incorporates ideas S.F. Brownrigg had for a follow up. Similar to what Blumhouse did with Halloween 2018, Basement 2 honors the original by going back to the source material. The original shooting location and original Basement actor Camilla Carr are back - as well as pivotal characters from the '73 film. Most intriguing of all is the casting of exploitation icon Libby Hall, the star of Larry Buchanan's The Naked Witch (1964). Hall, who is Tony's mom and was married to his late father, has a supporting role as a patient in the sequel. 

After playing the festival circuit a few years ago and receiving positive buzz, Basement 2 found a distributor with indie outfit Legless Corpse Films. The boutique distribution company released the eagerly-awaited title on DVD. A more recent Blu-ray release, packaged with the original Basement, was released through Brink Vision. It is also available to stream on Amazon Prime. I caught up with Tony while he was still deep in post-production for the long-in-development sequel.

What was the impetus for making a sequel to Basement 40 years later?

Dad had always wanted to make a sequel. He and Bret McCormick in the late 80’s had gotten together and were working on a sequel then. Bret McCormick was the director of Replicator and a bunch of 80’s low budget films that came out. It was the 80’s so it was very much ‘a group of teenagers go to X location and one by one are killed by Y.’ But he could never get it financed… Never get it off the ground. He tried for years to get it going and throughout that time he and I would talk about the things that he wished he could have done. So he spent a lot of time reminiscing about the first one and his thoughts on what he could do for a sequel. And when he passed away he was still trying to come up with a way to get Basement done. It wasn’t long after that, that I decided that I wanted start trying to get it done myself. 

So there’s actually a script of a slasher version of Basement 2 floating around?

There is somewhere. Where I have no clue. But I know that there’s one out there somewhere. I read it and it was very much a style of movie that was popular in the day, which was, you know… 

A typical slasher movie?

Yes, it was very much a Friday the 13^th kind of, you know… they show up and one by one they’re killed by spirits in the house. And so originally what they were trying to do is that the ghosts of the original characters were killing these teenagers that had come to stay in the old house, the old haunted house.

It took you fourteen years to finally get a sequel off the ground. How did you approach a follow-up for the modern horror audience?

Some time had past, it’s now in the 2000's you know. The market’s different, the audiences are different... So I took a lot of things that dad had wanted to do in the first Basement. Then (co-producer and star) Megan Emerick and I sat down and worked on a new script utilizing a lot of the original things dad had wanted to do on a sequel (as far as the original characters are concerned). And make it a true sequel about the continuation of what happened to Sam. That’s partly based on the fact that dad had always regretted that the film ended with Sam just sitting there. He wished there had been more of a resolution.

Dr. White (Frank Mosley) confronts Clive (Brady McInnes) in DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT 2. That's Dawn McGhee (daughter of Bill McGhee, the star of the original BASEMENT), in the far left. 

So this new script was partially informed by the story elements your father wanted in the original film - as well as themes he wanted to explore in a sequel. Are there any ties to the slasher script from the 80’s?

No, this is a thriller and it’s funny that’s something else that Dad had said at one point. He says ‘You know, now-a-days,’ and this was in the 80’s that he’s talking about it, ‘now a days the first Basement really isn’t even a real horror film, it’s more of a thriller. When you look at it there’s really not a whole lot of blood in it.’ And there isn’t, except for the ending scene, you know, and there’s some people that get stabbed in the eye and well, I mean, violence-wise it could almost play like a Disney film...

So you would characterize Basement 2 as a true follow-up to the original film?

It is definitely a true sequel. It’s a true sequel in a more realistic matrix. I didn’t want to do a film that would try to outdo the first one - in the same vein, where it’s just like the first one, only more. ‘Cause that would be competing with Dad - and I didn’t really want to compete with Dad. So we used the first film as historical reference. These events really occurred in this building, with these characters, in 1972 and now a new clinic owns it, modern day, people have cell phones… All the patients there aren’t just quote unquote “crazy,” they actually have real ailments now-a-days: schizophrenia, you know, severe bi-polar, you’ve got people with various forms of dementia, Alzheimer’s, that kind of thing. So we tried to keep this as this realistic clinic in the modern day that had this event happen in 1972. And then we add the paranormal into it… When Sam arrives to this clinic weird things start to happen.

Without giving too much away, what is the basic plot line for Basement 2?

There is a new doctor there. He’s more of the audience’s guide. He’s the regular doctor who’s there who has to figure all this stuff out, ‘cause weird things are happening. Sam is still Sam. He is now in his 70’s but he is still the mind of a ten-year-old. He is relatively unchanged and Willie Minor plays him now because unfortunately we lost Bill McGhee a few years ago. Will did a great job reprising the role of Sam. He really is a protagonist in the sense that he’s still, as he was in the first film, he really is an innocent. He always was. And it’s hard to believe, for a new doctor to believe, that this guy killed all these people. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who could do all of that, you know? And the bizarre occurrences that start happening when Sam arrives lead the doctor to start digging. There’s a real story behind this and hopefully he can figure it out before the events that are unfolding get to such an extreme that they take him down with him - and the other patients. 

Andrew Sensenig (WE ARE STILL HERE) plays Dr. Matthews in DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT 2.    

Andrew Sensenig plays the new doctor.

We were lucky to get Andrew. He is extremely busy. He had just come off Upstream Color and several other horror films and we had a small window to be able to bring him in and have him play the role. He did a fantastic job. He plays the doctor from New York that’s decided to get away from the big city. He’s running from something himself and winds up taking this job at a little clinic in the middle of nowhere thinking that he can just kind of vanish, you know… And it turns out that’s not the case.

Don’t Look in the Basement 2 is your second genre film (after 2008’s Red Victoria). Did your dad’s films inspire you as a filmmaker?

I was so young when Dad did them, I didn’t even get to see them until the 80’s. But I already knew so much about horror at the time just working around Dad. I love the fact that dad really explored, at the time, a newer genre, which was the drive-in splatter. Especially Poor White Trash, which I love, and Basement, which I love. And as much as Dad loved (them) I was lucky enough to have all the inside scoop from him as to what things he wanted to change or wished he’d changed. Every filmmaker looks at their film after they’re done and goes, ‘I wish I’d done that different or I wish I’d changed that differently.’ And so what I loved more than his films was Dad’s tenacity to want to get it right. That’s what I admired even more than the films, which I loved. But I admired his tenacity to never give up on trying to make it right… better.

Your father got you started in production at an early age.

Oh, yes…  I was a young child with a father who was a producer and director so that equated to me being free talent and free crew. And that was utilized often so I got a lot of training when I was very, very young. My first set was when I was about ten. 10-years-old and he had me gripping. Then when a commercial would come around that needed a child in it he would put me in it. So I got experience in front and behind the camera, which was a lot of fun. All the ButterKrust Bread spots in the ‘70s… I was like the ButterKrust Kid in all these commercials that he was doing.

Your father is known for working with a dependable stable of cast and crew. While working on his commercials did you come into contact with a lot of them?

No, I did not. Now Annabelle Weenick (who played Dr. Masters) was my acting coach growing up. I did take acting lessons from Annabelle for quite a while. I loved Annabelle... In the late 80’s I did a play with Sharon Bunn from Keep My Grave Open and Larry O’Dwyer from Don’t Open the Door and Hugh Feagin from Basement. So I did a play with all three of them at Theater Three and it was a lot of fun. I was already in my 20’s at that point so I got to ask all the questions that I’d never gotten to ask before about back from the day. Because you only hear so much from your father. Your father tells you the things he wants you to hear.

It’s been said that Annabelle (who died in 2003) was instrumental in putting Basement together.

From what I have heard, Annabelle and Gene Ross (who played Judge) would go out and re-write scenes. They kind of acted as on-the-set writers when something wasn’t working or a scene wasn’t working. Annabelle and Gene would go out and re-write something and then work with the actors, then bring it back in and Dad would direct it. But, yes, from what I have heard Annabelle was very instrumental in working on the script. Camilla Carr who was in Basement wound up being the script supervisor and acting at the same time. It was that low budget a production. 

Camilla Carr, who played Harriet in the original BASEMENT, returns in the sequel playing Emily, a different character.

Carr, who played Harriet in the original Basement, has a role in the new film. Did you approach anyone else from the original cast?

I had talked to Camilla years ago about the possibility of bringing her in for a sequel. And she was interested then. A lot of the actors have either moved on or some of them… the guy who played Danny (Jessie Kirby) – can’t even find him. Of course, Annabelle’s passed on… and several of them have passed on. Hugh Feagin, he’s doing theater right now. Bob Dracup, we were trying to find a place for Bob but we just couldn’t find a good place for him. But yeah, I talked to a bunch of the cast members that I could find at the time – and most of them expressed interest and definitely a genuine love for dad. Which really made me feel good.

Were you able to contact Rosie Holitik (who played Nurse Charlotte)?

Yes. Well Rosie’s very successful in real estate now a days. She has a different life now. Like many actors that leave the business it’s kind of something you put behind you. So, it wasn’t really something she was interested in. But we do actually find out what happened to her (character) in the new script. We don’t just leave her out. It will be a definite surprise.

The sequel takes place in the same location used in the original film (the Trinity Institute in Tehuacana, TX). Had you ever visited the building prior to shooting?

Yeah, I actually went in the late 80’s with Dad when he was trying to get his sequel going. He visited the place and I went with him. So I kind of toured the house for the first time in the late 80’s with Dad. And Dad kind of let me know, ‘Oh this is where we shot this and this is where we did this’ and I already knew the film at that point. It was a really neat feeling to be able to walk around and say, ‘Oh, yeah, this is where, you know, this scene happened and that scene happened…’ The fact that it is still here in 2014 is even more amazing.

It must have been surreal, especially for actress Carr, going back there 40 years later…

Yes. It was a great experience for her. You kind of walk around kind of starry-eyed for the first few minutes when you see the staircase and you see the first floor of the upstairs. Then you go into room 4, which is where the murder occurred in the first film. That’s the only room like it in the whole building. The only room structured like that… It’s like ‘Oh, yeah, this is where Dad directed this. This is where, you know…’

It’s hard to believe it’s still standing.

It’s very hard to believe it’s still standing. It actually is part of a Texas landmark, the Trinity Institute, which is the old Westminster College. What a lot of people don’t know is that the building is not just by itself in the middle of nowhere. There’s a gigantic five-story college not three hundred feet from that building. That building is actually the dormitory for the college. The college is from the 1800’s, it’s very old and falling apart. The caretakers are trying to actually raise funds to renovate because it is a landmark. So we’re hoping we can do a little documentary about, not only this film, but about the location itself and maybe try to help them raise some funds to get the college renovated.

Exploitation legend Libby Hall (S.F. Brownrigg's wife and star of Larry Buchanan's THE NAKED WITCH) plays Milly - one of Dr. Mathew's (Andrew Sensenig) patients. 

As the writer, director and star of Red Victoria, which revolves around a writer who is reluctant to take on a horror movie, I have to ask – are you a fan of horror movies?

I am a fan of horror movies in this sense: I enjoy and love the psychology behind them. Because of my upbringing with a horror director I was creating special effects make-up at ten. Putting gashes on my friends and blood and all that other good stuff. So not a lot scared me, especially in the movies because I knew how they were made. One of the reasons I did Red Victoria was because at the time I wasn’t able to get Basement off the ground. I had tried for a while and I was talking to a distributor who said, ‘Why don’t you do a horror film?’ I was like, ‘No, I’ve tried that, Dad did Basement and you know I don’t really want to try to walk in his footsteps… so I want to do a comedy.’ 

He tried to talk me into it and I said, ‘Alright, I’ll do a horror film about a guy that doesn’t want to make a horror film.' That’s what Red Victoria was, it was really my frustration in the fact that horror is considered by many to be so easy to make and it’s not. It’s actually very hard. That’s why the lead character in Red Victoria kind of looked down his nose at horror. It’s the opiate of the masses, it’s cheap thrills… And at the end of Red Victoria he wound up coming to realize what true horror is… Which is really fear of being out of control either by an external source or an internal source. And that’s something that I find fascinating about horror.

 

New Music Video is Girdler Homage

I am currently working on a film project with a unique audio component. My creative partner, Andy Jones, is helping to create the soundscape. Andy is also a singer/songwriter and is releasing an EP called Tales of Doom Vol 1, which is dropping October 27, 2017. I was asked to help him create a music video for his song "Mary," a haunting piece inspired by the satanic panic of the late 80s/early 90s. We decided to use footage from the 1972 William Girdler film ASYLUM OF SATAN.

Watch the MARY music video here. 

HALLOWEEN: 20 YEARS LATER (Monsters at Play Film Review)

 

What exactly were John Carpenter and Debra Hill thinking when they set out to write the continuation to their breakout hit Halloween? That 1978 shocker was not only a critical and box office success, it became the most successful independent film ever made at the time. In Halloween Michael Myers is the personification of the boogeyman. Though his motivation is vague, the script is just literate enough and the cinematography clever enough, to imply why Myers might be compelled to stalk intrepid babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). After escaping from a sanitarium 15 years to the day he murdered his sister Judith, Myers returns to his childhood home. Watching from a window he sees the teenage Laurie who is the same age as the sister he butchered. She’s interacting with a young boy only a few years older than he was when he committed the act. He’s also standing at the very door he walked through right after the crime. As Laurie walks away from the house Myers watches as she sings to herself, “I wish that we were all alone, just the two of us…”

Michael (Nick Castle) watches Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) walk away from the Myers house.

 It’s not a huge stretch to assume that the masked madman might view this an invitation to dance. Halloween 2 elaborates on this subtle “Laurie as sister” theme by unashamedly making her his actual sister. Because Judith’s murder appeared to be punishment for her sexual encounter with her boyfriend, Myers reasons for wanting his chaste younger sister dead are simply nonsensical. This third act revelation from the charmless sequel cast a pall over the entire Halloween series. By giving Myers a reason to kill (however slight), it altered his personae from neighborhood boogeyman to an obsessed psycho who merely wanted to off his entire family. (It’s a conceit practically inspired though when compared to the further revelations about Myers in the subsequent sequels.) Carpenter stated early on that what made The Shape such a scary presence was that he was a complete enigma. The more you know about the thing in the shadows, the less frightening (and compelling) it is.

THE SHAPE stalks the Strode girl.

 It only took them 20 years to get the boogeyman back where he belonged: in the darkness, waiting for the Strode girl. But 20 years later, Strode is no longer a girl but a functioning alcoholic with a treat bag filled with angst. She’s also no longer Laurie Strode after faking her death and changing her name to Keri Tate. Tate is now the headmistress of a private California boarding school and the mother of 18-year-old John (Josh Hartnett). Bypassing the Shape shenanigans of Parts 4 –6 (where Laurie is dead and Myers goes after her orphaned daughter) writers Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg connect the dots directly from Halloween 2. Though shot in both eyes and burned in an explosion, the persistent Myers has been wandering the world in search of his sister for several years.

Michael (Chris Durand) tracks down Marion (Nancy Stephens) who has information on Laurie's whereabouts.

On October 29, 1998 he finally tracks down the home of the late Sam Loomis (the late Donald Pleasence). Loomis, it turns out, had a rather surprising relationship with Nurse Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens from H1&2) and shared a home with her. After finding a secret file on his sister, Myers finally ends the life of the nurse who survived a previous attack 20 years ago that night. He learns of Laurie’s whereabouts and heads out to California to end the life of sister number two once and for all. Back at the boarding school, Keri deals with recurring nightmares and a drinking problem. Her Halloween ordeal has made her overly protective of her son; putting the two at odds with her extreme behavior. A school camping trip over the Halloween weekend pits the mother and son against each other. Keri doesn’t want him leaving home; especially during this troubling anniversary. Though Keri concedes at the last minute, John and his friends have already planned a private Halloween celebration on the empty campus (where the Tate’s also live). Thinking that John has left with the rest of the students, Keri plans a party of her own with school instructor Will (Adam Arkin).

Keri AKA Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally sees Michael (Chris Durand).

Soon Myers shows up and begins another Halloween cutting up some randy teens before setting his sights on sis. Halloween H20 is a satisfying denouement to the saga; thanks in no small part to Curtis’ involvement. Her performance here is both brave and exhilarating; there isn’t one false note in the reprise of her best-known role. Her grounding portrayal of the broken Laurie makes the Myers menace all the more plausible – and even scary. She is ably supported by a cast of solid actors including her mother Janet Leigh (in a fun cameo), L.L. Cool J., Michelle Williams and the aforementioned Arkin and Hartnet. This belated valentine to fans of the series was directed with great skill by the underrated Steve Minor (director of the scariest Friday the 13^th installment - Part 2). Halloween: H20 is a fitting finale to the long night HE came home.

Yes Keri, HALLOWEEN 2 was just a bad dream.

HALLOWEEN II (1981) Review (Originally posted on Planet Fury)

     The Moustapha Akkad presentation of HALLOWEEN II picks up directly where the original ends. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) shoots boogeyman Michael Myers (Nick Castle) six times, sending him over a balcony and onto the front lawn of the Doyle house. Of course, everybody knows that you ‘can’t kill the boogeyman’ and Myers’ body is nowhere to be found. Intrepid “final girl” Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is taken by ambulance to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital to tend to her wounds while Loomis and Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers) wander the streets of Haddonfield attempting to find The Shape. 

     Throughout his original rampage, Michael’s motives were seemingly tied to the anniversary of murdering his sister Judith (fifteen years prior). After returning to the scene of the crime, he fixated on a teenager (Laurie) who reminded him of his sister, compelling him to repeat the crime again. His efficient trail of death was either tied to survival or his compulsion to relive the past. A Phelp’s Garage mechanic, two dogs and three horny teens were either slashed or strangled - and sometimes both. By HALLOWEEN II, our boogeyman (now played by stunt man Dick Warlock) appears less focused and much more angry. Maybe it was the knitting needle in the neck, the hanger in the eye, the butcher knife in the chest, the six close-range bullets to his body and two-story fall to the ground that soured his patient, methodical approach? Whatever the cause, poor Alice (Anne Bruner), a random teen alone in her home, is the first unfortunate victim of the angrier, less subtle Myers. Alice’s only sin? Leaving the front door unlocked. Myers may have returned, but he couldn’t have wandered further from Orange Grove Ave.

 

   The rest of HALLOWEEN II focuses on Loomis’ attempts at finding Myers - and Myers’ attempts at killing Laurie. While Loomis gathers clues indicating a nonsensical (and unnecessary) motive for his former patient, the incompetent staff at Haddonfield Memorial are systematically killed by Myers in several mean and equally nonsensical ways. The creepy cat and mouse games of a child-like psycho have been replaced by FRIDAY THE 13^th-style murder set pieces. What is most frustrating with this follow-up, again scripted by Carpenter and Debra Hill, is that there is no true protagonist. Curtis’ Laurie is drugged and bedridden for most of the running time. The intrepid babysitter from the original is relegated to the sidelines while Loomis is left to search dental records and wax philosophic on evil and the origins of Samhain. The audience is left to wander the dark halls with group of dim, vague archetypes simply waiting for a syringe to the eye.  Hard to believe that Carpenter and Hill would choose to pursue such a limited and redundant narrative. It’s a slick yet depressing coda to a classic film that surely deserved better. 

     Director Rick Rosenthal (HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION) does a serviceable job with the slight material he was given. He gets some solid performances from Pleasence, Cyphers and Lance Guest (JAWS: THE REVENGE) as concerned paramedic Jimmy. Nancy Stephens makes a welcome return as the cynical, chain-smoking Marion and Gloria Gifford is a strong presence as head nurse Mrs. Alves (the lone authority figure at Haddonfield Memorial). Curtis, who did the sequel out of loyalty to Carpenter and Hill, is suitably worried and anxious in her extended victim role. Though a poorly-chosen wig offers distracting evidence that this is definitely not the same brave teen who fought so valiantly to stop the boogeyman. Thankfully she was able to reconcile the somnambulant turn of her character TWICE several years later in the compelling HALLOWEEN: H20 and the even better Blumhouse re-imagining HALLOWEEN 2018 (which ditches all the sequels and the sibling connection altogether). 

     Rosenthal’s film looks and feels very much like the original, thanks to returning cinematographer Dean Cundey (SATAN’S CHEERLEADERS). The first moments after the opening credits, with Myers’ POV through the back alleys of Haddonfield, contain a mischievous energy missing from the rest of the film. These brief shots cleverly mirror the beginning of the original and promise a movie that is far more inventive than what proceeds. As a HALLOWEEN sequel, it’s mostly trick, but as a mindless slasher film it’s a digestible treat (if you prefer hard candy). It’s helped greatly by the kinetic score, an electronic revamp of Carpenter’s iconic original soundtrack. The extended, entirely expected stalking sequence between Myers and Laurie is shot and edited with a modicum of energy. However, the leisure pace of the Warlock Myers is often unintentionally funny. Laurie “narrowly escaping” the surgical knife by a slow moving elevator is far removed from the nail-biting confrontations orchestrated in the original. 

     What is most obvious (and unfortunate) with HALLOWEEN II, is that Myers is most certainly NOT the boogeyman. The silent, sneaky phantom in the shadows from HALLOWEEN is nowhere to be found once Strode has been secured in the stretcher. Perhaps by bookending the film with The Chordettes’ “Mr. Sandman,” Carpenter and Hill were intimating that our heroine began hallucinating as soon as she stated that, ‘It was the boogeyman.’ Razors in the mouth, exploding cars, boiled faces and slippery pools of blood are surely the stuff of nightmares. 

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