“Halloween: The Varient Timeline”
Day 7, 8, & 9 of the 2024 31-Days of Horror
When I first saw these, I saw them all out of order. I finally decided to go back and watch them again. Let’s accept that these are the direct sequels to the original 1978 film, because there’s a multiverse, right? So we’ll just view this timeline as varients of Michael Meyers and Laurie Strode. I did enjoy this timeline and will very likely revisit it.
“Halloween (2018)”
For more information follow this link.
As a direct sequel to the original 1978 classic, this works well. So, it’s 40 years later and Michael Meyers has been incarcerated in psychiatric care since that fateful night. Enter the “investigative journalists” or podcasters, who claim to be shedding new light on what happened. Right. So they go to the psychiatric hospital to interview him, and surprise, surprise, one of them pulls out his mask. Borrowed from the official police investigation files.
We have an older Laurie Strode living in what is essentially a survivalist bunker on the outskirts of Haddonfield, Il. She has never psychologically recovered from her encounter with Michael Meyers and believes that he will eventually come back for her. She has spent her life preparing for it. She has been clever and strong, and utterly broken. Her family estranged and the rest of the world trying to forget and heal and refusing to believe her insistence that Michael will return for her. She clings harder to her conviction and is utterly alone. And when he does, because of course, she is ready. As is her daughter.
Jamie Lee Curtis is my top Scream Queen. She is a versatile talent. I love and appreciate that she returned to this role as this Laurie Strode varient. The story worked, and let’s face it, the audience has accepted and loved similar strong female characters with the same trauma reaction (I’m looking at you Sarah Conner).
I thought Judy Greer was great as Karen, Laurie’s daughter. She definitely gave off the vibe of someone who is both terrified that what they’ve been taught is true and constantly trying to convince themselves and others that it isn’t. Andi Matichak, as Allyson, Laurie’s granddaughter, was a strong addition to the story.
The trio of final “girls” all courageous, clever, and fierce. I think this was a strong start to this alternate timeline.
“Halloween Kills (2021)”
For more information follow this link.
Halloween Kills picks up the same night Halloween (2018) ends. This time, instead of primarily following Laurie Strode and her family, primarily because Laurie is laid up in the hospital with a knife wound in her gut and really can’t participate successfully in any action. So, the audience is shown the trauma that the community of Haddonfield has endured because of Michael Meyers and is currently facing with his return. Where I like this in theory, in practice, there’s too much social commentary to unpack in this installment that muddies the storyline. Most notably the blatantly political parallel of this version of Tommy Doyle, portrayed intensely, if not always well (maybe not his fault, it can’t have been an easy role), by Anthony Michael Hall, who, very like a QAnon Conspiracy theorist, incites a mob then loses control of it and bad things happen.
But you know what really burns my bacon? If they went through all the trouble with a new timeline and showing Michael aging in a psychiatric hospital, why the heck did they go and make him supernatural again?
ANYWAY!!! Our favorite scream queen, and heroine, Laurie Strode, is sidelined throughout much of this one, but we do get some character development and soul searching between her and Frank, Will Patton’s character, who just happen to be sharing a hospital room for some unexplained reason. Maybe it’s the Michael Meyer’s victims unit.
The vigilante mob eventually catches up with Michael Meyers. It doesn’t go quite the way they intended.
“Halloween Ends (2022)”
For more information follow this link.
So, bad things weren’t only happening to the Strode family on that fateful Halloween night. Corey, a young man with a promising future, was babysitting a spoiled boy who decided to play a nasty prank on Corey, causing a fatal accident.
Fast forward 4 years. Corey has been bullied by the town and has a super twisted relationship with his mother. Laurie is blamed for the town’s poor choices and Michael Meyers’ killing spree. On the plus side, Laurie and her granddaughter, Allyson, have developed a healthier relationship, and Allyson is now a nurse. And when Laurie sees Corey being abused by some young bullies, she intervenes and takes him to the hospital. Allyson has an immediate crush on him. Unfortunately, he is a VERY broken young man.
I was a bit surprised when Laurie was largely sidelined again in this, again. I didn’t mind that so much because the chemistry and relationship development between Corey and Allyson was so much better than what was going on with Laurie and Frank. Though the supernatural aspect with Michael Meyers was, again, annoying. I’m not sure if they had too much going on or if they just didn’t quite know how to end it, or if Rohan Campbell’s performance of Corey just made the character and storyline so much better than they anticipated. In any case, the story kind of got messy for no really great reason, there was supernatural blah blah, and Michael Meyers returned in earnest. And this time, when Laurie and Haddonfield ended him, they REALLY ended him. No real way to come back from that. (Hmmm, well, I guess Cap’n Jack Harkness did come back from something similar, but, again, I digress.)
Well, that’s enough rambling. This was fun. I’ve not been inspired to ramble about the other timeline of Halloween movies before.
