Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode will face Michael Myers once again whenHalloween Killsdebuts in theaters next year. Now, Curtis has suggested the latest installment of the horror franchise will be a timely film by comparing the story to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Disregarding all previous entries in the film series with the exception ofJohn Carpenter’s original horror classic,Halloween (2019)followed Laurie Strode several decades after her first and only encounter with Michael Myers. While the reboot focused on Strode’s struggle with PTSD and how her encounter with Myers impacted her relationship with her daughter and granddaughter, Curtis explainsHalloween Killswill expand on those themes of trauma by examining how other people have been affected by the infamous serial killer’s violence.
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During an interview with SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Curtis added thatHalloween Killsperfectly reflects the experiences of people across the United States and the world during the tumultuous year that has been 2020. “What we were seeing around the country of the power, of the rage of voices, big groups of people coming together enraged at the set of circumstances, that’s what the movie is,” she said. “The movie is about a mob. And so it’s very interesting because it takes on what happens when trauma infects an entire community.” Curtis even compared the plot ofHalloween Killsto the Black Lives Matter movement, which gainedfurther international attention and supportduring the 2020 protests against the murder of George Floyd. “We’re seeing it everywhere with the Black Lives Matter movement. We’re seeing it in action andHalloween Killsweirdly enough, dovetailed onto that, preceded it, it was written before that occurred. So when you see it, it’s a seething group of people moving through the story as a big angry group, it’s really, really, really, really, really intense. It’s a masterpiece,” she said.
Halloween Killswas originally scheduled to debut in theaters in October 2020 before Universal opted to delay its release by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letterpenned by Carpenter and director David Gordon Green, the filmmakers cited the “compromised theatrical experience” brought upon by the pandemic as the primary reason for the postponement.Halloween Killswill be followed by a third film in the rebooted film series titledHalloween Ends, due to hit theaters in 2022.
Curtis' comments drawing comparisons betweenHalloween Killsand Black Lives Matter may not be well taken, but perhaps they shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand. After all, horror films have often been a venue forfilmmakers to explore politics, from George A. Romero’sNight of the Living Deadright up to thePurgefranchise.
A more recent example may be the upcomingCandymansequel from producer Jordan Peele and director Nia DaCosta. Slated to be released in theaters next summer, the horror film is expected toexplore themes of gentrification, much like the original film in the franchise.
Halloween Killsscheduled to be released in theaters on June 01, 2025.
