John Carpenter and Debra Hill didn’t want to make Halloween II. Those of you who know this story, indulge me for a bit. Those of you who don’t, well, here you go. Anyway, the dynamic duo created a monster with Halloween and creatively, saw no reason to wade back into the same waters. Plus, as far as Carpenter was concerned, there was no more story to tell. So, what changed his mind? The extensive account in the book Taking Shape gets it straight from the horse’s mouth, and it rhymes with honey.
“The sequel was going to be made with us or without us. And part of the reason for making the sequel was to get the money that was owed to both Debra and I from the first film. Being nice capitalists, we decided to go ahead and do that,” reflects Carpenter.
At least he’s honest.
With Universal on board to distribute the sequel to the little independent exploitation movie that could, Halloween officially went from the minors to the majors. But more money involved meant more oversight, and more oversight meant working within a system involving test screenings and notes. By 1981, slashers powered the horror business. And business was booming.
As a result, Carpenter, the other producers, and the studio believed Halloween II needed to contend with the slew of Halloween imitators. Feelings on Halloween II aside, this is a vast difference between the first movie and its sequel. While the former was auteur-driven, the latter was anything but. In the end, seemingly no one on the production was incredibly happy, least of all director Rick Rosenthal, and most certainly not Carpenter. Ask him; he has plenty to say on the subject.
Halloween II is one of three horror sophomore efforts in the ’80s that were less about the auteur, more about the business, and all about establishing the brand. Halloween II, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, and Phantasm II are forks in the road and their respective franchises’ most consequential films.
In each instance, these movies were victims of their own success. Of course, New Line wanted a sequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street since it made all the money. And why wouldn’t a horror-loving exec at Universal want a sequel to that successful Don Coscarelli film at a time when horror was big box office? Each of these business decisions required sacrifices on the creative side of the equation.
Coscarelli ran into the same corporate buzzsaw that chopped and screwed Halloween II several years earlier. As a result, Phantasm II has a different lead actor, adds a love interest, and its narrative is pretty straightforward. Fans use many words to describe the Phantasm franchise, but it’s a good bet “straightforward” isn’t one of them. In fact, Phantasm II is the weirdest of the franchise because, relatively speaking, it’s pretty normal. The director acknowledged he played the studio game, making concessions and giving them what they wanted.
Wes Craven, on the other hand, was less inclined to partake. To be fair, the Never Sleep Again documentary features a few different opinions on the exact reason the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street didn’t direct its first sequel. But according to the man himself, he had no desire to turn his “dream child” into a franchise, and not having ownership of said creation bothered him. The studio went ahead without Craven and created a movie that, while beloved now, was anything but in 1985, to say nothing of the fact that it ripped up and contradicted a lot of Craven’s established rules. How? Well, it is the only time Freddy Krueger operates in the real world at a pool party in front of a captivated audience.
Turns out, leaving the auteur in the dust purely to keep the brand alive wasn’t the best decision at the time.
These three movies were catalysts for what came in their wake. Halloween II led to Halloween III (sans Michael Myers), which gave us Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Halloween II made The Shape human by giving him familial bonds. From that point on, the series turned into a soap opera saga about the most dysfunctional family since the clan Manson led in the ’60s. The 1981 movie’s legacy loomed large enough to the point that a storyline Carpenter attributes to obligation and alcohol wasn’t done away with until 2018.
Nightmare 2’s chilly reception got the studio to bring Craven back into the fold and gave birth to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. The series shifted direction when it was left for dead, and all these years later, we’re still talking about the dream demon. As far as Phantasm II is concerned, it showed Coscarelli the power of ownership and the joys of creative freedom. Phantasm III didn’t drop until 1994, and his voice is evident from the first frame to the last.
Horror history wouldn’t be the same without these movies with the number two in their titles. What’s crazy is they were all created under similar circumstances at different times and yielded identical long-term results. We needed these movies when we got them, even if we didn’t know it yet. They ensured longevity for characters we love and love to hate. And not for nothing, but they are examples of why horror works best when the creator’s vision remains pure.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3641861/curious-case-number-2s-halloween-elm-street-phantasm-went-hollywood/
No comments:
Post a Comment