Plot Details for ‘Halloween Returns’: Is it a Sequel?
By Jeremy Dick
Mumblings of another Halloween movie have been floating around since the release of 2009’s Halloween II, with lots of speculation as to whether it’d be a fresh reboot or if we’d see director Rob Zombie at the helm again. Possible titles for the project such as Halloween 3D and Halloween: The Next Chapter continued to pop up in the rumor mill, but the film never seemed to be able to get the ball rolling. Finally, the eleventh film in the franchise is officially under production.
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Officially titled Halloween Returns, the film will be directed by Saw franchise writer Marcus Dustan. Dustan co-wrote the script with Patrick Melton, whose previous work also included the Saw movies. Seeing a different name on the director’s chair could come as good news to a lot of fans of the original Halloween films who weren’t all that impressed with Rob Zombie’s rebooted movies.
Although filming won’t start until July, several details about the plot of Halloween Returns have been released. First of all, we now have an answer to the biggest question that most of us have been pondering, and that was whether the film would be a reboot or a sequel. We’ve learned that the film will indeed be a sequel, but for John Carpenter’s original two films, rather than Rob Zombie’s updated versions.
Set years after the original murder spree of escaped mental patient Michael Myers, the white-masked killer finds himself on death row, awaiting execution. Two youths sneak into the facility to watch the execution for unique, personal reasons: one is the 18 year old son of one of Michael’s victims, and the other the daughter of a cop obsessed with the case. Interestingly enough, Shock Till You Drop reported that the cop in question is Deputy Hunt, a surviving policeman from Halloween 2, now serving as the sheriff.
This might be confusing for long-time fans of the series. The first two Halloween movies were intended to be conclusive, with part 3 featuring an original storyline about evil masks. Parts 4, 5 and 6 went back to using Michael Myers, continuing off of part 2, with a convoluted plot about Michael joining a cult. Halloween H20 then came about, acting as a direct sequel to the first two movies and ignoring all of the other sequels. An eighth movie came after that before the series was completely revamped into two new movies under the helm of Rob Zombie.
And now, we’re getting another sequel to the first two movies, while ignoring all of the rest? Perhaps it’s the right thing to do, but it doesn’t make the continuity of the films in the franchise any less confusing. I think that the whole point, though, is to introduce new fans of the genre to the classic horror of the Michael Myers character. At least this means that if we’re not counting Halloween: Resurrection, then Laurie Strode is still alive, and there’s always the possibility for a Jamie Lee Curtis appearance.