Does the Halloween 2018 trailer give away too much?

I recently watched the trailer for the 2018 Halloween and, honestly, it might have given me too much info. Let’s head to Haddonfield.

Before I proceed, I ought to give a SPOILER ALERT, as this article discusses the Halloween trailer which, in my view, gives away excessive details of the upcoming movie. Get it? Got it? Good!

Here is the trailer, if you are so inclined  — just remember what this article is about.

Let’s Get to the Opinion Stuff

I will be seeing Halloween in late October because, hey, it’s a classic horror franchise! Michael Myers is an iconic boogeyman and one of the first slasher villains (though technically not the first).

Like most horror fans born in the ’80s, I grew up watching the Halloween movies. In fact, I even enjoy the so-called “bad” ones like Halloween 5, and the even less celebrated Halloween 6.  Some will say, “What about Michael Myers face off against Busta Rhymes?  Wasn’t that a low point in the series?” I find it silly, but I can still watch and enjoy it to an extent. In fact, I liked Busta Rhymes even before that movie, and I’m not even that big into rap.

That aside, I may have made a mistake in watching the Halloween (2018) trailer. If I’m being honest, I almost feel like I watched the movie already. The weird thing is, I wasn’t even paying that close attention to it, but I still absorbed a lot of details! How could that be?

Let’s face it: The Halloween story is pretty simple, even if mysterious. A big part of Michael’s backstory is that, until later installments, he barely even had a backstory. He was just some kid who inexplicably became evil on Halloween night. Then, years later, he came back to spoil Haddonfield’s Halloween again. The mystery for us is what animates him to kill, and sparse details are part of the allure.

Basically, much of the Halloween story is the deaths and the mood set by Mr. Myers. Sure, there’s a little character development from those who eventually face The Shape, but looming horror is the film’s star. In contrast, the trailer reveals a good chunk of what happens to Michael Myers, and we learn plenty about Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in a short amount of time. There’s a sense that she’s been waiting for him to return (though there obviously wouldn’t be a movie if he didn’t). Keep in mind, the trailer revealing details is different from the movie itself doing so.

Halloween — Courtesy of Blumhouse and Universal Pictures

The Twist that Most of Us Already Know

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• 31 Days of Horror Movies: Halloween Ends, I Bet I’m About to Offend You
• Interview with Michele Dawson, Nurse Deb in Halloween Ends

Okay, this is where the SPOILER ALERT really kicks in: The movie kind of switches gears on us, in that Halloween II apparently didn’t happen, and all of the other sequels are scrapped. In other words, this is definitely a horror “re-imagining,” and Michael Myers may have a few new tricks up to his sleeve. At the same time, we know Michael will be up to his old tricks, too.

So, the question is, how different will his fight with Laurie Strode be this time? This sort of already happened in three other sequels, with one of the biggest ones being Halloween H20 (or “Halloween Water,” as some used to call it). In that film, Laurie Strode basically dominates Mikey. In fact, at the risk of getting political, it becomes obvious that it’s a female empowerment movie by the end. I mean, Michael barely seemed to stand a chance.

In this one, Laurie Strode seems even tougher than she was in Halloween H20.  In other words, there’s apparently even less of a chance for Myers to emerge victorious. While this can still work, it comes off seeming like a definite retread of H20. While this movie can deny that Halloween H20 happened, us fans can’t.

So, what I’ll do when I watch this movie is simple: I’ll try to throw my expectations out the window. I’ll try to forget any rules of the franchise, and pretend it didn’t have any sequels. In other words, this movie will challenge me to do some mental gymnastics, and hopefully I can. My point? I will probably enjoy the 2018 Halloween, but it will require a bit of an effort, if I’m being honest. Also, I probably won’t enjoy it as much as one could imagine.

Am I really bothered by the trailer? No, not really. I’m sort of used to trailers revealing a lot. I’m not bothered by spoilers much in general. I just roll with it. I’ll be happy if or when Halloween 2018 defies any expectations. Hopefully it’ll be a wild ride, but I’ll try to enjoy a possible predictable retread, too. For a relatively simple horror movie, it makes sense to keep my expectations simple, too.

What are your thoughts? Did the trailer reveal too much? Let us know in the comments!