One of the more interesting campaigns of the year has to be Halloween, which manages to be sold in a way that evokes the franchise’s long history while also selling something new. My full recap is up at The Hollywood Reporter.
Online and Social
The movie’s official website has a lot of standard content, including “Videos,” a “Story” synopsis, “Gallery” and a few prompts to buy tickets. Oddly, there are no links to the Twitter, Facebook or Instagram profiles established as social outposts. There’s a button in the upper left that says “Explore sightings” but instead of leading to any sort of interactive or other feature it’s just a a link to find screenings near you and buy tickets.
Media and Publicity
McBride spoke about the project while promoting other films and TV shows, talking about the story and characters and his overall approach to it. A first look at Curtis in the movie got people talking about but not about much. Later on she showed up on stage during Universal’s CinemaCon presentation to talk about returning to the character after so many years and what audiences might expect. The movie was also part of the later CineEurope presentation from the studio.
Just before that, EW offered a new photo of Michael Myers in full regala along with comments from Curtis and Green talked about how many drafts of the script he went through before it felt right to him. Curtis also spoke more about returning to the role here and about how Laurie isn’t just surviving but hunting in this new installment.
McBride popped back up around that time with another interview talking about how he wants to do right by the franchise and not let fans down with this new movie. That same topic was covered by Green in an interview about where he found inspiration for the story and what he hopes to accomplish.
A featurette released around the time of Toronto had Curtis, Carpenter and Green all talking about how intense the movie is, revisiting the legacy of the original and more. Curtis spoke with the other female cast members beside her about the multi-generational story that’s now being told while Green shared more of the advice that helped him make the movie.
Curtis represented the movie on the cover of a recent issue of EW that had a few additional stories about the film, including comments from McBride, Green and Carpenter along with an exclusive clip from the movie. Green even hinted he has ideas for a sequel.
The movie was, appropriately enough, the first one to grace the cover of the newly-relaunched Fangoria magazine. And there was another substantial feature on Curtis and her return to the role.
Curtis of course did the morning and late night talk show rounds to touch on the same topics she covered elsewhere, including how it was she wound up coming back to the role and more.
As a final bow, McBride discussed the alternate plans he had for the script if studio execs didn’t go for his initial take.
Overall
A+ for Jamie Lee Curtis playing the OG badass here, someone who refuses to not do everything she can to make sure she’s not powerless against an extreme creeper. She may be scared, but she’s also determined and Curtis looks to be just great here.
Picking Up The Spare
A new featurette has been released that focuses on the three generation of women that are key to the story and how incredible the actresses playing them are.
David Gordon Green has some additional thoughts about the horror genre.
IMAX promoted the one-week engagement the movie received with an exclusive spot.
The issue of how the story ignores the other sequels is addressed by McBride and Green here.
Cinematic Slant 