When it comes to a film franchise as enduring and expansive as Halloween, I’m sure we all have our own favorite installments. Strangely enough, the series has adopted a “choose your own adventure” model, as the timeline has branched in so many different directions over the years.
Though most entries follow the 1978 original in some capacity, director Rob Zombie’s two contributions, respectively released in 2007 and 2009, keep it simple by existing within their own continuity. In other words, you can sit down to watch both in one evening and not get a headache over whether this film acknowledges the events of another, etc.
Considering how Zombie himself once said that he prefers Halloween II, I couldn’t help wondering which picture was favored by the guy actually playing Michael Myers. And when I had the chance to interview Tyler Mane this past weekend at The Monroe Pop Fest, he said the following to me:
“I like ’em both for different reasons. You know, the first one showed the backstory and told the history of Michael Myers and how he’s a product of his environment, and the second one just goes deeper in the relationship between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers and how their lives intersect and how it affects them. So I like ’em both for different reasons.”
Personally, I prefer the first film, but I can understand why Mane can’t single out just one. After all, they’re two very different tales. Whereas the first did hit many of the major beats established in John Carpenter’s original, there was the added backstory just referred to by the actor himself. The second, meanwhile, examined the franchise in a way we’d never before seen.
Actually, it was those deviations witnessed in Halloween II which proved to be somewhat controversial, but you can’t blame Zombie for trying. Hey, part of the audience like leaving Michael Myers without motive or detailed history, while others don’t. It’s a great debate best saved for another day, so I guess we’ll all have to agree to disagree for the time being.
