Everyone knows Jamie Lee Curtis is the star of the Halloween franchise, but she’s actually only been in about half of the 13 installments in the saga. Curtis debuted as beleaguered babysitter Laurie Strode in 1978’s Halloween, returning for Halloween II before she left behind Haddonfield until 1997’s Halloween: H20 and its follow-up Resurrection. 2018’s reboot then brought her back into the fold and the upcoming Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends will apparently conclude Laurie’s battle with Michael Myers for good.
There’s actually another Halloween movie that Curtis turns up in though that’s often forgotten. Partly because of its outlier status in the franchise and also because of the easily-missed nature of the actress’ role. I’m referring to 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the only entry in the series to date not to feature The Shape, as John Carpenter thought he could transform Halloween into an anthology franchise, but the threequel’s disappointing reception convinced him to bring Michael back in Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers.Â
Instead, H3 follows Tom Atkins’ Dan Challis as he uncovers a sinister plot by a crazy mogul to turn children into monsters via their Halloween masks. Curtis does appear via archive footage, though, in one notable scene, where Challis is in a bar when a commercial for the original Halloween plays on the TV, apparently revealing that the first two films are fictional in this world. But Carpenter’s former leading lady is also in the cast in a minor vocal role.
Though she’s left uncredited and it’s hard to make her out in the movie, Curtis provides the voice for both a Santa Mira phone operator and a curfew announcer in a different town. This repeats the same trick Carpenter played in the previous year’s hit sci-fi actioner Escape from New York, in which Curtis also had a voiceover role.
So, Curtis’ break from the Halloween franchise wasn’t actually quite as long as we realized. But her journey as Laurie Strode is apparently about to reach its final stop in Blumhouse’s upcoming sequels. Speaking of which, you can expect Halloween Kills this October, before Ends arrives in fall 2021.
