We’re less than three weeks away from the release of Halloween Kills, which is coming to theaters and streaming simultaneously, a somewhat divisive call that’s since been defended by producer Jason Blum. The sequel’s chances of matching its predecessor’s $255 million box office haul have evaporated thanks to the hybrid release, but it should at least lead to an uptick in new Peacock signups.
The middle chapter of the trilogy hasn’t been greeted anywhere near as enthusiastically as the 2018 opener, but it’s still the highest-rated sequel in the franchise’s history on Rotten Tomatoes. The general consensus is that Halloween Kills lives up to its moniker by upping the body count significantly, but director David Gordon Green admitted that filming those gratuitous deaths is often a challenge.
During a Q & A at Beyond Fest via ComicBook, the filmmaker revealed that one of the biggest issues he faced shooting Halloween Kills was making sure the light reflecting from Michael Myers’ mask didn’t ruin his setups.
“The Michael Myers mask, it only works in certain angles and certain lighting environments. So sometimes you’ll get so caught up in dialogue that you’ll think, ‘Oh wait. But then the mask is not getting the love it needs by the lighting department’. I mean, there’s no scene in this movie that’s just two people talking in a room. So it gets very challenging trying to figure out where to prioritize. Is it in the atmosphere, is it in the technical, is it in the emotional?”
Having a villain wearing a mask sounds like it would make things easier during filming, but the production values have been significantly upped since John Carpenter settled on an inside out replica of William Shatner’s face over 40 years ago. Then again, it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that lighting techniques won’t be viewed as a make-or-break element of Halloween Kills; people just want to see Michael get stabby.
