Blumhouse’s quasi-reboot/sequel Halloween has got horror fans hyped to hell and back. One of the main reasons for that is that the filmmakers clearly recognize and respect John Carpenter’s hugely influential 1978 film. This is no more evident than in the fact that they got the original Michael Myers actor (Nick Castle) back to take over the role from the new Michael, James Jude Courtney, for a few key moments.
Now, courtesy of an interview with Bloody Disgusting, we know exactly how he features in the film, and it’s the very first time Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode sees Michael again. Even better, director David Gordon Green asked him to recreate one of his most recognizable (and creepy) bits of body language from the original, with Castle saying:
“I’m not sure this is done any other time in the movie, but the director asked me to tilt my head like one of the prominent things that fans remember in the first one. When he kills the kid in the kitchen and kind of admires his work. Hopefully that’ll come through, especially to the fans of the first one.”
In addition, the actor mentioned that though this is his sole physical appearance in the movie, he’ll be supplying the ADR breathing for Michael for the rest of the film. It’s hearing stuff like this that demonstrates how much attention to detail is going on here. The original Halloween isn’t simply some slasher movie (though it is that, too), it’s an important and stylish piece of cinema that’s still a huge influence on the genre to this day.
Further in his interview, Castle also mentioned the long-standing interest and love that fans have shown the Halloween franchise, saying:
“Being on the set the first day, as a matter of fact [Jamie Lee Curtis] noticed me walking across the place where we were shooting and yelled at me, ‘Castle!’ ran over, gave me a big hug and said, ‘Is this nuts or what?’ That’s how we addressed it in the crazy way that life works and the crazy way the motion picture business works, that’s for sure. Not in the deep philosophical, psychological sense [but] the weight of how ridiculous it is. 40 years later we’re still doing this work and it’s somewhat of a mystery to us how this has sustained its interest in the fans.”
There’s no mystery Nick! The movies kick ass and we love watching them. Keep up the good work.
