Now the dust has settled on David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy, and the filmmaker has moved onto another well-established horror property, it’s time to look back on the return of Michael Myers across a 5-year period.
Abbie Bernstein, who has previously compiled an incredible account of Mad Max: Fury Road has been tasked with getting all the behind the scenes scoops from the Shape’s comeback.
To say this book is in-depth is an understatement, and being a greedy Halloween fan, I only wish we had this for the other 10 films in the series. Bernstein talks to everyone from Green, to John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis to special FX whiz Christopher Nelson.
Nelson’s contributions are some of the most engrossing as he talks about his love of the Michael Myers character and we see the evolution of him crafting the mask for all three films plus the 1978 flashback version used at the start of Halloween Kills.
You get to find out about all the alternative ideas across this trilogy, including THAT original 2018 ending plus the casting process for characters such as Corey Cunningham plus a full explanation of some of the incredible and gory effects throughout Green’s films.
At 240 pages, the trilogy is fairly equally divided in terms of coverage, so fans of 2018 will have something to lap up whereas the burgeoning cult of Ends fans will get their fill too.
What really comes across in these pages is the sense of community that is created on a film set plus how happenstance alongside creativity and sometimes ad-hoc decisions can create moments fans will talk about for years.
At the time of writing, the Halloween film series is now dormant but this gigantic coffee table book is the perfect companion for some colder nights as the spirit of the Shape looms larger.
Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends: The Official Making of the Films by Abbie Bernstein is available now from Titan Books.
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