A Thank You To The Halloween Franchise
The “Under the Mask” Blog is an online outlet for the “Dont Go Out There” podcast hosts to further add creative content into the horror community.
by: Mike Settle
A Thank You To The Halloween Franchise
On October 14th, Halloween Ends will hit theaters. They don’t need any of my help pushing this or marketing the film, it’s going to do just fine on it’s own. The reason I’m stating that upfront is because the closer we get to that day the—- well, more emotional I get
I know what you’re thinking— “how can you be emotional about a stupid masked killer movie?” More often than not, you would be justified in saying that. The slasher film on its surface is pretty basic and mundane. The majority of people in my life either don’t watch or don’t care about them and trust me I get it.
When Halloween (18) was released a few years back and I was as hyping it all over my social medias there was either a reaction of “isn’t he dead?” or “the dude that carries a machete?”
*By the way, both were incorrect statements (Jason Vorhees uses that weapon and you can’t kill the boogeyman—duh.)*
Anyways, like I mentioned I was PUMPED. Halloween from 1978 is my favorite horror film of all time and in my top 5 movies— ever. So a direct sequel to that? Hell yeah brother! I’m going to save you all the time in the world by not explaining the fact that there’s about 4 different timelines in the franchise, we’re just talking about this most recent run of films and the original. So why on earth am I emotional about a movie called “Halloween Ends?”
Well, let’s go back to 2016 when the new Halloween movie started to gain buzz. I followed that thing like a true internet sleuth. I took in every little morsel of detail I could get for two whole years. I watched every YouTube video, listened to every podcast, read every article, it was an exciting time.
I had been a horror fan for many years up to this point but it was this movie that really put me in the firm placement of being a super fan. About a year after the film was released, I began interacting some of friends from Twitter (normal a cesspool but not in this case) about the movie and about Michael Myers vs Jason Vorhees. That lead to a joke about us starting a podcast just because other people were probably tired of reading our thoughts.
A joke— that’s all it was, right? Nope. We did the damn thing. We started out basically just talking to ourselves and then organically it grew… and grew… and grew some more. Almost three years have gone by and we’ve gotten to do and experience some things I never could’ve dreamed of. Interviewing legends and icons of the genre— including James Jude Courtney. The man who most recently has dawned the Michael Myers mask for these three movies.
I mean—- a Halloween nerd getting to sit down and interview Michael Myers? You can’t top it.
Here we are now, at the end of this saga. Will this be the final Halloween movie? No. But— it will be the final Halloween as we know it. The last one with John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis. The last one featuring Laurie Strode vs Michael and the last one for quite a few years.
I just wanted to come here and say—- thank you. Thank you to all involved in the making of these last three movies. Thank you to every YouTuber, podcaster and writer that pulled me in with scoops in 2018. Thank you to all of our fans of Don’t Go Out There, I can truly say it’s been an honor.
There is (at least for me) no Don’t Go Out There without the reboot of Halloween in 2018. I don’t get to do all the cool things I’ve done, I don’t add three new brothers, three groomsmen in wedding and I don’t get to interact with all of you every day. We have the best fans in the world, I really believe that. So for that, I am forever grateful for these stupid little slasher movies. So how can I NOT be emotional about October 14th? Truth is, I am. At least I will be after it’s over.
For the first time, I’m telling you to GO OUT THERE and see Halloween Ends. Why? Because everyone’s entitled to one good scare.
Happy Halloween
-Mike