HALLOWEEN Set Visit: What We Saw in Haddonfield
Jonathan Barkan
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It’s a beautiful day in Charleston, South Carolina. The temperatures are in the low 60s and white puffball clouds float gently across a piercing blue sky. Even though it’s technically Winter, there is a smell in the air that Spring is around the corner, that new life is on the horizon and the grass will indeed be greener with each passing day. Then again, Charleston is the reality we’re in. But the fantasy our imaginations are concocting is that we’re in Haddonfield, Illinois, which is what the cast and crew of Blumhouse’s Halloween would have us believe.
It’s mid-morning when I and several other journalists board two vans to be taken to the set of Halloween, where we’re met and shepherded by Ryan Turek, the VP of Feature Film Development at Blumhouse Productions, as well as two publicists from Universal Pictures, Nikki and Lauren. We start the day off with coffee (I elect for hot chocolate because I’m still a Toys ‘r Us kid at heart) before walking past trailers, semis, rigs, and piles of equipment into a small neighborhood set on both sides by charming “small town America” two story homes, some more modern than others but none so unique as to stand out from the rest.
As we walked, there was a hushed delight amongst us journalists. Whispers back and forth between each other all said the same thing: “It looks just like Haddonfield.” Even the presence of so many behind-the-scenes crew members couldn’t deter the feeling of something sinister hanging over this small slice of Americana. Dead leaves crunched under our heels as we were guided into one of the homes and sat at a long table where we would be spending the majority of our day. This home, with pictures of someone else’s family, was to be our base of operations for the day and we quickly settled in.
Throughout the day, cast and crew were brought in to sit at the head of the table, offering what information they could while coyly refusing to give away too much…or being shut down by Turek, Nikki, and Lauren before they could spoil anything too juicy. But as the day went on, a promise made by Blumhouse and Universal needed to be fulfilled, a promise to see Michael “The Shape” Myers in action, a promise that came to fruition.
Once again, we moved as a makeshift single-celled organism into the house next door where we were made to stand in front of “media village”, a place where multiple video monitors are placed side-by-side so that we can see what the various camera angles are seeing. There aren’t enough headsets for us all, so we take turns sharing them during the multiple takes.
At first, we simply see a closet door slightly ajar, light coming from the door jamb. Then we watch as Vicky (Virginia Gardner), a friend of Allyson (Andi Matichak), tries to push it shut only for something, or someone, to impede her path. Suddenly, the door bursts open and there he stands. Michael Myers. The Shape.
To say that we had goosebumps is an understatement. Our collective gasps probably reverberated through the walls. Our smiles went ear-to-ear. This was Michael the way we all hoped and dreamed we would see him. Formidable but obviously aged, his aged mask wrinkled and crumbling, creased and weary. He wore dark gray coveralls, the color mirroring the patina of his mask, making his appearance almost black-and-white against a colorful world. This is a reincarnation of pure evil, plain and simple.
Back to the scene, we see Vicky obviously terrified as she backpedals, grabbing a chair and smashing it against Myers’ back as he swipes at her with a butcher knife. Her fate left uncertain, we were taken back to the house with our appetites sufficiently teased. Regardless of the final outcome, I can assure you that this film’s incarnation of Michael Myers will chill audiences to their core and leave no doubts that his character was given an earnest chance to finish what he started 40 years ago.
We’ll be posting more set visit reports from our trip to Halloween, so make sure to follow our tag to stay up-to-date.
Categorized:News
