In 1978’s Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode, a babysitter who was targetted by an unknown masked assailant. Laurie ran, hid, and fought her way to survival, yet the upcoming sequel to the film shows a much more proactive character who has been preparing for 40 years to face her attacker once and for all. Entertainment Weekly debuted a new image from the film that showcases Laurie’s protective nature ahead of the film debuting on October 19th.
In the new film, “A British documentary crew comes to the States to visit Michael in prison for a retrospective of the maniac’s night of terror — but their project becomes way more interesting when Myers escapes custody, retrieves his signature mask and seeks revenge on Laurie, with others naturally being part of his impressive career body count along the way. In the decades following the fateful Halloween night that forever altered the former babysitter’s life, Laurie has armed and prepped herself for Michael’s inevitable return — to the detriment of her family, including daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson.”
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This new film ignores all sequels in the series, which previously depicted Laurie having additional encounters with Michael Myers, who was revealed to be her long-lost brother, though this new film will depict an all-new mentality for the character.
“The first movie I was running more, and in this movie I’m hunting more,” Curtis shared with the outlet. “[You] watch this woman take back the narrative of her life.”
At San Diego Comic-Con, Curtis went into detail with ComicBook.com about just how drastically her character had changed in the last 40 years.
“Laurie Strode had something happen to her that no one in our lives should ever have happen and she just reacted in her intelligent way to save her life. Period. End of story, the movie ends,” Curtis pointed out. “This new movie picks up 40 years later and what happened is, 40 years later, there was no trauma therapy. No one went in and gave her mental health services. She was raised by Midwestern, simple people who said, ‘Baby, you’re okay,’ and she went back to school two days later with just a little scar on her arm and that’s it.”
The horrifying ordeal of the original film didn’t only impact Laurie personally, but also altered every relationship she had in the future.
“And, in the process, two marriages, dissolved,” the actress detailed. “And a child, but then the child was taken from her because how can you raise a child…and then the irony, you can imagine [her daughter] Karen’s first day in first grade, Laurie Strode walks in and says, ‘What’s your exit strategy?’ ‘I’m sorry, what?’ ‘What’s your exit strategy?’ Now, today, sadly, every first grader knows what shelter in place means, knows what an active shooter alert means. Our children today are prepared for that horrible reality, but in 1978? You can imagine why the state stepped in and took Karen from Laurie to be raised by her dad because Laurie couldn’t raise her. That’s the woman. It’s fascinating when you have someone unchecked like that.”
The new Halloween sequel hits theaters on October 19th.
Are you excited to see this unexplored side of the character? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
[H/T Entertainment Weekly]
