Michael Myers Actor Teases the "Pumped Up" Carnage of Halloween Kills

The 2018 sequel Halloween managed to pull off the impossible task of reviving interest in the stagnated franchise, with James Jude Courtney, who plays the masked Michael Myers in that film and in the upcoming sequel Halloween Kills, recently teasing that the upcoming film has "pumped up" the violence and intensity of its predecessor. As director of the original 1978 film, John Carpenter, knew at the time, the success of the series isn't dependent on blood and gore, instead offering an unnerving sense of dread, which 2018 director David Gordon Green largely managed to capture while also amplifying the special effects to intensify the series' brutality.

"We have to make the natural progression from 1978 to 2018 to Halloween Kills – the ante has been upped," Courtney shared with Pop Culture With Pat [H/T Bloody Disgusting]. "The ticking bomb has to be more intense. Otherwise we're just doing what we've done before."

It's possible that one reason the 2018 sequel became such a success was due to Carpenter, who also co-wrote the original alongside Debra Hill, serving as a producer on the film, offering his input and assistance as necessary. The filmmaker is once again serving as a producer on the new films, which also includes 2021's Halloween Ends.

"We've progressed late into the night, and now that everybody realizes what the stakes are … it's reaching a head," Courtney admitted. "It's [the 2018 film] on speed."

These comments from Courtney echo comments made by one of the other film's stars, Robert Longstreet, teasing how vicious the film would be.

"I don't think I can say anything about Halloween Kills except it might be the nastiest of all of them," Longstreet shared with Bloody Flicks. "It has some terrifying scenes in it."

Longstreet plays Lonnie Elam in the film, a character introduced in the original Halloween as a bully to the young Tommy Doyle, who Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode was babysitting on that fateful Halloween night. In addition to tormenting Tommy, another scene saw Lonnie paying a visit to the creepy former home of Michael Myers, resulting in Dr. Loomis scaring him away as to prevent him from becoming a target for Myers.

Halloween Kills lands in theaters on October 16th and Halloween Ends lands in theaters on October 15, 2021.

Do these remarks have you excited for the new film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!