Halloween Kills: John Carpenter Calls New Film the “Quintessential” Slasher

Halloween fans were devastated earlier this year when it was announced that the upcoming sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends had both been delayed by a year, though producer of the upcoming films and director of the original Halloween John Carpenter recently claimed that the upcoming next installment is a “quintessential” slasher film. Sadly, this news comes as both an excitement and as a disappointment, as those are promising words from such an important figure in genre storytelling, with that excitement being rivaled by frustrations that the new film is 14 months away. Halloween Kills is slated to hit theaters on October 15, 2021.

“It’s the quintessential slasher film,” Carpenter shared with the Fantasia Film Festival over the weekend. “It is so intense … oh my God … it even stuns me how incredible it is. [Director] David [Gordon Green] just did a great job. Can’t wait to have you see it.”

Carpenter co-created the franchise with co-writer Debra Hill, though 2018’s Halloween was his first direct involvement in the franchise since 1982’s Halloween III: Season of the Witch. With the 2018 film earning some of the best responses from critics and audiences alike in the series’ 40-year history, it was clear his involvement helped elevate the endeavor.

This is only the latest instance of Carpenter praising the sequel, as he revealed more of his thoughts last month when offering a status update on the sequel.

“The cut is done,” the filmmaker shared with IndieWire. “They’ll mix it in New York in the next week or so. Then it will be in the can. My work is all done. The movie is something else. It’s fun, intense, and brutal, a slasher movie times one hundred, big time. It’s huge. I’ve never seen anything like this: the kill count!”

In addition to the film’s intensity being teased, director Green shared earlier this summer that, rather than focusing solely on the villainous Michael Myers stalking his victims, the upcoming film is set to expand the scope of the story to chronicle how the rest of Haddonfield, Illinois cope with the killer.

“If the first film was somewhat retelling the origin of Myers and getting us up to speed with where Laurie had been all those years, then part two is about the outrage of Haddonfield,” Green shared with Total Film. “‘Mob Rules’ was our working title for the film. It’s about a community that is united by outrage, and divided in how to deal with evil.”

Halloween Kills hits theaters on October 15, 2021 and Halloween Ends lands on October 14, 2022.

Are you looking forward to the new film? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!