With just weeks to go before the film's release, a second trailer for Halloween has arrived
to scare us all.
Set 40 years after Michael Myers first terrorized the town of Haddonfield, the new film will
ignore every one of the series' sequels.
That means no cults, no psychic visions, and none of the mythology that made Michael a
brother to Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode.
Despite this axing of the canon, the new movie was made in cooperation with John Carpenter,
the original movie's director, co-writer, and composer.
So Halloween isn't totally rejecting its franchise instead, it's reinterpreting it in an exciting
way.
The new trailer is packed with interesting details and references that you might not
have seen at first glance.
Let's shine a light on the little things you may have missed.
Close encounter
From the marketing, it's clear the new Halloween is getting back to the series' roots.
The trailer's first shot follows two kids trick-or-treating, trying to decide which
house to plunder for candy next.
They literally run into a tall, rigid figure in a black jumpsuit who barely reacts to them.
The kids scurry away, and Michael goes on about his murderous business.
The shot mirrors a daytime scene from the 1978 film, when one of the boys bullying Tommy
Doyle runs away from school only to almost plow into Michael.
It's a reference to the original that also serves to deepen our understanding of Michael.
Even if you bump right into him, nothing bothers this killing machine.
Hack o'lantern
The jack o'lantern is synonymous with Halloween both the holiday, and the original film.
They can be seen everywhere as Michael stalks the streets of Haddonfield, but they're more
than just set dressing.
They also seem to give Michael some ideas.
At one point in the trailer, a car door opens to reveal a crude jack o'lantern made from
a flayed human face on what appears to be a dead cop's lap, illuminated from the inside
by a flashlight.
Why Michael would stop in the middle of his killing spree for some morbid arts and crafts
is a mystery, but you can't deny it's an amazing gore moment.
If they put that in the trailer, we can't wait to see what's in the movie.
Silver Shamrock
The third Halloween movie, Season of the Witch, is the only entry in the series not to feature
Michael Myers.
A standalone story about haunted novelty masks, the movie was a failed effort to turn the
Halloween series into an anthology.
But despite existing outside of Michael's story, the threequel still gets a shout-out
in this trailer.
As Laurie runs around like a madwoman, waving a gun around and shouting people off the streets,
we see three children run by wearing three different masks: A witch, a skeleton, and
a jack o'lantern.
These three masks are recognizable as the ones made by Halloween III's Silver Shamrock
company cursed objects that killed the people wearing them.
So while most of the continuity may be done for, Silver Shamrock still lives on.
You'll never get that theme song out of your head.
"It's four days till halloween halloween halloween, it's four days til halloween, Silll-verrr
shamrock!"
Castle doctrine
The new film's Laurie has spent her adult life preparing for the return of Michael Myers,
but despite her dedication to survivalism, she also managed to have a family.
In the new trailer, she chastises her daughter Karen for being lax about security, which
Karen dismisses.
She even seems to think her mom is crazy.
"You have no security system, Karen."
"Mom — you need help."
As the trailer demonstrates, Laurie really needs no help.
We've already seen her out in the woods practicing her target shooting, and keeping an underground
bunker stocked with supplies.
This trailer reveals more of her In-Case-of-Michael setup, including a hidden gun cabinet, floodlights
on her roof, and a panic room door that slams down as she prepares for a confrontation.
She's been waiting for this fight for years, and while she seems capable of getting vengeance,
hopefully Michael doesn't take her with him when he goes.
Core work
One of the most memorable moments in the original Halloween occurs as Laurie sits exhausted,
with Michael seemingly dead on the floor behind her.
It's a tension-relieving moment until Michael suddenly sits bolt upright, looking completely
unharmed.
It's not a corny jump scare, either he sits up in silence, moving in a completely stiff,
frighteningly unnatural way.
He doesn't move like a man sporting fresh stab wounds.
The trailer shows the new movie bringing back that maneuver, with Michael doing the iconic
sit-up once again after Laurie knocks him down some stairs.
Even after 40 years, Michael's remarkable core strength is apparently still intact.
His abs must be incredible.