Screen Shots WE'RE ALL MONSTERS
AS HALLOWEEN ENDS BRINGS THE CULT SLASHER FRANCHISE TO A CONCLUSION, JAMIE LEE CURTIS DISCUSSES ITS LEGACY AND THE NATURE OF HORROR IN THE DIGITAL AGE WITH DANIELLE DE WOLFE
SITTING beside an antique writing desk, a green banker’s lamp glowing warmly in the background, Jamie Lee Curtis looks poised to pen a best-selling memoir.
Except, it’s something the Bafta Award-winning Trading Places actress has explicitly vowed never to do.
Glancing over her shoulder, a pile of heavy books lie smothered in a thin film of dust. The study’s wallpaper – a now slightly faded mustard hue, decorated with the outline of burgundy leaves – remains largely hidden, obscured by an array of newspaper clippings.
“Welcome to my fake room in my fake house,” smiles the actor, gesturing to her surroundings.
The set we find ourselves on is in fact the writing sanctuary of Jamie’s on-screen character Laurie Strode. Often described as the slasher genre’s so-called “final girl”, Laurie’s grit and determination has seen her become something of a feminist icon as part of the Halloween franchise.
Re-joining Laurie four years on from the events of Halloween 2018, the latest instalment, once again directed by David Gordon Green (The Righteous Gemstones), sees her on-screen character putting pen to paper. Entitled Halloween Ends, the 13th (and allegedly concluding) film puts the franchise to bed on what feels like an aptly spooky figure.
“She’s empowered now – but she’s empowered based on the circumstances of her life,” reflects the star.
“She’s empowered because she endured something. Her innocence was stripped from her.
“She didn’t get a chance to have experiences, and then, like all of us, have bad things happen. She had bad things happen at the beginning of her life – and so she’s owning herself now, in a way, for the first time.”
Described as Laurie’s “last stand”, the story arc sees her reflect on 44 years of trauma. A depiction of female liberation, the character is seen to choose empowerment over fear following the murder of her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), by the still-at-large serial killer Michael Myers.
Discussing a tale the 63-year-old actress says is about “more than just blood and gore”, conversation switches to audiences’ increasing desensitisation to violence. After all, in an age where camera phones and the internet make graphic images of bloodshed so easily accessible, is there still a place for the traditional slasher genre in 2022?
“We’re desensitised because we’re all monsters,” says Jamie matter-of-factly.
“We spew this stuff all day – the internet is just filled with this sort of incredible rage that is perpetrated against innocent people all day long.
“[It] was invented to bring us together. The internet was invented to go, ‘Here, let’s share and connect and share our cultures and art and music.’
“Now it’s just become a portal of hatred – and I think that’s scarier than seeing fake blood or a fake gross thing that happens in a horror movie. I think that’s way, way, way scarier.”
It’s instantly clear that Jamie isn’t one to mince her words.
The daughter of acting royalty, her father, Tony Curtis, and mother, Janet Leigh, epitomised the golden age of cinema.
Saying in a recent interview that “the only thing I’ve ever found oppressive was people thinking that my career was all because of my family”, Jamie noted that judgment was something she’s had to actively “fight against”.
Having now become something of a cinematic icon in her own right courtesy of John Carpenter’s original 1978 Halloween instalment, the actor’s sense of self-assurance is clear to see.
Shifting in her seat, she explains the way in which Laurie’s trauma has been channelled into a poignant memoir as part of the film. Shaking her head firmly when asked about the possibility of her penning her own written memoir, she asserts: “I’ll not write a book... I just wouldn’t be able to do it.”
Meandering down memory lane, Jamie goes on to note how her resounding recollections of the series will undoubtedly be the “weird little things”.
“It’s funny, the fond memories really probably won’t relate to people,” she says.
“I have a memory of sitting with the crew on blankets on the lawn in front of the house on Orange Grove Avenue in West Hollywood, [where the 1978 Halloween film was made] having lunch and then playing ‘Hey 19’ by Steely Dan, because I was 19.
“I remember that moment. But I also remember sitting here in London 44 years later.”
It’s a period which has seen Laurie escape the bloodstained clutches of mask-clad murderer Michael Myers innumerable times –a figure regularly described as the “embodiment of evil”. A seemingly unkillable antagonist, Michael’s ability to defy death in order to seek out Laurie has become a concept considered borderline comical at times.
It’s little wonder then, that the pair’s final showdown has garnered so much attention.
Every-inch a product of its time, the restrained levels of gore seen in the original film are long gone. And yet, despite the marked differences when it comes to bloodshed, this final offering does bear a few of the original’s iconic hallmarks.
“It’s so much more suspenseful,” says Jamie.
The story sees the town come together in what can only be described as a darkly grandiose form of closure, complete with a blood-drenched public parade.
“Well, it’s a horror film, so there will be blood. That’s just the nature of the beast,” shrugs Jamie, a smile creeping onto her face.
Explaining the franchise is as much about blood and gore as it is about “who we are as people”, the actress says the film’s takeaway message should focus on the treatment of Laurie.
“You could say, what is this movie about? It’s about what we do to victims of violence.”
The internet was invented to go, ‘Here, let’s share and connect and share our cultures and art and music.’ Now it’s just become a portal of hatred