Connect with us

News

Jamie Lee Curtis: The Scream Queen Within

Published

on

Jamie Lee Curtis says that if she’d cast the first Halloween film, she wouldn’t have cast herself in the role of Laurie Strode, the shy, virginal babysitter who is terrorized by escaped psychopath Michael Myers. “I was very much a smart aleck back then,” says Curtis. “I was the total opposite of Laurie Strode, although I was shy, in a way, because of my teeth. I never wanted to smile because my teeth were crooked and gray, so I would just smirk at people. That helped me in playing Laurie Strode.”

Fast forward forty years. In the new Halloween film, which was directed by David Gordon Green, Laurie Strode is a gray-haired, gun-wielding grandmother who has spent much of her adult life preparing for Michael Myers’ inevitable return. “Every since she survived the first film, Laurie has been preparing for another confrontation with Michael,” says Curtis. “Her level of preparedness has intensified over time, and this obsession has damaged her relationships, especially with her daughter and granddaughter. Her approach is very realistic. She’s not going to drop a nuke on Michael, and she’s not going to employ a semi-automatic weapon. She embraces the reality of her life in Haddonfield, Illinois, and the resources that are available to her. She’s ready for Michael.”

Curtis last portrayed Laurie in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection, a critically-reviled sequel in which Laurie was killed. The new Halloween bypasses all of the lore that’s accumulated since the first film, an approach that Curtis heartily endorses. “What attracted me to this film was the script, plain and simple,” says Curtis. “I thought the script was very clever, especially in the way that it referenced the first Halloween film and connected that film to this new story. Psychologically, stylistically, visually, it feels like a continuation of the first film.”

Curtis was an un-credited producer on 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and Curtis says that her creative input was incorporated into the new Halloween film’s shooting script. “I just polished the scenes that involve Laurie,” says Curtis. “I mentioned things that I thought Laurie would do and say, and sometimes I would say, ‘No. I don’t think she would do or say that.’ I think the biggest change in Laurie that developed throughout those conversations is that Laurie became less of a badass. She’s not Ripley, and she’s not Linda Hamilton from the Terminator films. Laurie is a true survivor.”

So is Curtis. The success of the first Halloween film didn’t lead to a flood of feature film offers for Curtis, who followed Halloween with five other horror films (The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train, Road Games, and Halloween II). “I couldn’t get a job for seven months after I did Halloween,” says Curtis. “People were congratulation me about the success of Halloween, and I was eating at McDonald’s.”

The Fog, the first feature film Curtis appeared in after Halloween, re-teamed Curtis with Halloween co-creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill. The Fog also co-starred Curtis’s mother, Hollywood legend Janet Leigh, although Curtis and Leigh barely cross paths in the film. “My mother and I spent years trying to find a project that we could star in together, and I didn’t want that to be exploited,” says Curtis. “The script for The Fog wasn’t about me and my mother, so that made me feel a lot better.”

Curtis followed The Fog with Prom Night, which began filming in Toronto, Canada, in August of 1979. In November of 1979, Curtis traveled to Montreal, where Curtis celebrated her twenty-first birthday during the filming of Terror Train. “It took The Fog a long time to get released, so I was anxious to find another movie, any movie,” says Curtis. “I was basically looking for anyone who wanted me, and I knew that would mean doing another horror movie. If I’d been a producer at that time, I wouldn’t have looked at me for anything other than horror, because that’s all I’d done.”

Curtis was nineteen years old when she acted in the first Halloween film. Curtis turns sixty on November 22. “I want to be older,” says Curtis. “I actually think there’s an incredible amount of self-knowledge that comes with getting older. I feel way better now than I did when I was twenty. I’m stronger, and I’m smarter in every way. I’m so much less crazy than I was then.”

For more information on Jamie Lee Curtis and her scream queen career, read the book Jamie Lee Curtis: Scream Queen, which is available in paperback and through kindle.

 

 

 

 

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading