November 8, 2024

Halloween Awakening – A Good Addition to the Franchise

Halloween Awakening (2012)As horror fans, we generally are excited and despise remakes.  That seems to confuse Hollywood as much as it confuses us.  We were handed  a stale storied / well acted Carrie in 2013, and 2014 looks to be highlighted (?) by another remake:  Poltergeist.  Another re imagining of Friday The 13th is slated for 2015.

In fact, most remakes seem to shoot for watchable.  We love these movies/franchises, but it’s very rare that one of the remakes stands up to our expectations.  It always surprises me that more films are scared to be sequels.  In fact, sequels are generally well received as long as they add to the canon.  Do we really need these multiple versions, or see the same scenes from the original in a better resolution?  If a movie has to be remade, OWN it (Dawn of the Dead).

Scaretissue.com will be reviewing Blinky Production’s  much anticipated third installment of its Krueger: A Tale From Elm Street‘s franchise shortly.  It is a fan fiction film that explores our favorite razor fingered slasher’s life prior to becoming the thing that haunts our dreams today.  It’s a helluva idea, and executed well.  I’d love to see more major productions put the thought that went into this film into those projects, but, alas… (That’s why the independent scene is so great right now.)

I just discovered another fan film I’d like to share as well.

Halloween Awakening: The Legacy of Michael Myers (Fuzz on the Lens Productions) is a direct sequel to Halloween: Resurrection and tries to explain what happened during the lull between Curse of Michael Myers and H20.  It went from idea to production to completed all within a month (very short turnaround), and was an official entry into the HalloweenMovies Films Festival in 2012.

The movie focuses on a now 17 year old Steven Lloyd (Michael’s nephew/son) and Billy Brackett (brother of Laurie’s best friend Annie Brackett, son of Haddonfield’s sheriff).  Steven has just begun a new job at Smith’s Grove (which has fallen into a state of disrepair since Michael slaughtered everybody) as a security guard, and works for Billy.

It’s Halloween night, and Jimmy (another security guard) brings the party to Billy and Steven.  As the group wanders around the building, they are picked off one by one by Michael Myers.

The film is pretty long for a short film (47 minutes), but it is a great watch if you are a fan of the series.  It manages to bridge the gap between the Curse of the Thorn story line through the two later films (H20, Resurrection) while staying true to the concepts presented.  The directors understood and used many of Carpenter’s iconic shots from the original movies, and it works great.

Like most fan films, it is limited by its actors and budget.  The film makes use of the piano key sound that haunts the series, but without a true score, it seems to lose its way during Myers’ scenes.  I had read that the original Halloween felt the same way until the score was introduced.  The death scenes are pretty good,  tension is high, and the story works.  Hell, it works more than most big movies I’ve seen (I’m looking at you NOES remake.)

Halloween Awakening: The Legacy of Michael Myers is an awesome fan film that really works as part of the series.  It’s a fun watch, and I expect big things out of these guys in the future.

http://vimeo.com/fuzzonthelens/halloweenawakening

Trapjaw

I love horror movies, and I have since I was young. My favorite genre is the zombie genre, but it has completely been overdone in the last few years. I'm not a big fan of the horror movie formula, and I love it when a director turns it on its head. Please follow me on twitter (@_trapjaw_) and like me on facebook (scaretissuetrapjaw) for updates and to be immediately informed of new posts/projects.

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Chewie
Admin
10 years ago

FINALLY got around to watching this… WOW. GREAT addition to the franchise!

What surprised me the most was how “snappy” the dialog was. I’m totally getting a Dante / Randall (Clerks) vibe here which is a very good thing in my book. A few of my favorite quotes:

“Look what they’re wearing!”

“Now stop waiting for something that’s never going to come and try to have some fun with something that will.”

“What’s the plan?”
“Stay alive.”
“Good plan.”

“Come on Jim… I know you just want me to wear slutty costumes for you.”
“Yes… yes I do.”

I saw the hashtag #FuzzQuotes floating around and these are DEFINITELY hashtag worthy.

A couple of other thoughts…

The girls are SMOKING hot. Wow… just wow.

Nice death scenes here. Tina’s death out of nowhere is outstanding and Jimmy’s head in the door death was super inventive. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen that particular vision of that scene before. Well done.

I love the use of lighting and shading here. To see the mask just standing there in the background was one of my favorite shots from the original and it’s done justice here.

When that piano kicks in at the 29 minute mark… shivers. That score gets me every time and its reused here perfectly.

Does the mask itself hold Michael’s power? IT’s made to seem that way here. I liked the twist with the new mask. The ending falls apart a bit for me, but it’s not any worse than several other entries in the franchise. Great job guys. Outstanding work!

Brandon Klein
Brandon Klein
10 years ago

To the one above, yes, the clown mask does effect Micheal. In Halloween 2(2007) a kid runs into Micheal while trick-or-treating. Micheal does not attack the kid because he is dressed as a clown. Although the clown mask effects him, the white one does not. In Halloween Resurgance, Micheal kills a guy that has his mask. I did like this video, and I hope they make another one.

Brandon Klein
Brandon Klein
10 years ago

Hey! Doesn’t everyone agree that the Halloween franchise needs to be rebooted? And I’m not talking about the Rob Zombie Version, they need to do it again. And this time more than 2 movies. The old 3rd one doesn’t even have Micheal!!!

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

Yes bring out to dvd halloween 9 awakening i like to buy it

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

I seen it on you tube halloween 9 awakening it’s not that bad

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

I seen and everybody seen halloween 3 season of the witch that was so much for sh

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

Halloween is about michael myers and it alwas will be about him the shape

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

I don’t like halloween 3 season of the witch i seen it and it was pretty bad with out michael myers yes he did look like he die in halloween 2 but he is alive in halloween 4, 5, 6, 7, & 8 and they are way better then halloween 3 season of the witch ok what witch there is no witch

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

Oh i also heard about maybe a michael vs jason movie that will be so cool they made that for dvd

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

I think michael vs jason that is halloween 10 the end of michael myers

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

Yes maybe a halloween reboot 1, 2, & 3 be made after they make a michael vs jason movie that needs to be made its to be halloween 10 the end of michael myers

sean michael hubbard
8 years ago

I seen halloween 9 awakening on you tube it’s not that bad i went to get it on dvd are they going to bring it out i am going to get it if i find it on lone or in the video store

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