Danny McBride seems to be in the process of reinventing himself.
The comedic actor, from projects like Eastbound and Down and The Foot-Fist Way, is starring in next week’s Alien: Covenant and is also helming a Halloween reboot or continuation of sorts with buddy David Gordon Green.
The pair, who have helmed such vehicles as Pineapple Express , seem to be an unlikely pair for one of the most widely recognized titans of terror, but going by what they’ve said in interviews so far, it is clear why horror auteur John Carpenter is backing their take on his classic “boogeyman” character of Michael Myers.
On a recent podcast interview with the Empire Film Podcast , Danny McBride shared his thoughts on what made the Myers character initially work, where he went wrong, and what fans can expect from his and Green’s take on the character when they get it on Oct. 19, 2018.
“Look at where the Halloween franchise has gone. There’s a lot of room for improvement,” McBride said. “David and I are coming from it as, we are horror fans, and we are humongous fans of John Carpenter and of what he did with the original Halloween , so I think from watching this and being disappointed by other versions of this series, I think we’re just trying to strip it down and just take it back to what was so good about the original.”
And just what was so good about the original? Well, Danny McBride seems to think it is the simplicity, noting that the film achieved a rare level of horror because it “wasn’t corny” and didn’t attempt to turn Myers into “some supernatural being that couldn’t be killed.”
Danny McBride says his upcoming New Halloween Movie Won’t Have an Immortal Michael Myers, taking it back to the roots of the original pic.twitter.com/me6Ey3BzJH
— GOAT Movie Podcast (@GOATfilmpodcast) May 14, 2017
“That stuff to me isn’t scary,” McBride continued. “I want to be scared by something that I really think could happen. I think it’s much more horrifying to be scared by someone standing in the shadows while you’re taking the trash out as opposed to someone who can’t be killed pursuing you.”
That also happens to be what Carpenter was gunning for when he made the original film. At that point, the director has said in interviews, he was just trying to scare people.
In fact, in an interview with Slate in 2011, Carpenter explained that he made Myers, or as he was more popularly known in the script, “The Shape,” hollowed out and one-dimensional on purpose.
“The more you know about a killer the less interesting he is,” Carpenter said.
On an Anchor Bay DVD commentary for the original film, Carpenter added that the whole back story for Michael was born out of a heavy night of drinking to overcome the “stuck” position he was in on the script for Halloween II , which he never really wanted to make — at least as a Michael Myers film.
The fact that Carpenter and producer Debra Hill shifted gears after Halloween II ‘s fiery conclusion and told a new horror story set in the Halloween universe is evidence of this preference that Carpenter had for keeping his creation interesting.
Danny McBride on bringing the Halloween franchise back to basics https://t.co/1O6g5zanhg pic.twitter.com/Bia7sBlJge
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) May 12, 2017
Carpenter and now Green and Danny McBride are hoping the “back to basics” approach will get Halloween back on solid footing.
While Rob Zombie previously scored a box office hit with his 2007 remake, the follow-up was a critically blasted and financial disappointment that effectively killed the series’ progress.
But what do you think, readers? Is Danny McBride right about Myers being scarier as a non-supernatural character? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Fox]