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Halloween (1978)

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  • Title: Halloween (1978)
  • IMDb: link

The 1978 film directed, scored, and co-written by John Carpenter (along with Debra Hill) introduced the world to Michael Meyers and launched a franchise of, to date, 13 films. Looking back on the original Halloween, it’s surprising the small amount of bodies dropped and blood spilled compared to more recent horror films. Instead, Carpenter counted on thrills, ambiance, tension, and the menace of an unstoppable killing machine, without conscience or remorse, who took his first life on Halloween night when he was only six years-old.

After the opening scene involving a first-person look through the Halloween mask of Michael killing his teenage sister, the film jumps 15 years in the future where Michael has escaped the sanitarium where he has been locked away and returned to the sleepy town of Haddonfield, Illinois to begin a killing spree on Halloween.

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Bulldog Drummond Escapes

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  • Title: Bulldog Drummond Escapes
  • IMDb: link

Adapted from the the novels of H. C. McNeile, and part of Paramount’s series following the First World War veteran turned gentleman adventurer, Bulldog Drummond Escapes was released in 1937 starring Ray Milland as the title character, Guy Standing as the disapproving local police inspector, and Heather Angel as a damsel in distress.

Re-released as part of The Film Detective’s Restored Classics, Bulldog Drummond Escapes feels a bit dated in places no more so than the opening sequence involving Drummond’s plane landing back in England. Getting into trouble his first night back, he stumbles on a murder, has his car stolen by a young woman who is later recaptured by those holding her against her will, gets on the wrong side of the local police with the help of his old friend (Reginald Denny) and butler (E.E. Clive), and eventually uncovers a counterfeit plot and, of course, saves the girl.

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Halloween (2018)

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  • Title: Halloween (2018)
  • IMDb: link

Retconning all the Halloween sequels that came before, 2018’s Halloween is a direct sequel to the original. Set 40 years later, the film’s set-up shares story elements with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, catches up with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family decades after her encounter with Michael Meyers. Taking a page from Terminator 2: Judgement Day, this version of Laurie went into survivalist mode after her experience with Michael, leaving a broken family in her wake, always believing he would eventually return.

The method of Michael’s return involves a bus crash, a pair of true crime podcasters awaking something in the killer that has spent four decades in a mental institution, and Michael’s psychiatrist (Haluk Bilginer) who has far warmer feelings to his patient than Dr. Sam Loomis ever did.

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SummerSlam (2021)

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  • Title: SummerSlam (2021)
  • wiki: link

One of cornerstone PPV events of WWE, 2021’s SummerSlam had some memorable moments, but not much in terms of memorable matches. Both main events showcased champions battling over-the-hill wrestlers coming out of retirement as Roman Reigns beat down the 44 year-old John Cena (who hasn’t wrestled full-time for five years) for the Universal Championship and Bobby Lashley defeated the 54 year-old Goldberg to retain the WWE Championship.

The biggest moment of the night, and only real surprise, came in the shake-up for the SmackDown Women’s Championship as Becky Lynch made an unexpected return and defeated Bianca Belair in under a minute in what can’t really be referred to as a match. A contender for match of the night, in the Raw Women’s Championship triple-threat match Charlotte Flair (as expected) defeated Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley to win another title and continue her run as the most decorated women’s champion in WWE history.

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Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

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  • Title: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
  • IMDb: link

Released 20 years after the original Halloween, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode while retconning much of the franchise becoming a direct sequel to Halloween II (which, until H20, marked Curtis’ last appearance as the character). After an initial sequence showing Michael Meyers (played here by Chris Durand) back on the hunt, the movie opens with Strode having faked her death years earlier and now living as Keri Tate, the headmistress of a private school that her son John (Josh Hartnett) attends.

Directed by Steve Miner, after John Carpenter proved too expensive for the project, the sequel lacks the look of the early Halloween films feeling much more like any other generic 90s horror flick. We also get LL Cool J in a role of school security guard, Adam Arkin as a love interest for Laurie, Janet Leigh as the school secretary, and Michelle Williams, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Branden Williams, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as teen monster fodder for Michael.

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