Whenever I watch an awards ceremony for the “biggest names in Hollywood,” I regret tuning in about 30 minutes in. It sounds like a great idea to watch The Oscars in theory, but in practice, it’s more agonizing than a low-scoring football game. Last night’s 95th Annual Academy Awards hosted by Jimmy Kimmel held us hostage and threatened to go on for almost four hours.

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Jake Gyllenhaal

Photo by Reynaud Julien/APS-Medias/ABACA/Shutterstock

It's about that time of year when Academy Award-worthy films start to pop up in the cinema.

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Ranking The Entire 'Halloween' Slasher Series

From John Carpenter's 1978 Original to Rob Zombie's Halloween II, We Take a Stab at Ranking, From Worst to Best.

One of the most iconic horror franchises ever made, for better or for worse.

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Top 10 Michael Myers Kills From The 'Halloween' Series

From the 1978 Original to Both Rob Zombie's Remakes, The Shape has Wracked up Quite the Body Count.

inverse.com

Get trick or treatin' early with this terrifying and gruesome kill list.

Who knew it would be 2018, and we'd still be getting more Michael Myers? The horror icon first splashed across nationwide theaters back in 1978, and he's been pretty damn unstoppable. The bloodthirst for the shapeless figure has (so far) spawned nine sequels, including the Myers-less Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which stars Tom Atkins, and tells an equally-horrifying tale of demonic masks and witchcraft.

In the last 40 years, Myers' path of destruction has resulted in some of the bloodiest and most brutal slayings in any horror franchise. Whether you're talking mid-run entries like Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers or the soft reboot in 1998 called Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, he takes no prisoners. Even within mediocre plots, as found with 2002's Halloween Resurrection, Myers pretty much has free reign to do whatever he wants, as long as there's plenty of gore, screams, and chills. His instrument of choice is often the classic butcher's knife, but he can get quite inventive at times.

David Gordon Green's vision of The Shape, a film simply called Halloween, a direct sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 original film (of the same name), hits theaters October 19, and it promises to be wholly thrilling and terrifying. With Scream Queen royalty returning, that is, Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role as Laurie Strode, the upcoming slasher installment boasts a load of fresh faces, including Andi Matichak, who is set to portray Laurie's granddaughter Allyson.

Ahead of the new movie, we've compiled our picks for Top 10 Michael Myers Kills from the entire run of the franchise (so far). Does your favorites make the cut? Let us know in the comments!

Bob (1978's Halloween)

HalloweenSony

As any die-hard fan will know, the original killer flick has very little blood in it. But there are more than a few bone-chilling pay-offs, including Bob's now-iconic demise. As the movie enters its third act, the cast of horny teenagers begin to bite the dust. When Bob, who just finished having sex with Laurie's close friend Linda, goes down for a beer, he uncovers something he never could have bargained for. Slice and dice, anyone?!

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Blumhouse/Universal

The Shape to make terrifying return to the big screen.

It has been nine years since Michael Myers last slashed his way across the silver screen. But that's about to change with the impending release of David Gordon Green's upcoming Halloween installment, which sees the return of the original Scream Queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis, and is a direct sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 original. Reprising her iconic role of Laurie Strode, who is arguably the best and most recognizable final girl in all of horror, Curtis is joined by a band of bright-eyed, up and coming young actors, including Andi Matichak (slated to portray Laurie's granddaughter, Allyson). Judy Greer is set to take on the role of Laurie's daughter, Karen, whose relationship with her mother is strained, at best.

The film, expected to pay homage to the entire franchise, in subtle winks and nods, is produced by Jason Blum of Blumhouse, known in recent years for producing some of the best modern horror films, from Get Out and Split to Insidious, among others. On the approach to Michael Myers, Green toldUSA Today earlier this week, "He's the essence of evil, so we don't want to get too much into the specifics of what makes him tick. So much of what makes the boogeyman horrifying to me is the mystery and almost cat-like mannerisms and curiosity of this character."

In one especially evocative moment, Curtis' Laurie Strode tells a cop. "Do you know that I pray every night that he would escape?" He responds, "Why the hell would you do that?" "So I could kill him...."

The dynamic between Laurie, Karen, and Allyson is anticipated to be rather grounded in post-trauma stress and extremely character-based ⎯⎯ given Laurie's obsession that Michael will, in fact, one day return. Green explained, "We're being very honest and truthful about that, how it would affect the upbringing of her daughter, who has a lot of conflicts because of her mother's obsession with this incident, and her granddaughter, who's trying to connect [with Laurie]."

Carpenter returns to the franchise as executive producer and has plans to score the film. The Shape will be portrayed predominantly by James Jude Courtney with Nick Castle, who played The Shape in 1978, making a cameo in select scenes. The cast also stars Will Patton, Virginia Gardner, Rhian Rees, and Drew Scheid.

The new Halloween drops in theaters everywhere October 19, 2018.

Check out the most chilling or downright terrifying moments from the new Halloween trailer. Beware of terror!


Jason Scott is a freelance entertainment journalist with bylines in B-Sides & Badlands, Billboard, PopCrush, Ladygunn, Greatist, AXS, Uproxx, Paste and many others. Follow him on Twitter.


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