Video Games as a Storytelling Medium

Clementine and Lee from The Walking Dead game.

Today saw the release of the fifth and final episode of The Walking Dead video game, the end to a story that I loved and a goodbye to characters that touched my heart in so many ways.  For me today wasn’t about playing the game, it was seeing what was going to happen to the people.  I say people over characters because that is what they had become to me over the last seven months of playing this game.  I had been with them through their highs and lows, I’d been their when people were betrayed, when friendships were forged, sacrifices were made and tragedy struck.  This had become more than just a mere video game, played for action or thrills, it had become a gripping, at times heart wrenching drama about a group of very real people and their fight to stay alive in a world gone to hell.

I know that there are a lot of people out their who aren’t gamers, or who only play the occasional plat-former or beat-em-up and therefore don’t ‘get’ video games.   I think that it’s a very real shame that these people don’t give video games a chance.  You like films, you like books, you will like video games, well, some of them anyway.  

Snake must fight and kill his mentor The Boss to complete his mission.

Books will tend to have one of two formats to the writing, third-person or first-person.  The third-person, the more common of the two styles, is written as if the characters are being observed.  For example, ‘Amy wrote about video game storytelling on her blog’.   This can create a sense of distance between the reader and the characters.

First-person perspective has the central character narrating the story to you directly.  For example, ‘today I wrote about video game storytelling on my blog’.  Whilst this does tend to draw you into the story more, by putting you right their into the very mind of the central character, having them tell you how events and over characters affect them, it can leave you thinking that the character will never be in any real danger.  They’re alive to tell the tale of what happened to them, possibly taking away any tension their might be in the story.

Video game storytelling offers another choice, to put you directly into the story, to make you a part of it and have your actions matter.  I’m not just talking about controlling the character around an environment or fighting enemies, but choices that will alter the plot around you.  The Walking Dead is a fine example of this type of story telling, as your actions will have a dramatic effect on who will live, who will die and how other characters interact with you.  The wrong dialogue choice in one of the early episodes can come back to haunt you in later ones as the other characters can question your motives, or even hold a grudge against you.

Mass Effect was another game series that adopted a similar method to it’s story telling, allowing you to tailor the character of Commander Shepard to your own style, from the gender and physical look down to how much of an arse hole you want him/her to be.  It will also remember what choices you made during the first two games and you will find yourself either rewarded or punished in the build up to the end battle based upon these choices you made, choices that you may not have known would have such long lasting consequences when you made them.

This freedom of choice and consequences to these choices make the stories within these games extremely personal, and they have such a greater impact when characters that you have spent, in some cases, dozens of hours interacting with are in peril and at risk of dieing.  Their were many times during Mass Effect 3 that I found myself in tears as people I’d fallen in love with were torn to pieces ( in some cases literally) and each time a characters name was added to the ships memorial wall my heart sank a little.

These are the kinds of reactions I find cannot be matched in other mediums.  Yes, books, comics, films and tv can make us laugh and cry and rage, but there is always a sense of being slightly removed from the experience.  Video games force you to physically take part in what is unfolding before you.  Even in games like Metal Gear Solid, where there are little to no choices presented to players and you have a very structured experience with no chance to go off and do your own thing you are given so much story and character development that it would be difficult to adapt the stories to written format, and an insane undertaking to translate them into film.

Death is more than just 'Game Over' in video games.

Those people who aren’t completely sold on video games as a storytelling medium, I ask of you please do not ignore it.  There are some truly amazing stories out their that simply can’t be found in other medium, stories that are so amazing and engaging that they simply must be played.  Video games are more than simple escapism, than shooting hordes of generic villains or running from one side of the screen to the other.  They are a real and adult form of storytelling, one that deserves more respect than it receives.

Amy.

xx

Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

Fake Geek Girls

Something that’s been going around on some of the websites that I normally frequent over the last week that I kind of want to weigh in on is the whole subject of ‘fake geek girls’. 

The whole thing started when comic artist Tony Harris posted the following statement on Facebook;

I cant remember if Ive said this before, but Im gonna say it anyway. I dont give a crap.I appreciate a pretty Gal as much as the next Hetero Male. Sometimes I even go in for some racy type stuff ( keeping the comments PG for my Ladies sake) but dammit, dammit, dammit I am so sick and tired of the whole COSPLAY-Chiks. I know a few who are actually pretty cool-and BIG Shocker, love and read Comics.So as in all things, they are the exception to the rule. Heres the statement I wanna make, based on THE RULE: “Hey! Quasi-Pretty-NOT-Hot-Girl, you are more pathetic than the REAL Nerds, who YOU secretly think are REALLY PATHETIC. But we are onto you. Some of us are aware that you are ever so average on an everyday basis. But you have a couple of things going your way. You are willing to become almost completely Naked in public, and yer either skinny( Well, some or most of you, THINK you are ) or you have Big Boobies. Notice I didnt say GREAT Boobies? You are what I refer to as “CON-HOT”. Well not by my estimation, but according to a LOT of average Comic Book Fans who either RARELY speak to, or NEVER speak to girls. Some Virgins, ALL unconfident when it comes to girls, and the ONE thing they all have in common? The are being preyed on by YOU. You have this really awful need for attention, for people to tell you your pretty, or Hot, and the thought of guys pleasuring themselves to the memory of you hanging on them with your glossy open lips, promising them the Moon and the Stars of pleasure, just makes your head vibrate. After many years of watching this shit go down every 3 seconds around or in front of my booth or table at ANY given Con in the country, I put this together. Well not just me. We are LEGION. And here it is, THE REASON WHY ALL THAT, sickens us: BECAUSE YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT COMICS, BEYOND WHATEVER GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH YOU DID TO GET REF ON THE MOST MAINSTREAM CHARACTER WITH THE MOST REVEALING COSTUME EVER. And also, if ANY of these guys that you hang on tried to talk to you out of that Con? You wouldnt give them the fucking time of day. Shut up you damned liar, no you would not. Lying, Liar Face. Yer not Comics. Your just the thing that all the Comic Book, AND mainstream press flock to at Cons. And the real reason for the Con, and the damned costumes yer parading around in? That would be Comic Book Artists, and Comic Book Writers who make all that shit up.

 

I think that anyone, male or female, who choose to attend a comic convention in costume are by nature extroverts and relish the opportunity to show off and be the centre of attention in their costumes.  This isn’t a bad thing though, as I have found in my experience that cosplayers tend to be very friendly, chatty people who love meeting other likeminded people, and the costume can be a way of breaking the ice and starting a conversation.  After all, if you’re a Superman fan and you see someone dressed up as Superman, chances are you’ll both have that in common.

As for if these people in the costumes are aware of who they’re dressed as and are fans is impossible to say, because unless you make them take some kind of crazy fan test you’re just going to have to take it on faith.  Then again, how do you know that the people at conventions who aren’t in costume are actually fans too?

 

I think that yes, it is entirely possible that there are ‘fakes’ among those girls that do choose to dress up at conventions, but they are also likely among the girls that don’t dress up, the men that do and the men that don’t.  Their will be people in the ‘geek community’ that are fakes, people who only take part because being a geek has become cool and hip, but their will be far more people who aren’t fakes, especially amongst those people who shell out money to go all the way to a convention.

Centring the ‘fake’community solely on those women who choose to celebrate their love of comics, games and movies by dressing up as their favourite characters is wholly unfair and extremely sexist.

From a number of experiences I’ve had at conventions I’ve found that the female fans are overall some of the most passionate and if given the chance will gladly jump into a conversation, more so than some men I’ve met at conventions.  These female fans are so passionate and so vitally important to the industry that they should be celebrated rather than demonised.

The comics industry should be encouraged to better represent female characters, to create characters that are more than just eye candy in tiny tight costumes and are well developed and well rounded characters.  One of my favourite examples of a great female comic character that can easily be ignored by their look is Power Girl.  A Kryptonian from another universe she’s one of the most powerful super-heroes in the DC universe, a former member of the Justice League, chairwoman of the Justice Society, a brilliant scientist, business woman and philanthropist she’s unfortunately mainly remembered for having huge breasts.

I think that it’s unfortunate, but a number of women who attend cons probably do meet with sexism and men who become drooling idiots at seeing their fantasy women come to life before them.  Their was a recent article I read about a young woman who attended a convention dressed as Blackcat and was subjected to some very sexist behaviour from some people who were ‘professionally’ interviewing her.

When Black Cat Was Sexually Harrassed at NYCC 

Incidents such as these are awful for many reasons, because it encourages men to act like that at conventions, to see women solely as their sexual fantasies come to life.  It also makes those women who would once choose to attend a convention in costume question their decision to do so, or even attend the convention at all.

 Unfortunately the only thing that I take away from Harris’ comments is the impression that he has, probably on more than one occasion, attempted to chat up women at comic cons, and failed.  His irrational attack towards women in costume just seems to be coming from a place of wounded pride, he might be thinking ‘I’m a comic book artist, if these girls were real fans they’d be throwing themselves at me, but they turned me down, they’re fakes!’

The second thing I take away from his comments is that I don’t think he really like comic fans in general, for example he says; ‘Hey! Quasi-Pretty-NOT-Hot-Girl, you are more pathetic than the REAL Nerds’.  Now, the fact that he thinks these ‘fakers’ are ‘more pathetic’ than real nerds just jumps out at me because he’s saying that real nerds are already pathetic. 

Someone in Harris’ position should be more greatful to comic fans, these are the people who are keeping him in work, who are making a demand for a product he plays a part in providing.  He should be showing them gratitude, but instead he just seems to dislike comic fans as a whole and has thrown a hissy fit because he can’t pull a girl in a costume.

The whole argument about Fake Geek Girls is stupid, it’s something that whilst it may have a grain of truth to it isn’t the massive issue Harris made out to be.  There are fakes everywhere in the geek community, not just in one small sector of girls who like to cosplay.  Instead of thinking that girls at conventions are their to make fun or ‘real fans’ and to torment them sexually, go and talk to them, treat them as real human beings and get to know them.  Yes, some of them may be very attractive women wearing tight and revealing outfits, but at the end of the day they’re still just people, and if you’re at a comic con too, then you’ve already got a lot in common with them.

Amy.

xx

Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

That Sudden Sneaky Dysphoria

Yesterday started off as a good day, a day that I was looking forward to and hoping to enjoy.  Yesterday was the day I was going to get my new phone.  Yeah, I know,  a new phone, nothing too special.  But it was special to me because, honestly, I don’t have much stuff to really look forward to, and having a new little toy to play with had me excited.  That and getting a nice chunk of cash for trading in my old phone.

So, I awoke early with a sliver of excitement running through me and was dressed and ready to go into town much earlier than I’d normally even be awake.  It would appear that not even my messed up sleeping patterns would overcome my good day.  With my housemate joining me, we headed into town to do our shopping.

Our first stop was at a local café, that we used to frequent when my housemate owned his comic book shop, for a rather unhealthy breakfast.  And that’s where things took a turn.  I don’t know why it suddenly affected me, I’d had my anti-depressant that morning and was in a great mood, but as soon as our waitress came over I was hit with a massive wave of dysphoria.

There was nothing overly special about this girl, yeah she was attractive, but it’s not like she was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen.  There was just something about her that turned my happy morning upside down and made me feel like complete and utter shit.  One minute I was happy and excited, the next I felt like I could hardly breathe and I just wanted to run and hide myself away from the world.

Perhaps this should have been a sign for me to give in and go home, to just let the dysphoria pass.  I ignored this, however, and tried to continue on with my day.  After leaving the café I went to the phone shop.  ‘At least I can just get my phone and go home before this gets any worse’ I thought to myself.  Boy was I wrong.

The first person to serve me in the phone shop was one of the managers, who when he had to go and assist another of his colleagues assigned me the one and only female working in the store that day.  So here I was, yet again faced with another pretty young woman.  A young woman who was extremely nice and chatty and appeared to have a great personality too.  After half an hour being served by her I was ready to just break into tears.

I hate that part of being trans is that I’ll have these sudden bouts of dysphoria, that what is supposed to be a good day for me can suddenly turn on its head and make me feel like complete shit, for no apparent reason.

I know that things are moving forward for me, and that I’ve come a long way in the past year, but it still doesn’t stop these little attacks.  No matter how logical I try to be, no matter how many anti-depressants I take or fun I try to have it always seems like my dysphoria will always be their.  I hope that this is something that will go away in time, that at some point it won’t hurt anymore, but I really don’t see that being the case.

I see my dysphoria lessening, I can picture periods of time where it won’t bother me as much any more, but I don’t think it will ever truly disappear.  I see it being their my whole life, no matter how well my transition goes.  I feel like this is something that I’ll never completely escape.

Thank you for reading my little rant, sorry for how depressing it is, I promise a much more enjoyable read for my next post.

Amy.

xx

 
Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

Doctor Who E-Space Trilogy Review

From series eighteen of the original run of Doctor Who, the E-Space Trilogy features three loosely connected stories from Tom Bakers final season.  Set in another universe connected to our own, E-Space.  These three stories feature the introduction of Adric and the departure of both Romana and K-9.

Full Circle

On the way back to Gallifrey to return Romana to the Council of the Time Lords the Tardis is caught in a strange phenomena and passes from normal space into an alternate universe called E-Space.

Landing on the planet Alzarius the Doctor and Roman find a small settlement of humanoids living between a fruit rich river and a grounded spaceship simply known as the Starliner.  The people on the planet arrived many generations ago, and have been attempting to repair their ship ever since in an attempt to return to their home world of Terradon.

All is not well in the colony; however, as strange insect eggs have started to appear in the riverfruit, the environment is turning against the colonists and primitive Marshmen rise from beneath the surface of the river….

Are the Marshmen a threat or something more?

‘Full Circle’ is the first part of the E-Space trilogy and the introduction of new companion Adric, played by Matthew Waterhouse.  The first of the four episodes quickly and clearly sets up both the concept of E-Space itself and the colonists living on Alzarius.

The ever expanding history of Alzarius, the colonists and the Marshmen is interesting and takes some dramatic, if not completely scientifically possible, turns to craft a very interesting story.  The story itself was actually written by a seventeen year old fan of the series, but is very well written and a very competent tale.

The sets are fairly standard Doctor Who affair, with nothing particularly special to them, but the Marshmen costumes look great, and the creatures are portrayed well.

A good Doctor Who story that introduced some great concepts and a new companion.  Competent sets and great looking monsters make this a good story that doesn’t stand out as one of the all time greats, but is a solid, competent and entertaining serial.

State of Decay

After the events of ‘Full Circle’ the Doctor, Romana, K-9 and new companion/stowaway Adric arrive on a planet trapped in the dark ages, under the thrall of three lords, Zargo, Camilla and Aukon.

The Doctor and Romana discover evidence of more advanced technology than is evident of the planets medieval society and begin investigating what could be holding this society back.  It soon becomes apparent that there is more to the three lords than meets the eye as it is revealed that they are not quite human, but vampire creatures that are in fact serving an ancient and powerful enemy of the Time Lords….

There is more to the three lords than meets the eye.

I’d heard of ‘State of Decay’ long before I’d ever seen it, the introduction of The Great Vampires and their history with the Time Lords was one that was known to me for a long while, and one that interested me greatly.  I found the concept of an ancient foe of the Time Lords that are so powerful and evil that they inspired the myths of vampires throughout the universe a hugely interesting one and wanted to learn more of this history.

Unfortunately there’s not much more to learn than what I already knew.  The Great Vampire itself only makes a brief appearance in the story, instead the main focus being on the Three Lords.

An interesting gothic tale that gives us a little insight into the history of the Time Lords and what they have done in the past to protect the universe.  At times a little too over the top and cheesy, but entertaining.

Warriors Gate

The Tardis crew find themselves in a white null space between normal space and E-Space.  Elsewhere in the void another ship, commanded by Rorvik, has also become trapped.  This second ship is a slave vessel that has captured a group of leonine Tharil’s to use as their navigators.  Upon becoming stuck in the void the ships navigator, Biroc, escapes and makes his way toward the Tardis.

Caught in the space between universes and in a fight between the Tharil’s and their oppressors the Doctor, Romana, Adric and K-9 must choose which side to assist in the struggle, whilst finding a way through the void back into their own universe…..

The Taril's petition for Romana's help.

‘Warriors Gate’ is a very interesting and at some times confusing story, using multiple time lines and the past and future interacting at the same time to craft a story that demands to be watched a second time, even if only to figure out what’s going on.

The Tharil make-up is adequate, nothing spectacular but nicely subtle enough to create a convincing leonine species.  Peoples motives and morals are constantly in question and at some times its hard to know which group to support, but that makes the story a lot more interesting than just having one clear group of heroes and one clear group of villains.

This story also marks the departure of both Romana and K-9, and whilst this seems to come quite suddenly at the end of the story, the whole of the E-Space trilogy has been subtly setting up the fact that Romana doesn’t want to return to Gallifrey.  It’s not the most out of the blue departure the show has had, but it does feel quite rushed.

An interesting feature in this serial however is the design of the slaver ship.  I’m sure fans of Firefly will see quite clearly the similarities to the design of Serenity.  Was the designer of the Serenity a fan of this serial?  Or does the Firefly universe exist within the Doctor Who universe?  If it does, I can’t wait to see a cross over!

Seperated at birth?

Thanks for reading!

Amy.

xx

Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

500 Hits!

Thank you to everyone who's been visiting the blog and reading me articles, your support is amazing! 

Amy.
xx

Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

Facebook Fan Page

Hiya everyone, just wanted to let you know about Trans Girl Writer's new Facebook fan page.  I'll be posting about new blog updates and other bits and pieces about the blog.  I hope you all enjoy my blog and join the fan page!

See ya!

Amy.
xx

Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

Hero Talk Episode 23

Hi everybody, I’ve got something new for you all!  An episode of the podcast ‘Hero Talk’ in which I feature as special guest host.  My housemate, Mario Coleman, is a regular host on the show, and on the recording of this particular show I had the opportunity to step in and co-host with Mario and James Lundy.

 In this show we talk about Superman quitting his job at the Daily Planet, the Walking Dead television show and video game, the Iron Man 3 and Evil Dead trailers, DC’s I, Vampire and the guest line up at 2013’s London Super Comic Con, amongst many other things.

Due to my not being fully out at the time of this recording and the fact that my voice is still very male I’m in the podcast as Mark Walker instead of Amy. 

I hope that everyone enjoys!

Amy.

xx

- Subscribe via iTunes entering the following: http://www.heroesandidols.com/htalkpodcast.xml

- Download the mp3 via: www.heroesandidols.com/podcasts/htalkep23.mp3

Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter

Happy Halloween! A Review of the Halloween Films Pt. 2

Continuing on my review of the Halloween franchise, covering the final five films in the series.  I hope that you all enjoy! xx

 

Halloween:

The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers Poster

Six years after the events of the previous film it is revealed that the man in black who kidnapped Michael at the end of the previous film as also captured Jamie, who is now 15 and pregnant.  Jamie gives birth to her son, on October 30^th, who is quickly taken away by the man in black who is the leader of a cult.  Later that night one of the nurses helps to free Jamie and her son, before being killed by Michael.

Jamie flees from the cult and takes shelter within an empty bus station.  She phones into a local radio station, asking for help but is ignored by the presenter.  Hiding her baby Jamie flees, pursued by Michael.  Michael chases Jamie to a farm where he kills her, he then discovers that she does not have the baby.

Meanwhile, Tommy Doyle, the boy that Laurie Strode babysat in the first film is watching the family that has moved into the Myers house across the street from him.  The family being relatives of the Strode’s.   Tommy has become obsessed with Michael Myers over the years since the original Haddonfield massacre, and when he hears Jamies pleas over the radio he goes to the bus station and finds her baby. 

Tommy takes the baby into his care and names the baby Steven.  Tommy runs into Dr. Loomis at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital and tells him of the baby and the family living in Michaels old house.  The two of them become convinced that Michael is returning to Haddonfield.

Tommy approaches Kara Strode and her six year old son Danny and brings them back to his home, where he reveals to them the story of Michael Myers and tells them that he believes that Michael is being controlled by a druid cult to kill people.  The curse placed upon him by the cult would explain Michaels seemingly supernatural abilities.

The mysterious man in black who kidnapped Michael arrives at Tommy’s home and is revealed to be Dr. Wynn, friend and colleague of Dr. Loomis from Smiths Grove Sanatorium.  His people, the ‘Cult of Thorne’, attack and drug Loomis and Tommy, taking Kara, Danny, Steven and Michael back to Smiths Grove Sanatorium.

Loomis and Tommy follow them to Smiths Grove and rescue Kara and the children, freeing Michael from the cult’s control, Michael proceeds to attack and kill his former captors.  Fleeing from Michael, Tommy, Kara and the children find themselves in a lab where the cult has been trying to create a baby that has the abilities and evil of Michael inside them, which ultimately led to the birth of Steven.

Tommy fights Michael in the lab, injecting him with several tranquilizers and chemicals before repeatedly beating him with a metal pipe.  With Michael defeated Tommy, Kara and the children leave the hospital.  Loomis remains behind because he has ‘a little business’ to attend to.  Inside the hospital we see Michaels mask lying on the floor, before we hear Loomis scream in the background.

Kara Strode and Tommy Doyle are chased by Michael.

The Curse of Michael Myers takes some of the plot points introduced in the previous film, the introduction of a supernatural element in the series, and run with it in a whole new direction.  They take Michael and turn him from a serial killer into a magically controlled attack dog for a crazy cult that lives under Smiths Grove Sanatorium.  I don’t like this.

Everything that I enjoyed about the previous films seems to have been thrown out of the window with this film, and the film makers seem more concerned with trying to create a back story for Michael and explain events from previous films than to create a good film of their own.  As a result the film feels out of place. 

I discovered that many of the films problems have stemmed from the amount of edits and cuts made to the film, and that the unreleased ‘Producers Cut’ is a much better film that makes a lot more sense.  So if you can manage to find one of the bootleg copies, watch it instead of the release version. 

This is the last film Donald Pleasence made, and his last appearance as Dr. Loomis, and I think that it’s a shame that his last Halloween film is one of the worst. 4/10.

Halloween H20:

20 Years Later (1998) 

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Poster

Set twenty years after the events of Halloween 1 & 2, and discounting the events of the other films in the series, the film returns to the character of Laurie Strode, whom it is revealed did not die in a car crash but instead faked her death and went into witness protection under a new identity to escape Michael.

Now the head of a private school, Hill Crest Academy, she lives there with her son John and is in a relationship with the school guidance counsellor Will.  Despite this Laurie is still haunted by the events of 20 years ago and is fearful of the day that Michael might return.

Meanwhile Michael enters the home of the now deceased Dr. Loomis and discovers that Laurie is living under a new identity.  Killing the house’s new resident, Dr. Loomis’ nurse and friend, Michael heads to Hill Crest Academy to find his sister.

Laurie confides the story of her past to Will, revealing her true identity, but in doing so realises that Michael will be returning as he killed his older sister when she was seventeen, attacked Laurie when she was seventeen and will be coming for John as he has just turned seventeen.

Unfortunately the realisation has come too late and Michael is already inside Hill Crest and is stalking John and his girlfriend Molly.  Laurie and Will attempt to stop Michael but Will is killed in the confrontation.  Laurie helps John and Molly escape Hill Crest, but remains behind to confront Michael and stop him once and for all.

The two siblings battle across Hill Crest and eventually Laurie is victorious.  However, Laurie knows her brother too well and when his body is being taken away by the coroners, steals the vehicle.  Whilst driving way Michael breaks his way out of the body bag and attacks Laurie.  In the ensuing struggle the van crashes, trapping Michael in the wreckage.  Taking her opportunity Laurie uses an axe to cut off Michaels head, finally bringing her nightmare to an end.

Laurie and Michael come face to face once again.

I love Halloween H20, it’s one of my all time favourite Halloween films.  It’s great to see Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie Strode after so many films without her, and it’s great to see her change from a victim to a fighter.

At the heart of it that’s what H20 is about, it’s not so much about Michael and his quest to kill his family, but abut Laurie stopping running and finally facing her fears and confronting them head on.  It’s brilliant to finally see someone not just running from Michael, but actively seeking him out in an attempt to stop him for good, and Laurie does it in ways that Loomis never did.

The finality of the last five minutes is great, with Laurie being the one to finally stop Michael forever.  A great film that celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the original film.  9/10.

Halloween: 

Resurrection (2002)

Halloween Resurrection Poster

Three years after the events of H20 we discover that Laurie Strode is now a patient at a psychiatric hospital due to killing a man she believed to have been Michael Myers.  In an attempt to explain away the apparent death of Michael in H20 it is revealed that Michael injured a paramedic and switched clothes with him, allowing him the chance to escape and causing Laurie to decapitate an innocent man.

Once Halloween night comes around again Michael enters the hospital to find Laurie.  Knowing he would be coming for her Laurie has prepared for Michaels inevitable attack and lures him into a trap on the roof.  Breaking free, Michael stabs Laurie in the back and throws her from the roof, finally killing her after over twenty years.

One year later Michael is living in the tunnels beneath his old home when a group of college students enter the house as part of an internet reality show in which they must attempt to discover the truth behind the legend of Michael Myers.

Michael begins stalking the students through the abandoned house, killing them one by one until only one student and the shows producer remain alive.  In a final confrontation Michael is electrocuted and trapped in the house as it burns to the ground. 

In a final scene Michael’s body is taken to a morgue.   When the coroner opens his body bag Michaels eyes suddenly open and a terrified scream is heard.

Michael finally kills Laurie Strode.

I hate Halloween: Resurrection.  I think the explanation for how Michael survived the last film is awful, and doesn’t make any sense.  When you watch that scene knowing what they plan on doing in Resurrection it just doesn’t make sense.  Okay, so Michael crushed his larynx so that the paramedic couldn’t talk, but he had loads of opportunities where he could have just taken the mask off, and why did he attack Laurie.  It’s stupid and it doesn’t work.

Killing Laurie off is a mistake as well, especially after they put her in a psychiatric hospital for three years.  It takes away all of the growth that the character went through in the last film, all of the strength she showed and throws it all away before casually killing her.  Resurrection ruins the character of Laurie Strode.

After the poor opening the rest of the film doesn’t fare any better, with boring characters that are just there as cannon fodder for Michael rather than to serve any story purpose or entertainment.  The lead is so underwhelming and boring that I almost found myself rooting for Michael to kill her.

A very poor movie that uses what came before it to create a bad story, but shows no respect to the previous instalment.  Watch at your peril.  2/10.

Halloween (2007)

Halloween Poster

On Halloween night a ten year old Michael Myers, who has already shown signs of psychopathic tendencies, murders the school bully, and later his step dad Ronnie, his sister Judith and her boyfriend Steve.  Returning home to find the slaughter His mother Deborah calls the emergency services and Michael is taken into custody.

Eleven months later Michael is found guilty of first degree murder and is sent to Smiths Grove Sanatorium under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis.  Initially Michael co-operates with Dr. Loomis, but eventually begins to slip further and further into psychosis.  After he attacks and kills one of the nurses at the Sanatorium Deborah Myers can no longer handle the pressure and kills herself.

Fifteen years later Michael manages to escape from his room and makes his way through the Sanatorium to freedom, killing anyone who comes across his path.  Now free Michael heads to Haddonfield to find his baby sister.

In Haddonfield Michael’s sister, Laurie Strode, and her friends are busy preparing for the Halloween season and the night ahead.  Michael finds Laurie and follows her throughout the day.  Halloween night arrives and Laurie heads out to babysit Tommy Doyle, with Michael not far behind.

Dr. Loomis learns of Michaels escape and heads to Haddonfield in hopes of stopping him from finding and killing his sister.  Dr. Loomis manages to convince Sheriff Brackett that Michael has returned to Haddonfield to find his sister.  Brackett attempt to call the Strodes to warn them, but Michael has already murdered them.

Michael attacks Laurie, and after a short confrontation takes her captive and returns to his old family home with her.  There Laurie breaks free from Michael’s hold and tries to escape.  Dr. Loomis arrives in time to stop Michael and apparently saves Laurie.  Unfortunately Michael attacks once again and both Laurie and Loomis are both badly injured.

Laurie manages to gain the upper hand and uses Loomis’ gun on Michael, apparently shooting him in the head.

Michael grows up in Smiths Grove.

Upon first viewing I wasn’t very fond of the Halloween remake.  I found that focusing so much of the film on Michael in the sanatorium was boring and unwanted.  I didn’t need to see that, I didn’t want to know what goes on inside his head or what made him who he is.  This time round, however, I found that these scenes help to make this film stand out from the original and give us something that we’ve never seen before.

Rob Zombie manages to use a combination of the original story and brand new content to create a film that feels very familiar and completely new all at the same time.

His cast are great, with Scout Taylor-Compton giving a wonderfully realistic performance as the new, up to date Laurie Strode, who whilst is very different from the original portrayal by Jamie Lee Curtis, is true to the spirit of the character.  Dr. Loomis is here performed by Malcolm McDowell and is once again a very different version of a character we all know and love, and whilst he’s no Donald Pleasence he does a good job with the role.  Along with a cast featuring many well known faces from horror the new Halloween also returns Danielle Harris to the series, having originally played Jamie Lloyd in Halloweens 4 & 5, she now plays Laurie’s best friend Annie Brackett.

With brand knew insight into the character of Michael, a mixture of the familiar and brand new and a cast that portrays some very fun and very realistic characters Halloween is one of the better movies in the franchise.  Rather than suffering for being a remake of a cinema classic, this movie stands on its own as a great piece of film making.  8/10.

Halloween 2 (2009)

The film begins with a short flashback of Judith Myers visiting a young Michael at Smiths Grove Sanatorium, giving him a statue of a white horse as a gift.  Michael tells her that the horse reminds him of a dream he had about Deborah’s ghost, all dressed in white and leading a horse down the sanatorium hall towards Michael, telling him that she’s there to take him home.

Jumping forward fifteen years we pick up where the previous film ended with a bloodied and injured Laurie being found by Sheriff Brackett.  Police and ambulance crews arrive at the Myers house and help the injured Laurie and Dr. Loomis.  Michael’s body is loaded into a coroners van and taken away.  When the coroner had a traffic accident Michael awakens and walks away from the accident towards a vision of Deborah dressed in white.

Michael appears at Haddonfield hospital and kills several members of staff in an attempt to get to Laurie.  He chases and corners Laurie, but before he is able to reach her Laurie wakes up, revealing the events at the hospital to be a dream. 

It is now one year later and Laurie is living with Sheriff Brackett and Annie whilst attempting to put the pieces of her life back together and come to terms with the horrific ordeal of the previous Halloween night.  Meanwhile, Michael is continuing to have visions of both his mother and his younger self, who tell him that it is time for him to return to Haddonfield.  Whilst Michael approaches Haddonfield Laurie begins to have hallucinations that mirror Michael’s, of a ghostly Deborah and a younger Michael in a clown costume.  She even begins to see herself acting out Michaels murders.

After the events of the first film Dr. Loomis has gone on to write a book about Michael and the events at Haddonfield.  Touring around the country to promote his book he receives criticism as people blame him for Michaels actions and for exploiting the victims.  Due to the release of his book Laurie learns the truth about herself, that she is in fact Angel Myers, Michaels sister, and that the events of the previous year were not as random as she once believed.

Michael arrives back in Haddonfield and kills several of Laurie’s friends before finally capturing her and taking her prisoner in an abandoned cabin.  When she awakens Laurie sees the same visions as Michael, with the ghostly Deborah forcing her to say ‘I love you mommy’. 

The police arrive at Michael’s location and surround the cabin.  Loomis, having heard the news of Michael’s return and the danger Laurie now faces, arrives on the scene to help.  He enters the cabin in an attempt to get Michael to free Laurie.  Laurie is unable to leave with Loomis though as she believes that the younger Michael is holding her down.  Whilst telling her that there is no one there and imploring her to maintain her sanity Michael attacks and kills Loomis.

Sheriff Bracket sees Michael through the cabin window and shoots him, knocking him back onto the spikes of some farming equipment.  Apparently free of the visions, Laurie takes Michaels knife and stabs him to death.  Laurie emerges from the cabin, covered in blood and wearing Michael’s mask.

In the final shot of the film Laurie is in a psychiatric ward, grinning at the camera whilst seeing a vision of the ghostly Deborah.

Michael brutally attacks the staff at Haddonfield Hospital.

Halloween 2 is a very different animal from the other Halloween films, even the movie directly before it.  Whilst Rob Zombie’s first Halloween film took what was already in place in the original film and expanded upon it, this time round he is able to take the series in a whole new direction of his own choosing.

The returning characters from the first film are all handled well and have some great character growth, with both Laurie and Annie being damaged survivors, Sheriff Breaker becoming an even more devoted father for the two girls, and Dr. Loomis becoming something of a dick.  No one could play Loomis like Donald Pleasence, so instead of trying to emulate his character they have Malcolm McDowell create a truly different interpretation of the character.

The exploration of Michaels psyche, and the similar ways in which Laurie’s mind also work is a stand out and visually different experience from anything else we have seen in the Halloween franchise up to this point, and continues the theme of adding more depth to a character that has almost always been portrayed as a blank slate.  They even have Michael vocalise for the first time in this film, with grunts and yells as he viciously kills his latest wave of victims.  Rather than taking anything away from the classically silent slasher, it makes Michael all the more frightening.

An interesting new direction stylistically than the other films that continues to build upon the success and innovations Zombie made in his first film.  7/10.

Well there it is, my thoughts on the Halloween series.  I hope that you all enjoyed it and that you might be inspired to go out and watch at least one of them this Halloween night.  Have a great Halloween everyone.

Amy.

xx

 
Amy Walker Facebook
Trans Girl Writer Facebook Fan Page
Amy Walker Twitter