Michael Myers, I’ll bet, it seems that almost no connoisseurs of Hollywood films are unfamiliar with this name, even though these people may have never or have no desire to see any of the Halloween horror films, in which the character mentioned above ‘takes part’. . It’s no secret, that this psychopathic character created by John Carpenter has a very high level of popularity in the history of Hollywood cinema, especially in the slasher film genre that is able to make heart sports. Regarding the release of Halloween Kills in cinemas in Indonesia, after the recap of the Halloween saga, let’s get acquainted with this iconic figure from the Halloween franchise.
The figure created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill who became the ‘mascot’ in this Halloween film series is said to be the simplest compared to other iconic supernatural psychopathic characters such as Jason Vorhees and Leatherface. This is because, unlike the two characters above whose actions are triggered by a bitter past, Michael is a character who is actually evil. His actions had absolutely no triggers, and were based solely on his love of killing since he was a child. Michael does not have a physical disability that makes his figure a laughing stock and is avoided by many people, he also does not have mental limitations, on the contrary he has high intelligence, and is able to think of a precise strategy when carrying out an assassination act.
Michael is not indiscriminate in killing, whether male or female, young or old, everyone can become a victim. In her life, there was only one person who was very dear to her family, which made her finally obsessed with killing him, Laurie Strode; his younger brother. Michael is addicted to killing after he gains incomparable satisfaction when he slaughters Judith, his older sister. Since then he has had the desire to get that sensation back, that’s why he was very happy and enthusiastic when he found out Laurie had blood ties to him.
Actually, Michael doesn’t have any supernatural abilities at all to become an unstoppable and undying figure. It is his evil nature, which makes his body able to withstand pain and makes it seem as if he has physical abilities that exceed the limits of human abilities. He had been hit by firearm bullets, stabbed by various sharp and blunt objects, or roasted in a fire, but none of that could stop him from committing murder. The ‘supernatural power’ possessed by Michael Myers was investigated by John Carpenter from accidental elements. At first, the creator wanted to make an ending whose goal was to make people cringe and trigger the audience’s imagination to keep wondering, what is Michael Myers? Is he a supernatural being or not. Unexpectedly, it turns out that Carpenter’s decision was welcomed by many parties, until finally Michael Myers, as we know him, is.
Of course, like other iconic characters in cinema, Michael Myers also later transformed into a popular culture icon, one of which is that his appearance is often used by many people as a costume choice for Halloween celebrations. This character’s characteristics then influenced many other psychopathic characters, such as Jason Vorhees. This character besides already owning a film franchise, which has reached 13 films so far and it is possible that the number could increase, his figure is often parodied, becoming a ‘guest star’, in many television programs (Robot Chicken, The Ghost Whisperer, The Cold Case) has also appeared several times in the realm of videogames, both as a playable character in Call of Duty: Ghosts, Onslaught and in its own game series, Halloween. Michael Myers is one of the horror icons selected for Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights event in 2009. This figure has also been chosen by pop artist Eric Millikin in his Totally Sweets series, which creates a giant mosaic portrait of Michael Myers from a combination images of Halloween candy and spiders in 2013.
FYI
John Carpenter named one of these sadistic and cruel horror icons after the names of people who have contributed to his life, as a form of respect and gratitude. The original Michael Myers is a film distributor from England who has been instrumental in creating Carpenter’s work entitled Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) entered the London Film Festival and became a cult hits. The funny thing is that the original Myers, the owner of Miracle Films, is known to be the most kind and down-to-earth person. How ironic that Myers, who died at the age of 69 years, is now remembered as one of the sadistic and cruel horror icons. Meanwhile, for the iconic mask, it comes from William Shatner’s face mask as Captain Kirk (Star Trek) in such a way (made eye holes bigger and rounder, removed his eyebrows and beard, and made his hair raised and disheveled) to look terrible. at once strange, then ended by painting it completely white.
