It’s easy to see why Halloween initially failed to impress. We know the 1978 film as a horror classic, almost single-handedly responsible for popularizing the slasher subgenre and launching the career of both Carpenter and Curtis. But back then, the movie co-written by Carpenter and Debra Hill was indistinguishable from any other exploitation flick of the era.
In the same way that she didn’t recognize the potential of the movie that would become Halloween, Curtis doubted her own ability. In an oral history celebrating the film’s 40th anniversary, Curtis remembered getting a phone call after work one day and thinking it spelled her doom. “I remember this slow walk over to the phone and doing that thing of like, ‘Um, hello?’” she said. “He’s from Kentucky, I believe, and he was like, ‘Hey, darlin’, it’s John. I just wanna tell ya how happy I am and how fantastic you were today. I just know it’s gonna be amazing.’”
Of course, Carpenter was right, about both his movie and his star, who has gone on to an impressive career that spans far beyond horror, and even a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
But it’s Laurie Strode that will be Curtis’s defining role. In Halloween and its first sequel, Laurie set the standard for all final girls that followed: smart and resourceful (and, as is often forgotten, willing to smoke pot and interested in sex). Even though her Laurie has died several times, first off-screen before Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and later in regrettable fashion at the start of Halloween Resurrection, Curtis continues to revive the character, most recently for the trilogy made by David Gordon Green.
Curtis didn’t get the chance to make audiences howl with laughter on Operation Petticoat, but her scream as Laurie will continue to echo for generations.
