Halloween 2018: Title explained – director on naming Jamie Lee Curtis horror movie sequel

This new horror is a direct sequel to that cult favourite, set 40 years later.

It will completely disregard numerous other sequels – and is being touted as a reinvention rather than a reboot.

So why, if it is a direct follow-on to the original Halloween, does it have the same name?

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, David Gordon Green said: “That was a weird discussion.

“You know, do we call it The Shape? Do we call it Halloween Returns? What do you call it?

“Technically, it’s the third Halloween II. It kind of got to the point where we were like, ‘Well, we don’t want to not invite anybody. We don’t want someone who is unfamiliar with the previous films to think, well, I need to catch up.’

“So then we just thought, for simplicity, let’s just call it Halloween.”

Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Virginia Gardner and Nick Castle are also on board for the spine-chiller, which lands in cinemas this month.

Curtis is back as Laurie Strode, the sole survivor of Michael Myers’ killing spree back in ’78.

She is still struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, with Castle reprising the role of Myers/The Shape for one scene with Curtis. James Jude Courtney also plays the part.

Halloween has had a very good reception from critics so far, and has an 85% score with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

“Halloween largely wipes the slate clean after decades of disappointing sequels, ignoring increasingly elaborate mythology in favour of basic – yet still effective – ingredients,” the consensus reads.

Curtis said in a recent interview that she “cried” during much of the filming process.

“I started crying the day I arrived,” she told EW.

“I didn’t stop crying until the day I left. I didn’t expect it, I knew [Laurie] would be fierce, I knew she’d be galvanized, I knew I’d be tired, I knew I would work hard.

“I did not know that it would move me so deeply, the whole experience of the movie. It took me a good month [to recover].”

Halloween is out on October 19.