When I’m writing about Halloween, eventually I’m going to get around to writing about Halloween. While I have a lot of affection for the franchise as a whole—and yes, that includes Rob Zombie’s two entries—my absolute favorite is the original John Carpenter classic.
While it’s natural to refer to the film just as I did above—the “John Carpneter classic”—that’s leaving out an important part of the equation: producer Irwin Yablans. It was Yablans who suggested the original concept of a babysitter being stalked by a killer—the very concept that Carpenter ran with, turning in a bona fide horror classic. He’s got a unique perspective on one of horror’s most venerable franchises, making this conversation with Justin Beahm a fascinating listen.
Beahm, himself no stranger to the Halloween franchise (he was instrumental in the original’s theatrical re-release back in 2012, as well as re-releases of Halloween 4 and Halloween 5), released this nearly two hour episode of his podcast back in August. It’s a free-flowing conversation that touches not only on Yablans’ involvement with Halloween, but his extensive experience in producing genre films like Hell Night, Tourist Trap, and Prison. But the bulk of the talk is on Halloween, making it a must-listen for fans of Michael Myers.
Check it out, and be sure to give a listen to some of Beahm’s other podcast episodes with the likes of Sharknado director Anthony C. Ferrante and Friday the 13th, Part 2 “Final Girl” Amy Steel.
Blu Gilliand is the managing editor of Cemetery Dance Magazine and Cemetery Dance Online.
