EP#202 Dwight Little

Kevin Lane's Spill Your Guts

Odd as it may seem today, there was a time when sequels were considered inferior rip-offs by studios and critics alike. A desperate ploy at milking the success of likely superior original film. Rarely was a sequel directed by the film’s original director (of course there are many notable exceptions such as Evil Dead 2, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and Dawn of the Dead) with the filmmakers having concern that there wasn’t artistic value in returning to the well or that the studio execs would see them as one and done type creatives.

And yet, that didn’t stop many of the genres most successful franchises from soldiering on. Jason, Freddy, Chucky, Pinhead… to name a few. All continued on with involvement from their creators at some level. One of the most resilient has been the Halloween franchise.

The first sequel was written and produced by the creators of the original, John Carpenter and Debra Hill and directed by relative newcomer Rick Rosenthal. The film also saw the return of stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence and continued directly where the first film left off as Michael Myers’ continued his night of terror. The film was a success and Carpenter and Hill were asked to come up with a third. So, having seemingly killed off both Myers and Loomis in the previous film, they decided to try something different and create a completely new story with new characters set on Halloween. The idea being that if this model worked, you’d have a formula for an anthology Halloween horror film you could release every couple of years.

It didn’t.

The fans were puzzled and pissed at the absence of beloved villain Michael Myers and the movie soon became persona non grata with fans. That would change over the years as the film, titled Halloween 3: Season of the Witch and well directed by Carpenter pal Tommy Lee Wallace and staring genre greats Tom Atkins and Dan O’Herlihy, would go on to become a fan favorite. Long live Silver Shamrock.

A few years later, undeterred executive producer of the series Moustapha Akkad felt that it was time to bring Michael back. Carpenter and Hill had moved on and stepped away from the series. Who was going to bring back the Shape for another terror filled night of treat or treating?

Enter Dwight Little.

Having directed 3 action-adventure films prior to signing on to do Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Little didn’t necessarily seem like the obvious choice. However, one thing anyone could see by looking at his first three films was a strong eye for big set pieces and a deft way with suspense. Halloween 4 also sees the return of Donald Pleasence as Doctor Loomis and Little and writer Allan B. McElroy give this genre legend more to do here than in previous films. It’s a smart move and Pleasence gives a knockout performance. Halloween 4 has a strong cast all around with Danielle Harris beginning her career as a Scream Queen playing the 7-year-old Jamie Lloyd, Ellie Cornell in a relatable and strong protector roll (an underrated contribution in many ways) as Rachel Carruthers, Jamie’s step-sister and great supporting cast including Beau Starr as Sheriff Ben Meeker and veteran character actor Michael Pataki as Doctor Hoffman.

Dwight Little found just the right balance of the controlled and deliberate tone of Carpenter’s original film and his own sensibilities as a filmmaker. Cutting down on the gore of Halloween 2 (which was really there as response to the popularity of the “Friday the 13th” films and doesn’t quite fit the Halloween series) and playing up the tension, “Halloween 4” also captures the spirit of Halloween itself. The opening montage of fall imagery rooting the film firmly in the season in a way few of the many oncoming sequels would recapture.

“Halloween 4” is not only the best of the Halloween sequels, it’s a testament to Dwight Little’s skill as a filmmaker that the film has become a traditional selection in many genre fans seasonal film playlist.

Dwight has gone on to direct plenty more films and television series in the genre including the vastly underrated 1989 version of “Phantom of the Opera” starring Robert Englund (no points for guessing which role he plays), the extremely fun and well directed “Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid”, “the X-Files” and the brilliant “Millennium” (for which he did one of its best episodes, a Christmas episode featuring Darren McGavin as the father of Frank Black, series lead Lance Henriksen) and “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series”. All of this on top of an extremely successful career as an action film director, of which he’s made many greats!

Dwight and Kevin talk on the high jinks of shooting a crazy movie like his early action adventure film “Bloodstone, why he approached Halloween 4 as though it were a detective movie, working with the late legend Donald Pleasence, getting around Andrew Lloyd Webber while making his version of “Phantom” and his new horror film “Natty Knocks” which has him reuniting with both Danielle Harris and Robert Englund.

In 1988 he changed the face of Halloween. Tonight, he’s back. Spill Your Guts is proud to present, a conversation with director Dwight Little.

★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★