She’s been through hell and back over the course of nearly twenty five years, but Laurie Strode takes the final bow in Halloween: Resurrection.” Laurie Strode dies in Halloween: Resurrection, at the very beginning of the film no less, and the death of the character marks an important bookend for one of the signature scream queen heroines of the modern film era.
There’s a sad irony about the character of Laurie Strode. If a psychopathic killer named Michael Myers had never entered her life, Laurie’s whole future would’ve been different. In Halloween, made when Curtis was only nineteen, Laurie was a beautiful introvert, a bookworm, who sought refuge in her popular and sexy friends, Annie and Lynda, played by Nancy Loomis and P.J. Soles. Then Halloween Night 1978 hit and the rest was history. Maybe now Laurie can rest in peace.
Jamie Lee Curtis made other “scary movies” after Halloween, a string of which cemented her title as the modern “scream queen.” Films like “The Fog”(directed by John Carpenter),”Terror Train” and “Prom Night” were entertaining enough but Curtis was in danger of becoming an endangered species in Hollywood – a horror movie actress. Actually, the best of the lot may have been the 1980 Australian filmed Jack the Ripper road thriller “Road Games,” directed by Richard Franklin of “Psycho II” fame. Jamie Lee Curtis was never trapped by typecasting however, emerging as one of the most interesting and unusual actresses of her generation. She’s the kind of actress who can’t be labeled into one category. Look at the 1985 bomb “Perfect” where Curtis starred with John Travolta. “Perfect” almost killed Travolta’s career, but it made Curtis into a 1980’s sex symbol. However unwanted that kind of attention was for her, it helped her career, moving her eons away from Laurie Strode.
It’s interesting to compare higher budgeted and glossier films like 1990’s “Blue Steel” with Halloween where Curtis’ heroine is faced with a modern and sophisticated villain who’s at least as relentless as Michael Myers. Even though Curtis’ career has spanned the entire spectrum, from “A Fish Called Wanda” to “True Lies,” Curtis will be best remembered for Halloween, her one true masterpiece .
Get the interview in part two of JAMIE LEE CURTIS: LAURIE’S LAST STAND>>>
