Our favorite masked killers 🎭, Rachel Carruthers supremacy 👸🏼, 'Terrifier 3' slashes the box office 🤡, & more!

We all wear masks. They help protect us from showing our true feelings/intent, but sometimes we forget to remove them, and no one knows how we’re truly feeling inside.

In horror films, masks represent many things. However, some have no real significance to the characters wearing them. They’re just an effect, which may or may not work, but become symbols that generations become aware of. For example, Jason Voorhees’ bag (then mask) proved to be an iconic symbol, hiding the grotesque demon’s face behind it. There are also the masks from Haunt, Hell Fest, and The Strangers, which is this issue’s Recommended if You Like selection.

With all of this talk about masks, think about those characters who don’t wear them, such as American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman or Jerry Blake in The Stepfather. They look like your average next door neighbor, but they harbor terrible, violent secrets. Never judge a book by its cover.

[Side Note] Since it’s Spooky Season, we’re used to seeing masks worn by people of all ages, but think about the remaining times of the year when those other masks are worn, and no one knows what’s really happening behind them. Make sure you check on your fellow friends and communities to see how they’re doing!

Issue 020’s Letterboxd list can be found here

In horror films, a lot can be said about the mask worn by the killer (or killers), whether they say a word or not. It's also about their physical presence that does the trick. However, when it comes down to the mask, it may say something about the character. Are they doing it for scares? Is it something that resembles their personality? Was it the only thing available while on their murder spree? We may never known (in most cases).

That said, we chose a number of films for this list where the mask speaks volumes, and has left audiences scared for their lives if and when they come across them. Check out our list on Letterboxd.

Halloween 5 Turns 35: An Ode to Rachel Carruthers

Sally Hardesty. Laurie Strode. Nancy Thompson. Sydney Prescott.

Horror’s most iconic Final Girls stole our hearts through their sheer determination to survive. While masked killers and wise-cracking sleep demons slaughtered their friends, they emerged from the blood-soaked chaos with a teeth-clenched resolve to confront and conquer their monsters. They weren’t about to go down without a fight, quickly becoming the backbone of their respective franchises. From Laurie stabbing Michael Myers with a wire clothes hanger (and then a knife) to Sydney shooting her deranged boyfriend Billy in the head, these Final Girls have stood the test of time and remain the gold standard by which today’s bright, young faces are judged.

When we have this conversation, though, there’s one name that rarely comes up: Rachel Carruthers. The centerpiece of Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, Rachel demonstrates a strength and intuitiveness that puts her in league with all those heavy hitters. She’s agile on her feet, always thinking one step ahead of Michael, and never once doubts herself. She’s just your average girl next door – but when the chips are down, she demonstrates that she’ll stop at nothing to save her foster sister.

Ellie Cornell breathes life into Rachel. Quietly fierce, she takes Alan B. McElroy’s screenplay and turns it inside out. Each scene pulses with charm, leaping off the screen and into the audience’s lap. With Jamie Lee Curtis taking Hollywood by storm, Cornell proves to be more than a suitable replacement – taking up the mantel as the series’ heroic lead. Rachel’s as strong-willed and clever as her predecessor but steps remarkably out of the shadows on her own merits. She’s a real force, a perfect foil to The Shape.

When we first meet Rachel, she worries about the typical teenage things – losing weight and her big date with Brady (Sasha Jenson). Believing it’s time they take their relationship to the next level, she has big plans for Halloween night. After the babysitter cancels, Rachel’s parents insist she look after Jamie and take her trick or treating. Rachel laments her familial duties, but when she sees Jamie’s disheartened expression, her heart melts. Instead, she promises the two will have a Halloween they’ll never forget… complete with double scoops of ice cream.

On Halloween night, goblins, ghouls, and witches come out to play. Kids scamper through the streets of Haddonfield, their laughter filling the night air. Rachel takes Jamie by the hand, and the adorable sibling pair skip from house to house to collect candy and enjoy an evening of utter magic. But beware: The Boogeyman lurks in the shadows, slowly circling the girls and toying with them as a cat does a ball of yarn.

As darkness descends, Michael Myers tracks them down to Sheriff Meeker’s (Beau Starr) two-story home, where Jamie and Rachel join Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and a cast of expendable characters. The night grows long, and the air swells with oppression. With only one way into and out of the house, it’s a death trap just waiting to happen.

Once Kelly (Kathleen Kinmont), Brady, and Deputy Logan (George Sullivan) meet grisly ends – and Loomis and Meeker venture out into the night to contend with a rebellious, vigilante mob – it’s up to Rachel to defeat the pale-faced intruder. Rachel remains surprisingly calm and level-headed. Hell hath no fury than a woman facing her front. Forced to the attic, Rachel busts out one of the windows and instructs Jamie to climb onto her back. The two perilously claw their way over slippery shingles and jagged nails, nearly plummeting to their death on the lawn far below. In her periphery, Jamie spots Michael scaling the rooftop with a kitchen knife glistening in his right hand.

The heart-pounding sequence, among the franchise’s best moments, tests Rachel’s endurance, but she does not hesitate for even a microsecond. She shimmies Jamie down to the brick chimney, where she uses a stray cable to wrap around Jamie’s waist and attempts to lower her down. Michael swipes at Rachel, who then tumbles from the roof onto cold, hard ground. Once free from her wiry contraints, Jamie screams in terror and darts off into the night, leaving a seemingly dead Rachel behind.

But surprise, surprise!

Rachel isn’t dead; she’s very much alive and kicking. After a terrified Jamie and Loomis take shelter in the local schoolhouse, Rachel pops up unexpectedly with a fire extinguisher firmly in her grasp. She lets the pressurized gas fill the hallway, giving her and Jamie a chance to escape. On the front steps, she meets up with the redneck crew, who decide it’s probably best to let the state police handle the situation. They high-tail it out of town – but little do they know, Myers managed to stowaway underneath the bed of the truck. He unceremoniously dispatches each gun-toting redneck (this scene requires a bit of patience and suspension of disbelief) until he finally peels back the driver’s face.

Rachel once again comes in clutch. She shoves the deformed body out the door and onto the road’s shoulder. She slides into the driver’s seat, takes control of the wheel, and swerves across the hardtop in an attempt to shake Myers loose from the roof. Her efforts eventually pay off after putting on the breaks, with Myers flying onto the pavement. “Die you son of a bitch!” she croaks as she shifts gears and puts the pedal to the metal. The Boogeyman goes flying backward into a nearby field containing various mineshafts. With sirens blaring in the distance, Rachel gives the state police enough time to catch up and station themselves in a circle around Myers’ lifeless body. He’s dead... until the sequel, of course.

Throughout the entirety of Halloween 4, Rachel exudes her animalistic instincts. Michael underestimates her will to survive every step of the way. With each slash of his glistening blade, she meets his strength with ingenuity and prowess. From the rooftop to the pick-up truck, she never once wavers in her commitment to Jamie. Her legacy as one of Halloween’s best characters endures today, even when the conversation fails to include her.

That leads me to my biggest grievance with the series…

With Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers turning 35 this week, it got me thinking about how filmmaker Dominique Othenin-Girard disrespected Rachel Carruthers so much that he made her into a dumb blonde with no agency of her own. Are you telling me that the same tough-as-nails heroine of the previous film somehow lacks awareness of her surroundings and a survival instinct?

It’s a year later, and Rachel plans on spending Halloween with her parents out in the country. Despite the anniversary of the ‘88 massacre looming, she’s willing to leave her foster sister alone at the local children’s clinic. With Michael Myers assumed dead and gone, the town turns its hatred toward Jamie, believing that she could be following in her uncle’s macabre footsteps. The fact Rachel thought about abandoning Jamie, who nearly killed her foster mother with scissors, at this critical stage is certainly a choice that was made.

On the day of her trip, Rachel showers, slips into a new sweater, and finishes packing up her belongings. When the family dog Max starts uproariously barking at something just offscreen, you get the sense that The Shape draws closer. Jamie, possessing supernatural abilities, alerts Loomis that something is deadly wrong. A quick phone call gets Rachel out of the house and to safety. After two bumbling cops inspect the property, they surmise that any danger is long gone. Rachel heads back into the house, against the better judgment she displayed in the previous film. You know it’s not over, and you just want to shake her and scream, “Get out!”

But alas, Rachel’s time is up.

Max starts barking again, but she ignores his warnings this time. Tension builds. The house creaks. You begin to survey every inch of the TV screen waiting for something to happen. Rachel makes her way to the hallway window, where she peers down at Max yapping his head off. Glass cracks, and she snaps her head in the direction of the noise. When Rachel steps into the bedroom, investigating the mysterious occurrence, the writing is on the wall. Instead of running straight out the front door, she breaks one of the cardinal rules of a horror movie. You never, ever follow a strange sound. That’s just marking yourself for death.

Rachel doesn’t even get the dignity of a fight-for-her-life death scene. As she bends down looking at a cracked photograph, Myers peeps from behind the closet door and pounces, puncturing her shoulder with a pair of scissors. She lets out a blood-curdling scream – and the film cuts to the next scene. ...and that’s the end of Rachel, one of the greatest characters of the Halloween series.

While Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers contains some of the best mood and atmosphere of the series, it lacks in serious heart. And I’m not talking about the made-of-neon kind. With Laurie Strode dead from a car crash, Jamie and Rachel became the heart of the franchise. It was their camaraderie and sisterhood that endeared them to millions of fans. Their undying loyalty in the face of pure evil propelled Halloween 4 to become one of the franchise’s cornerstone entries. In those days, it meant cementing a character’s legacy in horror history. It meant everything.

In light of David Gordon Green’s reboot trilogy, fans have been clamoring for a sequel picking up after Halloween 4, meaning that both Jamie and Rachel could return to the series. As much as I would love to see the sibling duo light up the silver screen again, what’s done is done. Jamie and Rachel are dead, and there’s no bringing them back. It’s such a shame so much faith was put into Othenin-Girard. Halloween 5 could have delivered on the gut-punching ending of the previous film, but instead, the sequel disrespects not only the characters and actors but also the audience. It goes for shock without concern for the greater picture and turns a significant player into another cold corpse…

Rachel and Ellie Cornell deserved better.

She may be this week’s Filmmaker Spotlight, but we’re both huge fans of Jill Gevargizian, so make sure you check out Ghost Game in theaters on October 18th and Digital on October 22nd.

The Creep Tapes, a six-episode series, heads to Shudder on November 15th! While we wait for the third film, this will keep us busy!

After a short theater run, STREAM is now available on VOD. The film follows a family on a vacation whose stay at a hotel turns very deadly.

If you missed it the first time around, NEON Rated has you covered. Longlegs is returning to theaters on October 23-31!

This November, the Soho Horror Film Festival returns for its 7th anniversary, bringing fearless film lovers their next favorite scary movie, year on year. From November 22nd-24th, the festival will head underground to the Whirled Cinema, Brixton for a 3 day in-person extravaganza. Then, in their continued efforts to remain as inclusive and accessible as possible, the festival will maintain its vanguard of online accessible screenings, running from the November 28th - December 1st with a unique program of films and events to both the in-person and virtual festivals. More info at sohohorrorfest.com.

The 100 Horror Movies in 92 Days Challenge is back! The event runs from August 1st through October 31st, allowing participants to watch (at least) 100 horror films during this time (and all must be a first-time watch!). Read the guidelines here.