Tracing The Shape 11: Annie Brackett's Last Ride
What does Michael Myers want?
I told you it was a question we'd ask again and again, because I remain deeply fascinated by the choices this man makes. To call him a killing machine stripped of all of his humanity is to rob him of the mind that makes these choices, and rob us of the intrigue that lies behind them.
That's especially true of the first person we see Michael kill in his adult life: Annie Brackett.
We've already talked about why Michael would choose Annie over Laurie as his first target. She's loud, she's got sex on her mind, she's even taking her clothes off after that popcorn butter incident in the kitchen. She's inadvertently doing everything in her power to remind Michael of his sister.
Annie, of course, has no idea that any of this is happening. Even when she senses a human presence when shuffling out to the Wallaces' laundry room, she assumes it's her boyfriend, Paul, playing a trick. Annie's superpower, the thing that gives her heft as a supporting character, is that she's genuine. What you see is what you get, so for her, this is just a comedy of errors, a haphazard Halloween night that has her jumpy, grumpy, and eager for the call that'll finally mean she can relax.
From a filmmaking standpoint, Annie's mishaps – from the spilled butter to the men's shirt she drapes over her naked frame to getting locked in the laundry – are very juicy details indeed. They're Carpenter's chance to play Hitchcock, to build a crime out of dozens of small details and keep us guessing over which details matter. Through all of this, he's careful to present Michael as if he's everywhere at once. One moment he's on the patio, the next looking through the laundry room door, then next looking through the window on the other side. When Annie finally gets her call from Paul and decides to drop Lindsey Wallace off with Laurie, he's all the way across the street, hiding behind his stolen station wagon. All of these glimpses let us now that the power of The Shape is in play, that the magic of Michael Myers is working.
It also means that we are searching every single shadow for a sign of that white mask with the empty eyes and the blank expression. We're listening for breathing, we're anticipating jump scares that never land, and every close-up, every cut, every turn around a corner is an opportunity for Carpenter. So he milks it, showing us all of these places where Michael could jump out at Annie, but doesn't. Instead Michael, overhearing Annie's plan, breaks into her car and waits in the backseat.
If we look at the scene as a whole, in the context of what we know about Michael, we're left to ask: Why is this the choice he makes? What does he want?
He doesn't seem to want to have anything to do with children, at least not in terms of killing them, so we can assume he doesn't want to just barge in the house and kill Annie while Lindsey watches. He also doesn't want to kill Annie out in the open, since that would perhaps draw some attention from the trick-or-treaters who are still running around. But why does he wait? Why doesn't he move in for the kill in the laundry room, when he clearly has the element of surprise and the strength to do it? He could cut Annie's throat while she's hanging out the laundry room window and be gone well before Lindsey, still lost in her movie, would know anything was wrong.
Why wait until Annie's in the car? Because he knows everyone's plans for the night. Annie's going to pick up Paul, after which she'll be out of commission for a while. Laurie's at the Doyle house with two kids she can't leave, Tommy and Lindsey are glued to the TV. If he kills Annie in the car, it buys him time to do the other things he'd like to do. He's not a droning machine. He's a thinking, scheming being, and while he could certainly move to another part of town and keep on killing if police swarmed the Wallace house right at this moment, he wants to keep Annie close and secret.
He has plans for her, you see.
What does Michael Myers want? Right now, he wants a symbol, and Annie's going to give it to him.
Next Time: Y'all really need to start listening to Tommy Doyle!
