Jamie Lee Curtis' horror hero, Laurie Strode, once again meets masked maniac Michael Myers, 40 years after their first faceoff, in the new "Halloween" (in theaters Oct. 19). But the new film was also a chance for director David Gordon Green to look again at an old nightmare.

"The first film has really haunted me. I was forbidden to see him, "says 43-year-old Green, about John Carpenter's original 1978 film-and the filmmaker co-wrote to unleash Myers again on the unsuspected city of Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Green grew up in Texas with extremely strict parents on the movies the young moviegoer wanted to see. Around the fifth year – about the same time, he was yearning to see "Revenge of the Nerds" – Green slipped to see "Halloween" against the judgment of his mother and father "and was extremely disturbed – to the point to confess to my parents that I had watched "Halloween", remembers the filmmaker. "I was really bothered in some ways.

"So, to be at this stage of my life and revisit some of those mesmerizing images and characters from my childhood – but now (being the puppeteer of their behaviors, actions and manners) – I realize my strange fantasy of youth and fight my own demons through my art form.

When the fans are reintroduced at Laurie's, she is "a very strong female character who will not take any (guff)," says Green. The new "Halloween" is the story of a woman "who does not consider herself a victim but who considers herself sufficiently educated to prepare herself".

And as for Michael, the director calls for the determination of his horrible-nasty physical form "an exhilarating dance".

When he saw the iconic antagonist walking for the first time, Green said it was "the opposite" of his old feelings. "It was actually an ego trip. "Not now, mother- (expletes)."

Seeing the evolved version of Michael's mask, 40 years old, "we all goose bumps," adds the director. "We put it on our stuntman and everyone became silent. It was an unimaginable pleasure to take his hand and guide him on this journey.

Read or share this story: https://usat.ly/2x0wEYV