Annie Brackett

Annie Brackett is a fictional character in the Halloween horror franchise. The character was created by screenwriters John Carpenter and Debra Hill. First appearing in Halloween (1978), and its sequel Halloween II (1981), she is portrayed by Nancy Kyes. In the remake (2007) and its sequel (2009), she is portrayed by Danielle Harris, who had previously starred as Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 and 5. The character also appears in various novels and comic books of the franchise.

Annie Brackett
Halloween character
Nancy Kyes as Annie in Halloween (1978)
First appearance	Halloween
Created by	John Carpenter Debra Hill
Portrayed by	Original series: (1978–1981) Nancy Kyes Reboot series: (2007–2009) Danielle Harris
In-universe information
Full name	Anne Marie Brackett
Occupation	Student Babysitter
Family	Leigh Brackett (father) Joanne Brackett (mother)
Significant other	Paul Freedman (boyfriend)

In the films, Annie is introduced as Laurie Strode's classmate and best friend. On Halloween night, she babysits Lindsey Wallace. She is the first of Laurie's friends to be killed by Michael Myers, with her corpse being placed alongside Judith Myers' tombstone. In the remake, Annie's role remains mostly unchanged, though her encounter with Michael is lengthier and takes place while she is nude. While Michael does get his hands on her and also kills her boyfriend in the Wallace house, she survives the attack, unlike in the original. This allowed Annie to also have a prominent role in the next film: in Halloween II, Annie's relationship with Laurie over their shared trauma is explored into greater detail.

The character is notable, along with Lynda Van Der Klok, for having unintentionally created a trend in horror movies where female characters who smoke, have premarital sex or appear either nude or in their underwear, get killed off.

Appearances

Films

In the original Halloween (1978), Annie is established with Lynda Van der Klok as a friend of Laurie's. Throughout the day, Laurie notices Michael following her, but Annie and Lynda dismiss her concerns. Later that night, Laurie babysits Tommy Doyle, while Annie babysits Lindsey Wallace just across the street, unaware that Michael has followed them. When Annie's boyfriend, Paul, calls her to come and pick him up, she takes Lindsey over to the Doyle house to spend the night with Laurie and Tommy. Annie is just about to leave in her car when Michael, who was hiding in the back seat, strangles her before sliting her throat, killing her. Her corpse is later seen sprawled out on a bed with the headstone of Judith Myers, Michael's murdered sister.

In Halloween II (1981), Annie's corpse appears briefly. A grieving Sheriff Leigh Brackett, Annie's father, ends his involvement with assisting Dr. Loomis when he identifies his daughter's dead body. Blaming Loomis for her murder, Brackett goes home to inform his wife of the news, leaving Deputy Gary Hunt in charge to help Loomis.

Annie as portrayed by Danielle Harris in Halloween II (2009)

In the 2007 remake, Annie is portrayed by Danielle Harris. As with the original, in the reboot, Annie is Laurie's friend from high school and Lindsey's babysitter, although she spots Michael during the day in this version, taunting him and inadvertently attracting the madman's brutality. On Halloween night, she goes to leave Lindsey and her babysitting duties to Laurie in order to meet up with her boyfriend Paul, that soon arrives in his car and takes Annie back to Lindsey's house. Having undressed but still wearing her short skirt, Annie is getting ready to have sex with her boyfriend so Paul keeps kissing her and groping her body just as Michael approaches them unnoticed, until he attacks. While Paul is instantly killed, the frightened schoolgirl makes a run for the front door, almost escaping, but Michael will not let her get away. Although nude and unarmed, Annie braves a fight to the death with the murderer; while she succeeds in finding her own knife, she is soon knocked down and disarmed, to end up captured alive with her upper body exposed to the knife maniac's crueler acts: Michael Myers sets out to torture her. She is left on the floor covered in her own blood by the time Laurie brings Lindsey home, but her father finds her still alive thanks to Laurie having called 9-1-1.[1]

In Halloween II (2009), Annie, although slightly disfigured with the scars from her encounter with Michael Myers, is shown to be much more stable than Laurie, who is living with Annie and her father. On a Halloween night when she is at home alone, Michael breaks into the Brackett house, seizes the fleeing Annie then repeatedly stabs and slashes her off-screen. When she arrives home, Laurie finds Annie on the bathroom floor, naked and severely wounded by Michael. Annie then tries to persuade Laurie to leave the house, without success, until Annie dies. After receiving a 911 call from his home, Sheriff Lee Brackett finds his daughter's body following Michael's rampage. As in the original film's sequel, Brackett angrily blames Loomis for Annie's death and Laurie's jeopardy. Brackett later uses a rifle to shoot Michael after Dr. Loomis lures Michael into view, which leads to Michael's death at the hands of Laurie.[2]

In Halloween (2018), a sketch of Annie's autopsy appears briefly, behind Dr. Loomis in a sketch of him testifying at a court hearing, seemingly Michael's trial for the 1978 murders.

Literature

Annie appears in the 1979 novelization of the first film,[3] and in other publications based on the original continuity. In the comic Halloween III: The Devil's Eyes from Chaos! Comics, the unstable Laurie, having assumed her brother's mantle, digs up the graves of Annie, Lynda and the latter's boyfriend Bob, placing their skeletons and headstones in Lindsey Wallace's house.[4] Photographs of Annie's corpse appear in the comic book Halloween: Autopsis as photojournalist Patrick Carter becomes fascinated with the pictures of what he believes to be a "perfect corpse". His obsession leads him into investigating Michael Myers, which eventually leads to his death at Michael's hands. Annie also appears in the story "Visiting Hours" of the anniversary comic Halloween: 30 Years of Terror. When Laurie reflects on how her life would have been if she had never encountered Michael Myers, she imagines Annie as having never died and becoming a mother. However, Laurie's fantasy is invaded by the memory of Michael, causing Annie's teenage corpse to appear and accuse Laurie, "If you were smart you'd have stopped him from killing me."[5] Annie's funeral is depicted in the comic miniseries Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode, where Laurie describes her as "the best friend I ever had" and wonders what Annie would have thought of how the press covered the news of her death. Brackett is shown attending his daughter's funeral, insisting to Laurie Strode that Michael Myers is dead and gone.[6] While trying to recover from her ordeal, Laurie sees "ghosts" of Annie and Lynda preventing her from moving on. Annie's morgue report appears at the website HalloweenComics.com, revealing information such as her address, date of birth, and middle name, which was Marie. Her immediate cause of death is recorded as "massive blood loss" due to "severed right common carotid artery due to slit throat".[7] The comic book Halloween Autopsis, has Brackett still blaming Dr. Loomis for Annie's murder fifteen years later. However, in the online short story Sam, Brackett visits an older, sick Loomis and tells Marion, "Send him... send him my best wishes."

Reception

Scarlet Jupiter of Dread Central highly praised Harris' interpretation of the character, saying:

"Danielle Harris brought such power to her role as Annie Brackett that we actually believed her pain after Michael viciously stabbed her multiple times. And let’s be honest; who didn’t feel that boulder in their stomach in Halloween 2 during the bathroom scene? While John Carpenter’s Annie was meant for comic relief, we all grew to love Rob Zombie’s Annie not only for her sense of humor but her adorable personality and were saddened when she met her violent but inevitable end."[8]

Annie Riordan of Brutal as Hell noted the original Annie's influence on the horror genre, saying "She also set a standard for the slasher film, a genre she helped to kickstart, by wandering off alone into a dark room without her pants on. It goes without saying nowadays that girls in horror films will be dispatched the moment their undergarments become visible, but it was a trend that Annie made famous. She dies, panties on prominent display, in the backseat of a station wagon, half strangled and throat slashed. Such are the hazards of premarital sex."[9]

In popular culture

Annie was featured on Moviepilot's list of "My Top 5 Horror Movie Stoners".[10]

References

1. Zombie, Rob (Writer/Director) (2007). Halloween (DVD). United States: Dimension Films.
2. Zombie, Rob (Writer/Director) (2009). Halloween II (DVD). United States: Dimension Films.
3. Richards, Curtis (October 1979). Halloween. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-13226-1.
4. Phil Nutman (w), Justiniano (p). Halloween III: The Devil's Eyes 3 (2001), Chaos! Comics
5. Stephen Hutchinson (w), Daniel Zezelj, Jim Daly, Brett Weldele, Jeffrey Zornow, Lee Ferguson, Tim Seeley (p), Nick Bell, Rob Buffalo, Jeffrey Zornow, Elizabeth John (i). Halloween: 30 Years of Terror (August 2007), Devil's Due Publishing
6. Stefan Hutchinson (w), Jeff Zornow (p). Halloween: The First Death of Laurie Strode 1-2 (2008), Devil's Due Publishing
7. HalloweenComics Morgue Reports
8. Jupiter, Scarlet (September 19, 2016). "Top 6 Danielle Harris Horror Roles". Dread Central. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
9. Riordan, Annie (February 20, 2010). "Staff Kills: Annie Always Dies". Brutal As Hell. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
10. "My Top 5 Horror Movie Stoners". Movie Pilot. Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.