The Women of Horrotober: Wendy Kaplan as Tina in Halloween 5
“You might not understand, but when you're older there are people you're gonna meet who make you feel, like, connected. Like your heart is made of neon, and when you find them you have to be with them.”
Tina Williams, as brought to astonishingly vivid life by Wendy Kaplan, represents everything death-obsessed Michael Meyers seeks to destroy. She is life itself, bursting forth in all its messy, contradictory glory. She's silly yet smart, obnoxious but thoughtful, and above all else, selfless and brave. She is little Jamie Lloyd's true protector, even before sister Rachel falls victim to Michael's wrath.
Tina brashly announces herself, pounding on the window, jokingly shouting, "Let me in, let me in," and in that moment we relent, and we let her into our (neon) hearts. Forever. The Halloween franchise has never seen a force of nature quite like Tina. She injects the film with a triple-espresso sized shot of super-caffeinated electricity. She's a dynamo. You can't take your eyes off her, partly because she won't allow you too. When she's not on screen, the film lags; when she reappears, the film's (neon) heart rate spikes dramatically.
I'm still positive that the reason Michael doesn't kill her in that eerily terrifying car ride - when Tina thinks she's with her squeeze, that other, recently garden-clawed-to-death Michael - because he also falls under her charismatic spell. He has ample opportunity to end her life, then and there, yet he waits. Her indomitable spirit, her will to live, is so strong that I swear to you Michael is powerless against it.
When she eventually tastes the cold, unforgiving steely blade of Michael's wrath and fury, it happens while she’s protecting Jamie from the world's worst uncle. Many have assumed she was killed in that moment, just another victim in a long line of slaughtered teens in Halloween films. This possibility used to haunt my mind, also. Yet, here's the rub: Michael doesn't plunge the knife into her (neon) heart, but instead just above it. Sure, she's carted off, limp and bleeding all over her magnificent Halloween costume. But those of us with neon hearts know that hers is still beating today.
She's out there, still brash and intelligent, still bold and compassionate, still proudly declaring the mantra of neon-hearts everywhere: "I'm never sensible if I can help it!" We know that's only partly true, that Tina will forever be a beautifully screwed up mess of contradictions, one that can't be killed off so easily. In other words, she' like many of us, she's like life itself.
If you want to possibly win Halloween 2, 4, 5, H20 and Resurrection on Special Edition DVDs then please share this article on social media before midnight Halloween, October 31st 2017 with the hashtag #HorrotoberMovieDiner
