Halloween Kills
Director: David Gordon Green
Writer: John Carpenter (creator), Debra Hill (creator), Scott Teems, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Nick castle, Will Patton, Anthony Michael Hall
Reason for watching: New release, plus it’s near Halloween time
Number of times I’ve watched it: first time viewing
***
What. A. Disappointment.
The original Halloween movie might just be the greatest horror movie I have ever seen. Rarely do I find that older films really live up to the hype around them; typically the difference in technical quality is what hurts them. But Halloween is an absolute horror delight. There’s the classic trope created of the merciless killer hunting down victims without any apparent rhyme or reason to his decision. Jamie Lee Curtis created an iconic role for herself for years to come and gave a strong performance, and Nick Castle is haunting as Michael Myers. More than anything else, the cinematography is untouchable in my opinion with Myers looming just far enough in the background to catch our eye and then disappear, leaving us wondering where he will show up next. Wrapping it all up the haunting original score is still effective to this day and sends a chill down my spine each time I hear it.
Honestly, the 2018 reboot of the Halloween franchise might be one of the few horror remakes/reboots that lives up to its predecessor. After 40 years of bizarre sequels, spinoffs, and remakes directed by Rob Zombie, the franchise decided to take a page out of the X-Men franchise’s book and erase all of that to reset. We get an older Curtis as a paranoid and well-prepared Laurie Strode who has to deal with her own anxiety and the effect it has on her family. The gore and violence go an extra mile and really show everything Michael is capable of. A brutal confrontation between Myers and Strode occurs and it results in him being trapped in a burning house leading to his apparent death, but in the modern Hollywood we never get closure. A sequel is set up and second sequel is announced after that.
That is where we pick up, Michael (Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney) has survived the fire and goes on a further rampage through his old town, making his way towards his childhood home. When the word spreads around town that Michael has returned, a group of townsfolk take matters into their own hands. Lead by Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), a survivor of Michael’s original attack in 1978, they pledge to kill Michael that night. Meanwhile Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) attempts to reconcile her past with Michael from a hospital with her old friend officer Hawkins (Will Patton). Laurie’s daughter Karen (Judy Greer) attempts to corral and talk down the angry mob incited by Tommy, and Laurie granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) joins a search party going after Myers.
While I will admit that the quality of the tension and violence has not dropped off at all from the previous entry (and in one particular scene near the end even found a unique style), this truly is one of the two lone bright spots. The other being the quality of the main cast like Curtis, Castle, Courtney, Greer, and Matichak. In general one goes to a horror movie to be scare or feel a kind of tension, and Halloween Kills delivers in at least that category. Michael’s intimidating and terrifying presence keeps one on the edge of their seat the entire time.
Now for the vicious criticism. Writing wise, this entire movie exists only as a waiting period until we get to see Strode combat Michael one more time. Nothing that happens in this movie is of consequence and so the writers have to throw anything at the audience to see if something hits them. It gets ridiculous after a point and distracts from the main tension of this movie. In addition, the theme of a mob mentality and the damage that it can do to a community is the most clear example of this. Without question the theme of any Halloween sequels should be the trauma and PTSD brought onto Laurie and her family. And while it’s touched on a little bit in this movie, it needs to be there far more.
I was not impressed by this sequel. There is nothing else to say here. If you want to save your money and still want to see how old Laurie Strode’s story plays then watch literally the last 10 minutes of this movie and then watch next year’s sequel Halloween Ends.
4/10
Until I see another one