Halloween (2018) – 4 out of 5
When I was a preteen my dad showed me all kinds of horror films. Was I too young to watch them? Maybe but my dad never forced me to watch them and was always watching them with me. It’s also why I have a hard time getting scared from horror movies nowadays; my fear response is burned out. One horror movie that stood out to me that my dad showed me was the original Halloween. I was so captivated by Michael Myers and was obsessed with him all the way through high school (hell, I won’t forget when the sixth one came out and my friends and I had a marathon of all of them on Halloween night). However, as the years went by and more sequels arrived and Rob Zombie farted out a remake and a sequel, I stopped caring about the franchise and the horror icon. When it was announced that Danny McBride co-wrote a film that reboots the series and retcons the sequels, there was new promise to the franchise and I was suddenly interested again. This could have easily been as disappointing as many of the films but this one proved to me to be on par with the film that started it all.
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| Um...does that mask look like he's smiling? |
It’s been 40 years since the day that serial killer Michael Myers changed the life of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). While locked away in a sanitarium, she has trained and prepared endlessly for the inevitable day that he escapes and returns to Haddonfield, Illinois. Her obsession eventually drove her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) away and alienates her from her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). Then, on Halloween night, the terror becomes reals as Michael, while being transported to a new facility, escapes and makes his way towards where he killed his older sister. Hearing of his escape, Laurie jumps at the opportunity to enact her plan and rid the world of Michael’s evil, once and for all.
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| They spoke with Myers for three minutes before they realized he was taking a piss. |
This Halloween is basically a return to form. It retcons all the sequels—even the sequel that retconned the early sequels where cults and curses came into play. In doing so, it erases the idea that Laurie is actually Michael’s sister and once again just makes him this deranged killer. Danny McBride stated they decided to abandon the family lineage because by having Michael only going after his family eliminated much of the threat that was this horror icon. I can’t help but agree. Myers is back to being a person who will murder anyone—and not just people who so happen to get in his way on his journey towards his goal. So, like I said, this movie is returning Myers to his initial glory and when that is added to the many great elements this features sports, it made for a truly spectacular soft reboot of the franchise.
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| *insert Jehovah's Witness joke here* |
So aside from casting aside the ridiculous path the franchise took, what else made this film so effective for me? Visually, the film looks terrific. Aside from the John Carpenter directed originals, the series has never really been known for their cinematic qualities but the way this film was shot, compiled and edited ended up making one of the most cinematic Halloween films to date. The shots just looked terrific! Additionally, the film plays around with horror film tropes in a way that feels playful but never crosses over into satire. For example, this slasher slightly subverts the trope of the Final Girl. While Laurie is, essentially still, the Final Girl, she has evolved where she isn’t a survivor but rather a predator in her own way. She is the opposite side of the same coin to Michael Myers. In fact, the main women in this film are portrayed as strong and none of them as just potential victims. Even when the moment arrives where one seems weak and frighten, the moment takes a sudden turn and you see that the women in this film are not fucking around when it comes to dealing with this monster and it makes this horror film badass.
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| Karen's Christmas sweater worn on Halloween is a delightful touch. |
Horror films aren’t often called out for their badass-ery but this one does get to a point where it was hard to not cheer on these women out to stop Myers. That being said, the film doesn’t completely abandon its roots as it has some great tense moments, some decent jump scares that never felt cheap and some good kills. Additionally, the film also does a tremendous job at honoring the films that came before this one. While all the sequels were scratched from this new canon, the story is loaded with tons of nods and winks to the films—they even reference the third film and that one didn’t even have anything to do with Michael Myers. Even more impressive is how this film references the other movies without feeling like it is pointless nostalgia and like it is just repeating what has already been done. The film is both paying homage to this franchise’s long history and forging its own path with a new and refreshing contribution. Having John Carpenter to return to work on the score sorta parallels that as it is the old making the new fresh.
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| Curtis is a badass in this. Greer is a badass in this. Two badass women in this movie. The MRA's probably weren't too happy about this feature. |
On the downside, which this film didn’t have many, is the kills were kinda lackluster at times. Granted, Myers has never been the death-dealer to have incredibly unique kills and they have usually just been at the hands of his knife or a similarly bladed object but this one sometimes just felt…blah. This isn’t often and is usually combined with my other complaint about the kills: Most of them occur off camera. While I don’t require a bloodbath for a horror/slasher film to be entertaining, I kinda do want to see most of the kills occur. There are times when leaving the actual murder to the imagination works extremely effectively and Halloween has this at times but, during other times, if felt like I was robbed of the thing that makes these features fun. This doesn’t happen often and I still found the film to be amazing but it was noticeable at times.
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| "I brought your jockstrap too but it's not as striking to hold that up..." |
I went into Halloween with low expectations due to a franchise that has been phoning it in for nearly 20 years; however, with some great writing, a new start to the series, some badass characters and an overall product that may change the franchises’ canon but doesn’t piss on its memories and I found I was pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I think this movie is as good as the first film.
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