Halloween Review

The biggest Michael Myers comeback until Shrek 5

Halloween is 11^th entry in the series and only the 3^rd one I’ve seen. Completely coincidental but everyone I happened to have seen have all been titled Halloween. The Rob Zombie 2007 edition of Halloween was the first horror movie I ever seen and at the time I was terrified but upon a rewatch when I was older and more accustomed to horror I realised that it was a bit meh. The first Halloween film is rightly held as a classic. The score is the scariest of all time, John Carpenters direction is flawless, Jamie Lee Curtis is the most iconic scream queen and Michael Myers impact could have carried over to 2018 without the need of 9 other entries. While the franchise isn’t one I know like the back of my hand what I do know is that horror as a whole is striving in 2018. Both A Quiet Place and Hereditary are two films that are not only amazing horror but amazing pieces of cinema. Also, The Nun while a garbage film has done amazing at the box office.  Does Halloween make a point of action and show that there is a place for Michael Myers in 2018? The answer is a treat.

Halloween (2018) is a direct sequel to Halloween (1978) which tells the story of Laurie Strodes final confrontation with Michael Myers the man who has haunted her since murdering her friends all those years ago.  First things first let’s get the elephant out of the room. This is a scary film and thank god for that. Too often with big studio horror we get the same old film which use the same scares as each other. Halloween isn’t interested following trend.  Michael Myers is a horror icon but there a big fear coming into this that he wouldn’t work on screen now, but those fears were pushed to the side. The Villain is amazing in every aspect. The tall figure is daunting enough but the mask has aged just like he has, giving it an even more sinister look. Not only does he have the look but the horror he brings is immense. There are several tracking shots of him that last for minutes as the camera follows him on his murderous rampage. These scenes are among the best in horror in a long time as the tension builds never knowing what sick thing he’s going to do next.  The horror icon has been given a revamp but instead of making him fit in with the times the film has smartly lets him stick to his guns so that a new generation of film goers can discover how terrifying he really is. Side note if anyone could tell me what age he is meant to be id really appreciate that because if he’s meant to be in his 70s then I need to know what he’s doing to keep in shape. Michael Myers is cool again people, prepare yourselves because next weeks fancy dress parties are going to be full of him.

Jamie Lee Curtis gives a remarkable performance as Laurie Strode. Laurie is hugely impacted by the events all those years ago and Curtis gives a revealing performance into the characters psyche. Laurie is the emotional core of the franchise, seeing how broken she’s become is heart-breaking. She’s not all trauma however as she’s become a sort kick ass old lady version of Kevin McAllister. The action scenes which feature Laurie are among the films best, Curtis is far better doing these scenes now than she was 40 years ago which is bonkers. Jamie Lee Curtis deserves all the praise in the world for managing t catapult her most famous character to new depths in her best performance as Strode to date. Jamie Lee Curtis has had a quiet decade in Hollywood and hopefully this performance makes studios take notice of her and start putting her back into fold once more. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is where the film suffers.

The new generation of Strodes aren’t remotely interesting. Judy Greer gives another annoying performance as Laurie’s daughter Karen. Between this and Ant-Man Greer has managed to get herself typecast as the mother who naively refuses to give the centre charterer any time of day. It was so frustrating to see her constantly call Laurie crazy even when there was so much evidence that she wasn’t. Greer is more than capable as an actress, but she needs to get herself out of this cycle. Andi Matichak gives her debut performance as Laurie’s granddaughter Allyson. The character stars off well, appearing bubbly and quirky enough to garner interest but by the films final act she’s screaming for 90% of her screen time. There’s a weird subplot featuring Haluk Bilginer as Dr. Sartain, for some reason the film decided that it needed to give Michael a psychological analysis, but it falls flat. Sartain is an unnecessary character who infuriated me anytime he was on screen, he just wasn’t needed. Shootout to possibly the worst character of the year Ray played by Toby Huss, ill just let this line speak for the character “Aw dammit I got peanut butter on my penis.”. Yup.

The behind the scenes crew of the film deserves a lot of praise for managing to make this a genuinely good if not great film. David Gordan Green who started out as a comedy director with Pineapple Express and Your Highness directs the hell out of this. Having already seen him successfully tackle drama with Joe and Stronger his entry into the horror scene is all guns blazing.  The directional choices he made are genius. The use of gore in the film created some of the most original kills and horror images I’ve seen in a long time. One scene won’t let me ever look at a pumpkin the same way again. Bringing in John Carpenter to reinvent his score too was a masterstroke move. Carpenters score is the scariest of all time and the modernised version is just as good, the tension it creates had me in agony. The script is a little bit poor in places with some of the conversations between characters feeling a tad inorganic and some of the character choices are bewildering. Though the clever call-backs to the now not cannon previous sequels are very clever. There’s one scene featuring a kid called Julian which had me in a fit of laughter which I just knew Danny McBride must have written. This kid in 5 minutes managed to secure his future as my new favourite child star. For the most part though David Gordan Green has managed to do the impossible and make a reboot which wont leave fans of the original disgusted.

Halloween is a must-see film not only for the time of year its being released but also because its an awesome film. Michael Myers and Laurie’s final battle is one for the ages, after 40 years of build-up it more than delivers. The side characters may be a misstep but you’re not going to watch this film for that lets be honest. Halloween is one of the best slasher films I’ve seen in years and has enough to keep both the die-hard series fans and the newbies thoroughly entertained.  Here’s hoping that we don’t have to wait another 40 years before another brilliant entry into the saga.

Liam’s Summary of Halloween

Best Moment: The final act is all kinds of nerve wrecking.

Worst Moment: When the film tries to get inside the mind of Myers without really doing anything.

Best Character: In just 5 minutes Julian steals the whole film.

Worst Character: “I’ve got peanut butter on my penis.” – Ray.

Overall score: 4/5