Universal/Blumhouse
Review: ‘Halloween Kills’ Buries The Past to Pave the Way For The Ultimate Showdown
Halloween Kills is now playing in theaters and streaming on PeacockTv. Minor Spoilers!
The long awaited sequel, Halloween Kills, finally hit the big and small screens last night. Continuing the story of the 2018 film, Halloween, that was also written and directed by David Gordon Green. The film, which is the second in Green‘s trilogy was always going to draw widely varying opinions, because it would lead us to Halloween Ends. Which is currently slated to hit theaters and most likely PeacockTv next October 14, 2022.
The sequel invited back many of the stars of Halloween (2018) and gave fans numerous call backs to John Carpenter‘s 1978 film. Which included new storylines, returning characters and added some mythology to Michael Myers. Opening where the 2018 film ends, Halloween Kills, begins with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) riding away from Laurie’s burning compound.
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Even though we expected a blood bath from the trailer, the fire fighters do attempt to take him down in various ways. Michael aka The Shape, played by James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle and Airon Armstrong, is brutal in this installment. Not that he was a gentle character in any of the previous films but in this one he is visceral, unyielding and reminded me of the first time I watched John Carpenter‘s film. This Michael isn’t held back by who he’s hunting, because he’s not really hunting. Which I found to be an interesting take, considering I always thought Michael originally followed Laurie because she just happened to drop the key off at the wrong time in 1978.
There is particular scene in which Michael repeatedly stabs an already dead victim with an almost childlike interest and demeanor. Unrelenting evil is much more terrifying than attempting to create a cause for the brutality, like many of the franchise sequels and remakes did. Halloween Kills brings a lot of characters back from the original but not all of them survive their second encounter with the masked murderer. The returning characters include Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), Lindsey (Kyle Richards), nurse Marion (Nancy Stephens), Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet) and Officer Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers).
More than just slashing through the the people of Haddonfield, Green also effectively kills a lot of the storylines of the franchise. This will inevitably upset many long time fans, which is probably why there is (already) so much chatter about it on all the social media platforms. Even though they disregard the other films there are many homages for fans to enjoy. We all heard the Sliver Shamrock song when the playground scene happened, right?
There were a few things that got very repetitive and at times nonsensical. The line “evil dies tonight” was overused to display the complete insanity of mob rule mentality. This plot line also displays how Michael has turned the town on itself as it gives into the fear that he has created. There are lines that didn’t feel organic; i.e. “he’s an apex predator.” Coupled with Laurie thinking the pain meds will allow her to walk around normal after major surgery, allows me to understand why some are calling it ridiculous. But I’m a horror fan, so I had a lot of years forgiving nonsense plots points/actions and was able to over look them with ease.
Halloween Kills is successful in giving fans back a Michael to be scared of, instead of one we are rooting for. Which is probably something many fans probably weren’t expecting. However, there is so much fun for horror fans to have with Halloween Kills and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Even if I also felt that sense of being unfulfilled that follows when you have to wait to see the final culmination. Halloween Kills does a lot of work to kill the past but sets up an ultimate showdown between Laurie, Haddonfield and The Shape that has haunted them for more than 40 years. 4/5
Halloween Kills starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak and Judy Greer is now playing in theaters and streaming only on PeacockTv. You can check out the trailer below and be sure to follow ScaryNerd for all things horror, sci-fi and more.
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