Halloween Kills - Indeed It Does!
All right, readers. It’s that time. We knew it had to happen eventually. I dodged reviewing the 2018 release of Halloween, but Halloween Kills ain’t getting’ off that easy.
As a dedicated, lifelong fan of the Halloween franchise, the 2018 release of Halloween pained me. Of course, this wasn’t the first lackluster, if not horrible, additions to the franchise. The original Halloween remains the greatest of all the installments, and one of the best horror movies of all time, but I’m sure we can all agree it went downhill from there. Halloween II remains enjoyable. While it doesn’t live up to the first, it retains enough of the characteristics that made its predecessor so good. Halloween III: Season of the Witch, went off the damn rails in a big way, but we loyal horror fans have come to find some redeeming qualities in what was widely considered a super turd. You’ve just got to look past the poor acting, the elderly creeper skeeving on a much younger woman, and the omission of our dear Michael Myers. What the film does offer is three iconic masks and one of the most endearingly annoying earworms in cinematic history. Happy, Happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers is bad with a capital B. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers is bad with a capital A. And Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers is…? You guessed it: Bad with a big, fat D—even if it does star the seemingly immortal Paul Rudd. John Carpenter stopped directing after the original and would eventually part ways with the Franchise entirely. Out with Carpenter and Hill went any semblance of what we’d come to love about Halloween, and in came new visions, awful new masks, and plummeting box office numbers—for those that were commercially released. Everyone who dabbled in this franchise seemed to yank it down several rungs, serving up horror junk food, void of nutrients and cheaply made for the masses. Have I remained loyal throughout? Sure. But have I always been happy about it? Well, I suppose not. Though, I do pride myself on being such a lover of horror that I usually find something to enjoy, even in the worst of films.
Halloween H20, directed by Steve Miner, brought back with it some semblance of normalcy. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, and Jamie’s mama herself, the original scream queen, Janet Leigh, H20 plays off the first two films, filling a void left for so many years. While the film lacks in several areas, least of which is the addition of one of the worst masks in the history of the franchise, H20 spanks the four films that came before it. The acting is solid, the plot decent, and the ending is seriously fun. We even get ourselves a scene featuring Jamie, Janet & a piece of music featured in the original Psycho. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, LL Cool J was even there, just to knock you out.
Halloween Resurrection came next, without a single redeeming quality. Rob Zombie subsequently put his fingers in the pie with two installments (does anyone like those?). And 2018 brought us the new (and not so improved) Halloween, again starring Jamie Lee Curtis. If you were hoping for a John Carpenter film, no such luck. Director David Gordon Green and Blumhouse teamed up for this one. Carpenter was back in the mix, however, with another fantastic score for hungry fans, and I was one of them, mouth agape, ready to binge. I had some high hopes, people. In my naivety, I thought the long-awaited return of Halloween might bring with it elevation and eloquence. After all those sorry installments, how could they get it wrong? In all my childlike excitement, I couldn’t have foreseen the mockery.
There was so much potential, but the film falls victim to the same juvenile antics its predecessors succumbed to, and the outcome remains disappointing to many. Cheesy lines, goofy kills, mediocre acting. It all smells the same, like a dingy Shaky’s carpet after a pizza and barf-laden kids’ birthday bash. In fact, the mask and the score are its only highlights. And don’t get me started on the entire re-write of Laurie and Michael’s history. Not siblings? That was one of the franchise’s most compelling aspects. Without the familial tie, it’s just random, aimless killing. How…? Why…? I don’t understand!
But I digress. We’re talking Halloween Kills.
I had some time to digest Halloween since it’s 2018 release, and while I still don’t like it, my love for the franchise has never waned, and my enthusiasm over its future remains strong. What the last three years did allow was an understanding of, and an appreciation for, the franchise’s future. So, I didn’t get the grown-up, fleshed out, psychological take on Halloween I wanted, and now I see how silly it was to hope for such a thing. I’ve come to accept that at its heart, Halloween is just a slasher (obviously), and just a slasher it will remain. I went into Halloween Kills prepared for more of the same ingredients I found in 2018’s Halloween, which was a good thing. Going in eyes wide open allowed for an objective experience. And while they play some of the same cards, Halloween Kills is, in my opinion, a superior film to that of 2018.
The most obvious and impressive additions to this installment surround the flashbacks and how they were handled. So many mistakes could’ve been made, but the scenes look authentic and remain loyal to the original Halloween. These seemingly aged and beautifully filmed shots expertly merge with the finely adjusted score, harkening back to the nostalgia of the original film. The actors featured in the flashbacks were given great direction. The 70s didn’t always render superb acting, particularly in horror. I think we can all agree that P.J. Soles’ butchering of the word “totally” wasn’t going to win her any awards, but that dramatic 70s flair is part of what makes films of that era increasingly endearing. The actors featured in the flashbacks nailed this style of acting, maintaining cohesion throughout. But the most impressive aspect of the flashbacks must be Dr. Loomis. David Gordon Green deserves kudos for using practical effects. Had CG been employed to resurrect Donald Pleasence, the outcome certainly would’ve garnered unfavorable attention. But the incredibly wise choice was made to use the film’s art director, Tom Jones Jr., as a stand-in. With the aid of some seriously impressive prosthetics, the makeup team rendered an uncanny replica that, instead of pulling the audience from the film, immersed them deeper into the story.
As for the remainder of the film (with one big exception that I’ll leave till the end), it’s typical slasher fodder…served in the best way. That’s not to say it comes without its issues. The flashbacks and new history add a layer of richness to the story, but not without further deconstructing the relationship between Laurie and Michael, which adds a level of detachment that works to disengage the viewer. I wasn’t thrilled to see this. The film’s remaining shortcomings can easily be flipped on their heads and used to propel the film. If watching Halloween Kills as a horror comedy, you’re sitting pretty. So many choices made add to the awesome cheddar rating but kill the film as a legitimate scare tool. The town lynch mob, headed by Weird Science’s Anthony Michael Hall, is the film’s weakest link but adds the most cringeworthy moments of comedy. One can only assume these over-the-top antics were employed with much purpose and intention, which means I can laugh with it and not at it. I never got the impression the film was taking itself seriously. On the contrary, it feels playful. Even Jamie Lee Curtis’s scenes are big and full of melodrama. The whole thing plays like a flamboyant horror soap opera. And the kills are far more creative this time around, too. Michael does wonders with his kill-scapes and murderous arts & craft projects. He really takes the time to display his victims in cheeky ways, and that’s a level of horror comedy I can get behind. No, it isn’t serious cinema, if we’re talking acceptance speeches and gold statues, but it’s a ton of fun, in a way its predecessor wasn’t, and it offers up another score that somehow outdoes itself, again. Having said that, I do have one very serious beef with the film, and it’s all about the man himself, Michael.
To the powers that be, I vehemently believe I speak on behalf of every horror fan around the globe when I say WE DON’T WANT TO SEE MICHAEL’S FACE. That’s right, the children have found the keys to the kingdom, and they’re running amok, pulling off Santa’s beard and ripping the wings off the Tooth Fairy’s back. And now they’re coming after Michael! Halloween Kills serves up minutes’ worth of scenes featuring Michael’s mug. No, he’s never directly and clearly shown, but he is shown directly but not clearly, and from every angle imaginable. And we know, he’s old. Homeboy’s 64 years old, and it makes all the sense in the world that he’s experiencing male pattern baldness. But did you have to go with Friar Tuck-pattern baldness? I mean…what’re you doing to us fans? Let the mystique live. Allow Michael to live in our minds as just…The Shape. We don’t need to pull the veil off the proverbial monster in the closet. We want him concealed and lurking in the shadows, just as the horror gods intended. Please, for the love of all that’s horrific, don’t do a Full Monty on our dear Michael’s face for the conclusion of the series. Let Michael’s anonymity live on in Halloween Dies. Please!
I didn’t review Halloween in 2018 because I respect creators. As a creator myself, I’ve got no desire to write entire reviews for the purpose of tearing down someone’s work. Instead, I feature films I appreciate, so I can celebrate this genre I love so much, as opposed to trashing it. That doesn’t mean I’ll candy-coat my opinion if it applies, as it does with this review. I wasn’t pleased with 2018’s Halloween, because I built my hopes too high for the damn thing to hurdle over, but Halloween Kills is a barrel of monkeys that lives up in a big way. It’s nowhere close to scary, but it’s Carpenter at his finest, with a brilliant score. It’s a super badass mask, worn by one of the most epic horror villains of all time. It’s Halloween lore and history told and depicted in a very cool way. And it’s a wonderfully made classic slasher, meant to be consumed alongside candy, popcorn, and good people who know how to laugh. This is one I’ll be enjoying for many years to come.
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