It’s certainly a beloved franchise, but the Halloween franchise might be the most popular and infamous horror series in history, and Michael Myers just might be the most iconic character of all the famous movie serial killers. He might not be as innovative as Freddy Krueger, or as a sympathetic mommy’s boy with Jason Voorhees, but Michael Myers is one of the most iconic characters in all of films history and especially with that first Halloween movie and even the most recent Halloween movie in 2018, Michael Myers is a force to be reckoned with and it’s amazing how much of an enticing character he’s become over the last 40+ years. On the other hand, you have some people who contend that the first John Carpenter Halloween movie in 1978, is the best horror film to date and maybe the first truly successful slasher film that launched a huge level of inspiration for indie filmmaking and the golden age of the slasher genre. It might not hold for some, but for a lot of people that first Halloween movie is a special movie that still holds up tremendously and does offer a unique insight on the themes of evil and cruelty of getting the in the mind set of a serial killer. The films success an entire franchise with a total of eleven sequels that expanded on the mythology and giving a more extensive backstory on Michael Myers, which did diverge from the quality from the first installment. Then in 2007 and 2009, Rob Zombies decided to reboot the franchise with Halloween (2007) and Halloween II (2009), which were both met with some distasteful responses from the critics. The Rob Zombie movies left the franchise in a sticky situation because he was hesitant to come back and do another Halloween movie, when that was one of the original plans that the studio intended. Years go by, there were whispers going around that Halloween would get another go, but it was up in the air as to whether or not it would be a reboot or a continuation. Long story short, Blumhouse Productions and Universal came to agreement to make a sequel to the first Halloween movie, but also retconning the ten other follow ups, including the Rob Zombie remakes. David Gordon Green, a director known primarily for comedies, was brought on to direct, Jamie Lee Curtis was coming back as Laurie Strode and even John Carpenter came to serve as the films composer, with the help of his son, Cody Carpenter. Halloween (2018) comes out and smashes the box-office and serves as a better sequel that franchise could have asked for. While Halloween Kills isn’t as competent or tight as the previous film, it’s an absolute blast and delivered on everything that’s to be satisfying with this older and rustier slasher genre. It doesn’t contribute anything new and it does suffer from tonal inconsistencies but this entry in the Halloween franchise puts Michael Myers right in the center as a ruthless, barbaric and clean cutting machine by delivering some of the most sadistic and gut wrenching kills than ever before. ‘Kills’ perfectly symbolizes the atmosphere and chaotic nature with this sequel.
Picking up after the events of the previous Halloween movie, Halloween Kills sees that Laurie Strode, her family and the entire town of Haddonfield, Illinois fighting for their lives against the ruthless and satanic Michael Myers.
Halloween Kills does feature more problems than the sum of its bloody parts. The first and maybe the most problematic aspect with this sequel is that it a bit all over the place with placements of its tone and certain shot compositions, and that’s partially due to the fact that the performances in the movie are weak, mainly with some of the supporting characters. There are some great shots in the movie, but theres a few instances where the framing of characters felt jarring and almost a bit uncomfortable and that’s mainly toward the beginning of the movie. There’s always a tendency in certain mainstream studio sequels where humor starts to become a little more prominent, and Halloween Kills falls flat on the “humor.” The thing that people needs to realize that slasher genre horror movies, are more than likely going to feature a tongue and cheek and campiness aspect. Slasher genre movies are simplistic and uncomplicated horror movies that they usually never go beyond that and no one expects them to do so. Halloween Kills doesn’t do any inventiveness or provide fresh material for the franchise, and especially for what is now considered a rebooted franchise. It does feel more of the same, but the more of the same is the one aspect that prevented this movie from being a great slasher movie. It pulls back on its potential and goes back to aspects that people lie before and just did it again for this sequel, whereas the previous Halloween movies explored more and dove much deeper into the trauma of Laurie Strode.
Be that as it may, there’s still a ton of fun to have with Halloween Kills and all that comes from Michael Myers. Out of the entire Halloween franchise, Michael Myers has never been this cold-blooded and murderous than ever before. The kills in this movie are pretty spectacular and speak so well to the complexion of Michael Myers and just how catastrophic he really is. The sequence of him walking out of the house that’s on fire (an image you see in the trailers) in a way captures the spirit and the terror of Michael Myers, which is then followed up to one of the most intense and barbaric sequences in the entire movie. Jamie Lee Curtis is always a bright spot in any of the Halloween movies, and despite her being pulled back for a good chunk of the movie, she still delivers a solid performance, but especially Judy Greer and Andi Matichak are an improvement from the previous movie because they get more material and more focus. The movie does feature some glimpses on expanding moments from the original 1978 film that gives a new insight on the lore that we then see the repercussions of those 40 years later. John Carpenter’s music once again delivers, which features the classics and familiar beats that these two new Halloween movies had but also establishes a new taste for the series.
Halloween Kills isn’t as as crisp as the previous installment and it doesn’t commit on changing things up and hopefully Halloween Ends can wrap it all up nicely with better execution. But when Michael Myers is on screen, that’s when the movie is at it’s all time best and when you see him brutalize people, it’s pretty intoxicating.
My grade for Halloween Kills: B-
Zane's take at the Cinema's 