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Halloween (2018) Movie Review - The Masked Killer

October 24, 2018
This sequel directed by David Gordon Green is all blood and chill but no thrill. It is amusing in parts but mostly tries to struggle with its tonality. 



Cast - Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Nick Castle, James Jude Courtney, Haluk Bilginer, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Toby Huss

Directed By - David Gordon Green 

Genre - Slasher, Thriller

Halloween is the direct sequel to the 1978 film of the same name which was directed by John Carpenter and further continues the story of the serial killer Michael Myers (Nick Castle/James Jude Courtney) as he escapes during a bus accident while being transferred to a maximum security prison. On the other hand, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), the sole survivor of the 1978 tragedy, deals with post-traumatic stress disorder who gets herself to prepare for the inevitable return of Myers. Her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) is married to Ray (Toby Huss), and they have a teenage child named Allyson (Andi Matichak). The relationship between Laurie and Karen is turbulent while Allyson is very close to Laurie. Anyways, Myers is on the loose again and no prizes for guessing the day of his return. 

I remember watching the 1978 Halloween a long time ago, and as far as I recall, it was scary and enjoyable. I have only watched it once. Coming to the sequels, I have not watched any of them, not even the 2007 remake. But I decided to go for this one because it is a direct sequel to the original one and so you just need to know about the very first film in the franchise to enjoy this film. 

Director David Gordon Green's extension of the franchise has its fun with the splattering of the blood, dropping teeth on the ground trying hard to disgust and at the same time entertain with the violence. I was riveted by its bone-chilling opening sequence that takes place inside the Smith's Grove Sanitarium when the two podcasters Aaron (Jefferson Hall) and Dana (Rhian Rees) meet Myers for the interview. I was impressed by Jamie Lee Curtis's strong performance and how she further enhanced the character of Laurie who is now traumatised and paranoid which a person is likely to become after experiencing a horrific incident similar to the one she faced in the past. You cannot blame her for taking extra care of her daughter by breaking into her house and demonstrating the lack of security in it. Michael's new mask feels terrifying than before, and his choice of remaining silent makes you feel more uncomfortable in his presence. He is so evil that even the camera refuses to look at his face without the mask. There is a tracking shot beautifully filmed where Myers is seen bumping to a person and then entering a house with a hammer killing a lady before making his exit again to the busy streets of the Halloween. There is a scene here exactly like the one from the original Halloween where Michael gets shot and falls down and then disappears. It was impressive.

David Gordon Green, who made one of my favourite films of the last year Stronger, successfully manages to provide his richness to the movie in terms of direction. John Carpenter has scored the music of this movie along with Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. It was frightfully engaging. 

But in the end, Halloween is just another slasher-horror film which rarely manages to provide something new to the genre or the film itself. The characters make odd choices and do stupid things although there was one towards the end which was interesting. The movies reason to provide Myers with his freedom is something you would have seen several times in these kinds of films. How many times have we seen a film where a dangerous villain always escapes whenever he gets shifted to a more secure location. I mean he was not doing anything there in the first place, why take the risk of transportation when 100% of the times, the mission gets failed, and the killer escapes? Also, there is a strange comic scene involving two police officers which felt out of place and unnecessary. There are many unnecessary scenes here which are lazily put to achieve a situation which further progress the plot. There is a dance party sequence involving Allyson and his boyfriend which was almost similar to the one recently seen in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween. Slasher films affinity towards teenage party scenes have become cliched and don't work for me anymore. It might not be a problem for the majority of the audience though. Another thing that bugged me was that meaningless and pointless twist which felt nonsensical to be present in the film. 

Despite its many flaws and a disposable plot, this is not entirely a bad film but could have been better, far better than this. Anyways, I would be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy it completely and I think the audience and the fans would love it more than me. Halloween is the eleventh instalment in the franchise which was marketed as the final confrontation between Michael and Laurie. Going by the way it finally ended, I don't think this killing spree is going to stop anytime soon, and a sequel will surely come along in the future. For those looking for only blood and gore will surely not be disappointed.

Rating - 3/5

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