Halloween Kills – Review
Halloween Kills, the next chapter in the long running Halloween franchise has released and with it divided the fandom with its bold direction.
Synopsis of the film
The nightmare isn’t over as unstoppable killer Michael Myers escapes from Laurie Strode’s trap to continue his ritual bloodbath. Injured and taken to the hospital, Laurie fights through the pain as she inspires residents of Haddonfield, Ill., to rise up against Myers. Taking matters into their own hands, the Strode women and other survivors form a vigilante mob to hunt down Michael and end his reign of terror once and for all.
Halloween Kills picks up immediately after the last one ends. While there is a moment of a flashback which brings us to 1978’s original film’s time. The movie’s excitement comes from watching Michael Myers, the white masked killer, find his way out of the burning building he was left in at the end of 2018’s Halloween. We are then taken on a journey as he makes his way to his desired destination.
Throughout the film we are introduced, and in some ways re-introduced, to characters that encountered Michael in the two previous films. We see how the are reacting to the news of the “Boogeyman” once again running rampant in their little town of Haddonfield. Mix that with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family struggling with the realization Michael is still not yet dead. Along with the town going completely bonkers. You get a great mix of tension, mystery and possibly the goriest Halloween film to date.
Honestly, this film, despite the over the top gore and violence, felt more connected to the original than the last one did. All the main characters had a purpose and even pushed the story forward quite a bit. While some of the side characters did suffer from lack of depth or even intelligent writing (what do you expect from a slasher film?) It’s safe to say that this film is rooted far more deeply into the lore than a lot of people realize. And while there are many things to like about this film, there are also some negatives, like a side story of another escapee from the previous film and even the ungodly like abilities Michael Myers appears to have. (But again, this is a slasher flick…)
Overall I would say this movie is leaps and bounds better than the previous installment and feels more true to the type of story and horror that John Carpenter was going for in the original.
Just go into this with an open mind, there are no jump scares, there is very little visual horror aspects but that’s what makes this movie work so well because it relies on the psychological horror and how it would affect people watching their friends and family get mauled by a relentless killer.