Finally arriving after a yearlong delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we finally have the hotly anticipated follow-up to Halloween, Halloween Kills. It is an aptly titled sequel too as this is one brutal entry in the series as Michael Myers once again hacks and slashes his way through Haddonfield. But the hotly contested question everyone seems to be debating is it any good?
The film more or less picks up right where the last one left off. Her house in flames, Laurie (played by Jamie Lee Curtis), Karen (played by Judy Greer) and Alyson (played by Andi Matichak) are fleeing to the local hospital to get Laurie's wounds treated. Meanwhile, back at Laurie's inferno, Michael Myers (played by James Jude Courtney) has escaped and dispatches an entire firefighting unit before heading back to Haddonfield to resume his night of terror. At a local bar, some of the other survivors of the original 1978 murders have gathered to commemorate that historical night. Tommy Doyle (played by Anthony Michael Hall), leads a toast to those who died that night. Also attending are Marion Chambers (played by Nancy Stephens), Lindsey Wallace (played by Kyle Richards) and Lonnie Elam (played by Robert Longstreet). When news hits that Michael Myers had escaped and returned to Haddonfield, Tommy is quick to organize a group to go out and find Michael and take him down for good. Laurie is badly injured and recovering from major emergency surgery when a surprise arrival shows up in the hospital, Officer Frank Hawkins (played by Will Patton). Karen surmises that Michael must be on his way to the hospital to finish what he's started while Alyson is reunited with her boyfriend Cameron. Despite her mother's objections, she sneaks out and joins the vigilante mob with Cameron to find and kill Michael once and for all.
The film was once again directed by David Gordon Green from a script he co-wrote with Danny McBride and Scott Teems. While the previous film focused on the untreated trauma of Laurie Strode and how that had effected her family, this one casts a wider net with a look at how Michael's crimes impacted the community as a whole both in 1978 and in 2018 as the community descends into chaos and hysteria as the panic grows. They make sure Michael gives plenty of reason for their to be a panic as he leaves countless dead bodies in his wake as he makes his way through town. Still, there is something thrilling about watching the residents of Haddonfield rise up and collectively fight back against the Boogeyman, especially those directly impacted by the original events, such as Tommy, Lindsay and Marian. I just wish the movie had taken a little time to get a sense of where each of these characters were 40 years later and get more of a sense of what their life was like. Of course, since this is a horror movie, not all of them are going to make it to the end credits. That being said, some of these folks may be brave but they are also spectacularly stupid. If you know for sure there is someone in your house and there's a mad killer on the loose, shouldn't the first instinct be to get out of the house, rather than go looking for the killer? Especially if you're only armed with a tiny paring knife from a charcuterie board? Or if you've discovered where Michael Myers is hiding, do you A. Call the police to come and blow him to kingdom come or B. go investigate on your own confident you can take down one of the most lethal serial killers of all time by yourself? It's this continued character idiocy that takes this film down a notch, although Green and company do still manage to craft some intense thrills along the way.
Much like Halloween II, Jamie Lee Curtis doesn't get much to do this film except occupy a hospital bed and preach about how "evil must die tonight". Still, she gives it her all and really shows how determined Laurie is to keep going and try to take Michael down for good. Anthony Michael Hall does surprisingly well as an adult Tommy Doyle, who not unlike Laurie appears to have similarly been impacted by that Halloween night 40 years ago. He drives a beater of a car and still hangs around his hometown. He gives real grit and determination to Tommy though, and in maybe my favorite moment of his even pledging to Laurie that he was going to protect her now, just like she did for him all those years ago. Judy Greer gets a bit more to do in the film, especially in the second half when she discovers where her daughter Alyson has gone and goes out after her. Andi Matichak continues to impress as Alyson, showing her character's pure rage towards Michael and all he has done to her family. She is more than ready to fight and makes Alyson a character to root for, even as she makes some rather boneheaded decisions. Kyle Richards makes a welcome return to the screen, reprising her role as Lindsay Wallace all these years later. She really gives her character strength and resourcefulness as she finds herself coming face to face with Michael herself. I also loved the supporting turns by Scott MacArthur and Michael McDonald as Big John and Little John, a fun and loving gay couple who happen to live in a rather notorious piece of Haddonfield real estate.
Overall, Halloween Kills casts a wider net than the original film but doesn't quite have the same impact the original film did. Because it has a larger cast and scope, it doesn't take the same time to establish the characters as the original film did before the mayhem broke out. Still, taken as a straightforward slasher flick, it does deliver the thrills and is an intense film from beginning to end. It does set the stage for what I am confident will be a grand finale in Halloween Ends, currently due out next year. As it stands on it's own though, it's not as bad as some fans are making it out to be. It's certainly got the scares and Michael is as vicious as he's ever been. And it certainly does have something to say about mob mentality and vigilante justice. But it also feels like more of the same. It doesn't feel like the story has moved forward at all. Still, I am still very curious to see how this all impacts the next movie. If you're a fan, it delivers the goods, even if it is a bit rough in spots.
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