Halloween Kills .. Itself? - Review
Words by Liam Horgan
David Gordon Green’s 2018 reboot/sequel/legacy film Halloween is a strange anomaly. Acting as a retcon for the Halloween franchise as a whole, while also attempting to build on the legacy of John Carpenter’s original. Ultimately some aspects of the film really work, however others don’t. Most critics would agree that Green’s film is the best Halloween sequel, a crown which it can wear quite contently. Thus, Halloween Kills should theoretically build upon the 2018 outing to vie for the crown of the best sequel, unfortunately the result does anything but.
There are some innovative aspects to Halloween Kills. Picking up right after the end of the 2018 entry, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and Granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) deal with the continued attacks from Myers alongside the residents of Haddonfield. It’s refreshing for a horror sequel to continue the terror immediately after the events of the first entry, rather than include a time skip. Logically it makes sense for Halloween Kills to follow off the events of the previous film, otherwise the film would be a rehash of the 2018 reboot, with Laurie once again prepping to kill Michael. Additionally, Michael Myers (played by both Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney) has never looked more threatening, with the design of the iconic slasher's half burned mask adding an iconic new look for the Shape.
Many critics have noted that Myers’ kills in this entry are some of the series most violent and while that may be the case at times, they do lack the cold calculated brutality that the team got right in the 2018 film. Indeed, a lot of Halloween Kills issues lie in the handling of Michael and his legacy. Many of the plot threads of the film lead nowhere and crucially for a slasher film, fail to build tension. In many ways, some of Myers' kills have the same issue that faced Pennywise in the opening of It: Chapter 2, both often feel cheap, particularly because at times they are rarely acknowledged by other characters and fail to drive the plot forward. Sometimes killings are unnecessary and brutal, but when every murder depicted is unnecessary, the weakness of the story stands out. It’s established in both the 2018 film, with the baby, and in the opening moments of Kills that Myers doesn’t kill children of a certain age, yet here it’s implied that Myers has killed a child for no other reason than to kill him. It’s a cheap shock that not only works against audience immersion but goes against the established events in the film. That’s not to say that Michael couldn’t (and shouldn’t) kill a child, but if for whatever reason this rule has changed, the explanation is never provided to the audience. Those who are seeking a film with a high kill count and nothing more will surely enjoy this film for Halloween Kills can only provide that.
Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween Kills.
In many ways the film fails to live up to the potential of returning characters and faces. Both from the original 1978 film and the 2018 entry. One of the most egregious moments comes during a riot sequence in a hospital, where Haddonfield’s residents descend into a collective mob mentality. While Michael was busy butchering a couple on the other side of town, the Haddonfield residents turned into a glorified zombie horde, attacking a man who, quite obviously, had more in common with Danny DeVito’s Penguin than Michael Myers. This sequence is at once both a poorly veiled criticism of Trumpian era politics and a contrived moment of lesson learning, with returning character Leigh Bracket (Charles Cyphers) stating ‘now he’s turning us into monsters’. Mic drop; or at least that seemed to be the expectation. Instead, this sequence shows the overall weakness of the film's story. Plot threads are worn thin and often left hanging, character decisions are at times bemusing if not outright idiotic and crucially are devoid of tension.
Since the current norm is of cinematic universes and sequel announcements, Halloween (2018) followed the same steps. After the success of the film, it was announced in July 2019 that the rebooted franchise sequels would be a trilogy, with Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends announced as the next two chapters. As such this film becomes an anomaly, a second film within a trilogy that neither lives up to its predecessor nor sets the tone for the follow up film. It’s a film stuck in a kind of stake-less limbo, devoid of tension and growth. The issue of course here is that with the announcement of the final film, Halloween Ends, the middle film of the trilogy is confined to certain conditions. I don’t even need to spoil the film and you can already guess the fate of the major characters. For a slasher film where everyone should feel like a potential victim, the characters may as well walk around with a shield of immunity broadcast for all to see. David Gordon Green and partner Danny McBride could have taken some brave creative steps, building on the legacy of Carpenter's seminal film and putting the slasher franchise into a new direction, however instead the film is content to remain idle, a frivolity which turns stagnant in its final act.
It’s a shame to see the Halloween franchise fall before it’s even got running again but poor writing and lack of focus will do that to a narrative. A thriller devoid of thrills becomes nothing but a lifeless husk, which is essentially how Myer’s is treated in this film. My advice for viewers is the same advice given to residents of the town: stay inside and lock your doors. There are better films to watch this Halloween.
2/5 Stars
Worth the watch? Not essential viewing.
