Review: Halloween breathes new life into a dead franchise

Director: David Gordon Green

Writers: David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Nick Castle, Will Patton, and James Jude Courtney

Runtime: 1 hour and 44 minutes (104 minutes)

MPAA Rating: R (for horror violence and bloody images, language, brief drug use and nudity)

40 years ago, John Carpenter changed horror forever with Halloween (1978). A $300,000 picture directed by a nobody at the time with only a handful of recognizable names and faces attached spawned one of the most iconic characters in all of film and redefined a genre.

A genre that had previously been zombies, vampires in castles, werewolves, and other fantasy-like scenarios. Halloween brought something somewhat real to the genre: A man who terrorizes and kills people on one of the most beloved nights of the year. There was something incredibly frightening about an emotionless man with no motive murdering people at random. It felt real because he wasn’t a zombie or vampire, he was a knife-wielding, masked man.

The massive success of the film spawned plenty of sequels which have been controversial, to say the least for various reasons. Halloween II introduced a twist which has been… questioned by fans, the others all have wildly ridiculous plots, and Rob Zombie’s remakes added too much character to Michael Myers himself. While Halloween II is still a pretty good movie, some feel the added twist taints it a bit.

So, with that said, there hasn’t really been a universally loved Halloween movie since 1978. That changes today with the new film in the franchise, simply titled Halloween. Halloween (2018, which we will just refer to as Halloween from now on in this review) erases the remakes, the sequels, and only makes the original first film canon in this timeline.

The film actually finds a way to cleverly address this so it’s perfectly clear to audience members what’s canon, what’s not. It’s a nice nod but also a bit of a jab at the minds behind those films which ironically includes John Carpenter. Despite being in an age of soft reboots, this is most definitely an original sequel. It has tasteful tributes and homages such as nods to the original film’s original title, The Babysitter Murders, and plays around with some of those iconic shots from the first movie but it’s not just a collection of greatest hits.

There’s a risk that comes with these movies that just plays to nostalgia with “HEY, I SAW HALLOWEEN, I REMEMBER THAT!!” type of moments. Halloween doesn’t do that.

We find Michael Myers incarcerated 40 years after the events of the first movie, he hasn’t spoken a word and hardly moves from his position. Laurie Strode, on the other hand, is borderline manic, still living with the traumatic memories of that fateful night. She has gone to extreme lengths to ensure she nor her family will ever be harmed by Michael or any other evil forces in the world ever again.

She’s a gun-toting, Home Alone-esque fortified badass but almost to a fault. The position we find her in has her holed up in a heavily secured home essentially as a Doomsday Prepper or rather a Boogeyman Prepper. She doesn’t speak to many people, her family outside of her granddaughter choose not to engage with her, and she has failed to rekindle any sort of meaningful relationship since 1978.

It’s a harsh look at someone trying to cope with this horrific tragedy that occurred in her life. The only way she feels she can move on is if Michael Myers is truly dead and she wants to be the one to do that. Luckily, she’s given an opportunity only it’s at the expense of others.

Myers eventually gets loose (shocker, I know) and goes on yet another killing spree but this time, there’s a bit more motivation than the last onslaught. He has a mission: Kill the one person who got away, Laurie Strode. With Michael on the hunt on Halloween night, a whole new generation of victims is for the taking and Laurie seeks to put a stop to it all.

The big question presented in this slasher flick is “What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?” The unstoppable force is Michael and the immovable object being the fearless, determined Laurie Strode.

Michael truly does feel unstoppable in this film, he’s a force of nature. He stabs, he smashes, he kicks, he punches, he slams, he is nothing short of relentless and brutal. Get in his way – or frankly, even if you don’t know he’s there in the first place and you’re minding your own business – and he’ll be sure to make you pay for it.

The way he throws people around, the way he hits people, the things he does are absolutely horrific in their own right. Director David Gordon Green knew exactly how to show this iconic character. He’s menacing, he’s sadistic, but there’s also something very childlike about him. He’s quite playful with his kills, indicating that evil that conquered him when he was just a boy still never quite overcame a small piece of innocence inside of him.

There are several moments in this movie that will stick with me for a very long time both in their sheer scariness and how incredibly wonderful they are in terms of creative and effective filmmaking.

One non-spoiler-y example sees a character trying to escape from Michael in a house and slipping. They’re trying to crawl away and he grabs them by their feet, the victim tries to delay the inevitable by clawing at the hardwood floors but Michael’s strength is unmatched. He pulls harder and their nails peel straight through the hardwood floor in the most vicious, unpleasant way possible. The film doesn’t particularly focus on it by shoving it in your face or drawing it out but if you see it, you won’t forget it!

The way this movie handles gore is something that should be noted as well. Yeah, this movie is violent as hell and it doesn’t pull its punches but it isn’t gore for the sake of gore. It’s to show that untapped rage in Michael Myers that’s unleashed on October 31st, the immense strength buried deep inside him. He doesn’t just stab people, he absolutely annihilates them.

Despite the incredible amount of fear and terror that comes from these scenes of bloodshed, Halloween makes an effort to balance it with some lighter moments of comedy. This film had a very unique team behind it with director David Gordon Green who has a mixture of comedies like Pineapple Express and HBO’s Vice Principles and dramas like Stronger in his resume. Comedian Danny McBride tackled the project as a writer alongside Green and Jeff Fradley who worked with the two on Your Highness and Vice Principles.

Needless to say, it’s not a group of people you’d expect to be able to churn out what may be the best slasher film in decades. They manage to deliver both a scary, dramatic thriller that includes moments of perfectly timed levity. Does it all fit? Not quite. There are some moments where the intensity is high, people are dying, and it should be terrifying but they undercut the moment with someone cracking a joke or behaving in a comedic way. These moments are few and far between but they’re there and noticeable nonetheless.

The film also has moments of tension which drag on a bit too long that they actually begin to deflate the impact of the suspense. You go from on the edge of your seat to slowly receding back into your normal sitting position because well, they’re not paying it off. It’s just characters walking for extended periods of time in the dark in silence. It’s a pacing issue that could’ve been easily fixed with some more precise editing that trims these moments down to have more effective timing for scares and anxiety.

Finally, it wouldn’t be Halloween without John Carpenter’s iconic score. John Carpenter, his son Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies have come together to compose a killer sound to this movie that both pays tribute to the herritage of the series but brings it to the new age. You have the classic theme that plays during the beautiful opening credits which put the biggest smile on my face, a modern rendition, and a bunch of other songs that get the blood pumping and make your heart go still.

It’s perfect, it’s Carpenter’s best and I have no doubt this alliance with his son and Davies are the reason for that. I’ve been writing this entire review listening to the score on shuffle and it doesn’t get old.

The Verdict:

Halloween could’ve been yet another shameless cash-grab for the series but it’s not. It could’ve been a shameless “love letter” to Halloween but it’s not. It’s new, it’s fresh, it’s vicious, it’s so damn fun. Halloween manages to give viewers a consistent feeling of goosebumps and chills throughout their body by visually showcasing the chaotic mind of Michael Myers and giving a captivating story that culminates into one hell of a third act.

Halloween is one that needs to be rewarded for its efforts, it’s rare that we get a horror film that hits the mark this perfectly. This visceral bloodfest will surely be entering many horror film rotations throughout the month of October for horror fans everywhere going forward.