The 2018 Halloween sequel is very much a return
to everything that made the original such a hit. The most important part of
that is that it's a direct sequel to the 1978 original. The other sequels get
the Star Wars Legends treatment. This film is set in the present day. Laurie
Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is back. Her first run-in with Michael Myers has left
her paranoid, obsessed, and unstable. She's in constant preparation for when he
strikes again. This led to child services taking away her daughter (Judy Greer)
from her decades ago - a relationship that still hasn't been repaired. That
rift has stopped her from seeing her granddaughter (Andi Matichak) as much as
she'd like. Michael (Nick Castle) begins the film in captivity at a mental
hospital, where he's been studied for years by Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk
Bilginer). Right before Halloween 2018, the state decides to move Michael to a
maximum security prison. Since this is a slasher movie, you can imagine what
happens on the bus ride over. That leaves Michael free to get his revenge
again, on Halloween night.
I didn't care than much for this movie, but I'm not
sure how much that could've been stopped. I just don't like slasher movies that
much. I'm not excited by set pieces built around finding new ways to kill
people. The Pepe Le Pew chases do nothing for me. The movies rely on people
making poor decisions to keep the plot going and jump scares to get an audience
reaction. I like when it's done at a high level, but even then, my appreciation
is capped. So, I spent most of the movie annoyed by the implausibilities of how
Michael always knew exactly where to be or by Michael's lack of clear
motivation scene-to-scene. By erasing the nine movies since the first, as this
movie even points out, Michael Myers is just a guy who killed five people 40
years ago, not a legendary bogeyman. That Michael doesn't deserve the hype
that the movie gives him.
Halloween is
a movie that needs you to buy into it pretty completely. If you don't it's an
easy movie to pick at. It's more about mood and execution than flawless writing
and mythology. If you are at all checked out, like I was, then you'll spend
most of the movie distracted by the inconsistencies. Like, the final showdown
between Michael and Laurie makes no sense. I'll get more into that at the
bottom. Also, I couldn't figure out the timeline of ages at all. Laurie was in
high school in 1978. At earliest, her daughter would've been born in 1979. Her
daughter has a daughter in high school. Let's say the granddaughter was born in
2002. I guess it's feasible that both Laurie and her daughter were just
really young mothers. I don't know that's I'd call it likely. And that's
ignoring the actual ages of the cast. How old is Toby Huss supposed to be? He's
52 in real life. His wife, played by 43 year old Judy Greer is at oldest 39.
Greer can pass for 39, easy. Younger even, but the younger she is, the starker
that age gap is, because Huss can't pass for any younger than he is. I spent a
lot of the movie trying to sort out this timeline, knowing that I only had 40
years to play with. I realize that this is nitpicky. I didn't mean to get
fixated on it. I only bring it up as a reflection of how easy it is to get
distracted by things in the movie if the slasher formula isn't something that
appeals to you.
For slasher fans, there's plenty to like. Director
David Gordon Green and co-writers Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley
clearly have a love of the genre and the original movie. This film feels very
much like the original and has homages to it (probably more than I picked up on).
The beats of the different kill sequences play well. They have some good POV
and tracking shots. There's just enough humor and self-awareness to work in a
post-Scream world. Some of the best jump scares were used in the
trailers, which was a little disappointing. The movie is never dull and knows
what the fans want.
The characters are a little thin, but that's sort of
expected in this kind of movie. Laurie gets some nice depth added. Jamie Lee
Curtis has really embraced her place in horror history at this point. I always
love seeing Judy Greer in a prominent role and Andi Matichak is good in the
traditional "teen girl in a slasher movie" role. There's is an
imbalance in the sense that the "final girl" role is essentially
split in three. I like the break from formula, even though it leads to everyone
feeling a little short-changed. The British podcasters were a weird little
detour. They were an exposition delivery device and little more. The movie is
constantly battling with how high profile the Michael Myers murders were in the
world of the film. High enough for podcasters and reporters over the years to
track Laurie down and for a psychiatrist to dedicate his career to studying
Michael. But, low enough for Michael's escape to barely even get noticed for hours
and for Laurie's friends to not get the big deal. Michael is shot like he's the
star of 10 movies but he's treated by the characters in the movie like he was
the villain in a single niche film.
I liked this movie a lot more before I started
writing this reaction. That's pretty fitting. It's not a movie meant to be
reflected on. Halloween (2018) isn't the revolution that they original
was. No one is going to put this among the all-time great horror movies. At
best, it's an homage to what was great about the original. It's as enjoyable to
watch as it is easy to never give a second thought to. It's a surface-level
good movie, especially for fans of the genre.
Two things really didn't make sense to me.
Laurie's house wasn't a fortress, it was a trap. OK, that's a cool line, but it doesn't track. She's had 40 years to obsess and plan for this moment. Nothing about her actions suggest that she was ever in control of the situation though. Hell, her locked and reinforced front door had glass window panels that he broke through easily, nearly killed her through, and used to unlock the door to get into the house. The way she gets him into her "trap" was more of a lucky break than a calculated chess move. Look, in a horror movie, I'm ready to accept that everyone acts like an idiot, but as soon as you tell me a character is supposed to be smart, I need proof of it. I didn't get that here.
My other issue is that I'm not sure what happened with the bus crash. Was something cut out of the movie? They mention that Michael overpowered the guards and caused the crash. How was he able to overpower the guards though? Did Dr. Sartain help? It's implied, but I don't think it's stated. If all that really mattered was Michael Myers escaping to terrorize people on Halloween night again, did we really need all that setup? Why not just start was Laurie seeing on the news that he escaped or start the movie with the bus crash?
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