October is one of my favourite months of the year. I’ve always been a massive horror junkie and a big fan of the classics of the genre, so when Jamie Lee Curtis made her return as Laurie Strode in 2018’s Halloween sequel, I was over the moon.
That film impressed me in every possible way. It instantly became a favourite and one I would watch religiously in the years that followed. Now, having had the opportunity to check out the follow-up - this year’s Halloween Kills - I have to say I’m incredibly disappointed.
Putting aside the criminal underuse of Laurie Strode, David Gordon Green’s latest instalment is frankly, utterly underwhelming.
Picking up just moments after the events of the 2018 release, we watch as indestructible serial killer Michael Myers makes an escape from what was meant to be his fiery tomb, taking out over 10 first responders whilst doing so.
From that point, we watch the back-and-forth settings of the local hospital which acts as the boiling point for Haddonfield’s residents to take Myers out for good and, a trail of blood led by the masked murderer himself. There are also a handful of flashbacks that help fill in any gaps; these scenes are amongst the most interesting the movie has to offer.
There’s nothing subtle about the message writers are trying to hammer home here. We can all become monsters when trying to root out the evil that lives in our world. Audiences are unfortunately treated like idiots with this messaging; just in case you didn’t pick up on it, the characters will spell it out for you, repeatedly.
A lack of tension and logical decision-making from characters does at times make this release feel like more of a parody in the vein of the Scary Movie series, rather than being a serious entry into the Halloween franchise. There are scenes that will make you laugh but, should we really be chuckling to ourselves before Myers squeezes the eyeballs out of a man’s head?
What must be said however, is that Judy Greer and Andi Matichak give a superb performance, in the roles of Laurie's daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson respectively.
In bringing Halloween back from the grave in 2018, all sequels following the original were ignored so that a stellar story could be told. The ball was dropped here, however. Aside from an interesting 20-minute opening and final 10 minutes of action, this film could have been stripped away entirely. Let’s hope the trilogy can find its footing again, when Halloween Ends hits cinemas in 2022.
Halloween Kills is available to watch in cinemas worldwide.
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