They really should grade horror movies on the curve. More often than not, when they’re bad, man, they’re bad. But when they’re good…..they’re okay.
‘Halloween Kills’ is…well….okay.
Mind you, this sequel had a tough act to follow. 2018’s ‘Halloween’, a film that took the bold move to act as a direct follow up to John Carpenter’s 1978 chilling classic and ignore each and every sequel that followed (and man, were there a LOT of them) was a GREAT movie. Perhaps one of the best of that year.
‘Halloween Kills’ is the sequel to THAT film. And again, it’s…..okay.
I do believe there is a lot of thought behind this motion picture, which immediately is a rarity for the genre; usually once a profit is evident, horror sequels serve up sequels with more blood n’ gore than brains. Not always, but, yeah…usually. And for that, if you go by my ‘curve’ notion, ‘Halloween Kills’ is a beauty of a horror movie – not because there isn’t a lot of blood, ’cause there IS. But because, lined up against other slasher flicks, this has a lot going for it.
While 2018’s trip back to Haddonfield, Illinois worked primarily off the PTSD of survivor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), ‘Halloween Kills’ is more about the mob mentality of enough is enough – topical, huh? It jumps back and forth between current day and the horrific events of 1978. The residents of the small town who somehow made it out alive, a group that not only includes Strode, but the child she was babysitting that fateful night, Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), decide to rise up against the maniacal maniac, Michael Myers, going against the belief that the killer is unstoppable.
Working from a script that director David Gordon Green co-wrote with Danny McBride and Scott Teems, ‘Halloween Kills’ is big on nostalgia for the original – and huge on slaughter. Michael stalks and kills whoever gets in his way here, to awfully extreme measures. In short….easy on the popcorn, friends, it might not stay down.
If you’re a fan of the ‘Halloween’ franchise, this is a must see. If you’re not……well, first of all, why are you still reading this? Secondly, the deeper meaning of this spooky chaos won’t mean near as much to you, but there IS a boogeyman, there are victims galore, and as we’re at the end of October, ’tis the season for such horror fare. And that’s……okay.
