ironhorse_iv Review of Halloween

Halloween (I) (2018)

2018's 'Halloween' was a decent horror movie. It was a cut above the rest. Michael Myers finally comes home.

[7/10 · 31 October 2018]

1978's horror film 'Halloween' was a pretty good low budget independent slasher movie directed/scored by John Carpenter. However, the follow-ups that came after, fail to gain the same critical success as the first movie. It wasn't until 2018, that a sequel directed by David Gordon Green, also known as 'Halloween', finally got the respect, it deserve. Set 40 years after the original film, the plot follows Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) once again, as she prepares to face the masked Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle), when he returns to Haddonfield, Illinois, after his last killing spree on Halloween night. Without spoiling too much of the film, while, this movie got mostly praise from diehards and critics for its well balance approach to the source material, by not swaying too far from it, while, also subverting enough expectations to stand on its own with the use of suspense and brutal action, the flick still hit some controversies roadblock with some viewers. Mostly with those, unhappy that the film recon all the previous sequels and it's establish, yet inconsistent lore. Some good examples was taking away the idea that Laurie was related to the Myers family. Look, I get that, the reveal from 1981's 'Halloween 2' took away the menacing unknown motive that made Michael such an effective mysterious villain to some, but I felt that it gave a really good reason for him to predatory stalk Laurie in the first movie & continue to kill people around her in the follow ups. In this movie, Michael goes to the town with no clear target in mind and proceeds on a random, unrelated killing spree that for the most part, doesn't factor, much to the main plot, serving much like filler. Look, I get that he might do this, to service some type of crazy abnormal psychological gratification, hints why he is a mental ward for most of his life, but I find it, more intimidating & creepily, knowing that his crimes were premeditated & well plan than an idiotic mindless zombie-like primitive flaw coming from his mind. I like to think that he's outsmarting most psychologists, chosen to study him & always one step ahead from the rest. After all, based on Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) he's supposed to be, pure evil, not 'mentally ill'. Its shows determination within the character. I get that, some might disagree with me, but we can agree that the out of the blue twist of convenience involving his doctor, Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) was stupid. In short, Myers should had been in control of his own destiny, the whole time, and should had brought himself to Laurie's isolated house to try to kill her. Regardless, the recon involving Laurie's children is also somewhat jarring. Look, I can get, why Laurie's son John (Josh Hartnett) from 1998's 'Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later', couldn't existed in this timeline, but the idea that Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), Laurie's daughter from the fourth movie, 1988's 'Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers' couldn't return is a bit odd. Don't get me wrong, Judy Greer as Karen Strode is alright actress, but there is something emotional driven with Harris's performance as Lloyd. Her acting in 1989's film 'Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers', match well with the self-medicating PTSD suffering of her mother. In this movie, Karen felt too normal for somebody who went through an intense paranoid, apocalyptic survival uplifting. Greer just hides the past, too well for me. She should had been a little bit trouble. As for Jamie Lee Curtis. I love this catatonic shell, doomsday prepper side of the character. I just wish, the end, didn't justified, how she treat Karen, when she was a kid. In truth, a dogmatic mindset isn't the way to live life. While, many characters may have some negative qualities, the movie does a good job to show enough positive elements with the main & supporting characters to the point that it was still an empowering tale. Glad, the misogyny and misandry sexual is mostly gone from this film. As the eleventh installment in the film series, this was a breath of fresh air. However, there is rarely any nudity, besides the flashback recap, which I found alright. It's not really needed for the story, they trying to tell. As for the violence, it's a mixed bag for me. The film contains more graphic violence and gore than the original movie, however parts of me, felt that they didn't go far enough. Why introduce a baby element if you're not going to do anything about? At least, the film shows that kids are not immune from getting murder. Still, some of the kills were a bit jarring; like for example, how did Myers get time to hollow out a severed head to make a jack o' lantern? It seems like a lot of scenes were cut. There were a lot of off screen murders. Who knows, maybe it's in, the estimated 30 minutes of footage that was cut from the film. It could still turn up in home releases. Regardless, the movie should had a flashback recreation of the aftermath of the first flick to show, how Myers got even capture in the first place. That was a bit off, seeing that he's nearly unstoppable. Still, the action for the most part was amazing. Yet, it's a bit weird to see that old age hasn't slowed the original characters, even with their battle scars. Released for the 40th anniversary. This movie is rife with sly references to other scenes from the franchise. The Meta touches are nice. Plus, the jokes were funny. However, I do miss first person camera perspectives. In the end, it's the Halloween season & everyone's entitled to one good scare! So, why not, go with the first & second best movies in the franchise. It's one trick or treat, that is too sweet to pass up.