HALLOWEEN KILLS

 

This October finally saw the release of the latest instalment of the Michael Myers saga, “Halloween Kills”. Originally slated this time last year, the film suffered the same fate as many others when the COVID-19 pandemic forced cinema doors to shut, causing the film to be delayed. With the original 1978 “Halloween” being my favourite all time film, it goes without saying that I am a big fan of the series and of Michael Myers himself. However, do not be fooled, my love for the series does not blind me from the fact that the majority of the sequels are really not very good, nor of the fact that with all of the remakes and re-imaginings within, the series has some of the most convoluted and confusing timelines of all the classic horror franchises (with the possible exception of “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” which borders on the ridiculous).

Drawing inspiration from the original sequel from 1981, “Halloween Kills” takes place on the same night, continuing on from where 2018's “Halloween” left off. Michael is trapped in a burning house to what appears to be his death, whilst Laurie Strode (along with her daughter Karen, and granddaughter Allyson) is riding in the back of a pick up truck, bloody and bruised from her encounter with the vicious killer. Whilst bleeding profusely, Laurie is content with the fact that she has succeeded with what she set out to do: end “The Shape's” reign of terror, once and for all. However, the sound of speeding sirens destroy that illusion as Laurie realises that those fire trucks could only be heading to one place. As to be expected, when the firemen arrive Michael uses them to help him escape the fiery inferno, and to continue the bloodbath he had only just begun. And after finding himself tricked into a trap, Michael seems more pissed off then ever, killing anyone and everyone who stands in his way. When word gets out that Michael is alive and still killing, the residents of Haddonfield decide that enough is enough; they will no longer play the victims, rather they band together to hunt and kill Michael, led by Tommy Doyle and Lindsey, the survivors of Michael's original night of terror back in 1978 when they were both kids. Suddenly, the hunter has become the hunted.

Whilst it was no classic, I felt that the 2018 “Halloween” directed by David Gordon Green, did a lot right with the material. They got the look, feel and movements of Myers down perfectly, especially with the mask and visually, the film also felt like a continuation of the original 1978 film. With the same creative team returning for “Halloween Kills”, I was quietly optimistic that the film would turn out pretty great, but there was also a part of me that knew that being the middle chapter of a trilogy (the final part, “Halloween Ends”, is due out next October), it also had the potential to be seriously underwhelming particularly with its ending, which would clearly be setting up another film. As it turns out, all of this ended up being true. At times the film is just brutal and fantastic, whilst in other moments it can also be incredibly embarrassing and cringe-inducing.

“Halloween Kills” starts like gangbusters though. The opening twenty or so minutes are just sensational, and I could not have been any happier whilst watching it. Michael's vicious encounter with the firefighters is something to behold, as he is angrier than we have ever seen him. After this onslaught, the film then flashes back to 1978, where we are witness to scenes of Michael and the police attempting to hunt him down, soon after he disappeared after being shot by Loomis and falling from a balcony. Director David Gordon Green has done a truly outstanding job of recreating the look and feel of the original film perfectly. Michael's mask (which is whiter and cleaner, without the ageing and damage from the present day version) looks just like it did in the 1978 film, as do all the little details in the Myers house, right down to the broken glass. It was such a nice surprise to be back on that original night, but with moments we have never previously seen before, and for it to all feel true to what had come before it. This sequence is then topped off with the most unexpected character cameo that would make any “Halloween” fan beam. At this point in the film, I felt like I was watching the best “Halloween” sequel that had yet been produced.

When “Halloween Kills” was actually being made, the marketing of the film focused on the fact that it was going to feature the return of a number of characters from the original film, with some being portrayed by the very actors who played those same roles way back in 1978. Charles Cyphers and Nancy Stephens return to play Leigh Brackett and Nurse Marion respectively, with newcomers to the series Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Longstreet playing new adult versions of Tommy Doyle and Lonnie Elam. Probably the biggest casting coup though was getting Kyle Richards to return to her role of Lindsey, the little girl terrorised by Michael back in “Halloween”. When word got out that these characters were to form a vigilante group intent on hunting and killing Michael, excitement grew, as it was something new being added to this long running franchise. Sadly the idea worked better on paper than in reality, because this element of “Halloween Kills” is the worst aspect of the film. Nothing is done with this potentially interesting idea. Instead we are subjected to numerous overlong scenes of unlikeable characters chanting “Evil Dies Tonight!!”. The inclusion of these iconic characters from the earlier film are also pointless with none of them developed further to be any kind of real character outside of being fodder to Michael's bloodied blade. The biggest tragedy though is the use of Tommy Doyle, the sensitive young boy from the original film who was terrified of the “boogeyman”. Here he is nothing more than a thug, willing to beat or bash anything that “could” be Michael Myers. I also felt bad for Leigh Brackett, the town's former Sheriff who is now a past-his-prime ageing security guard at the hospital Laurie is taken to. The inclusion of these legacy characters seems more like nostalgic lip service to the fans of the “Halloween” series, rather then the creators of “Halloween Kills” having any real story for these characters to exist in organically. To be fair, I actually think that the vigilante aspect of the film is a great idea, and one that I was excited about, and to include the original characters within that vigilante group was icing on the cake. I also think that David Gordon Green and his writers are attempting to make some point on mob mentality and how we as humans and what we are capable of, are just as scary as anything Michael does, however it is so poorly and clumsily handled that the situation holds no gravitas whatsoever. It just feels like rednecks looking for anyone to throw a punch or swing a baseball bat at.

The other problem with the vigilante angle is that it takes up so much of the film's running time, that there is then no time for the Strode family's story. They are essentially pushed aside, with Laurie suffering the most neglect, to the point that “Halloween Kills” is the only film in the series when Laurie is involved, to not have the character interact with Michael Myers. That's right folks; Laurie and Michael have no scenes together. In fact, Laurie spends a large portion of the film unconscious, but when she is conscious, she is spouting off ridiculous monologues on the power of Michael, and how he is the personification of evil and how he has now transcended. These scenes are terrible because she doesn't speak how any normal person ever would. Ok, I get she is drugged up with large doses of pain medication, but these scenes have been so embarrassingly written. In fact, as much as I hate to say it, the entire film is poorly written. Compared to the 2018 film, it feels like a total rush job to make a release date (which in hindsight is ironic). The script is filled with some mind-numbingly bad lines or dialogue exchanges between characters. One of the worst examples is when Lindsey turns to Tommy and says “I need a car”, and he hilariously replies “I have a car!”. Tommy's exchange with Laurie too when he tells her “you protected me that night forty years ago, now tonight I protect you” (I am paraphrasing there) was just terrible. However the worst and most inappropriate use of a once classic line goes to Leigh Brackett who, after Michael is surrounded by the vigilante mob, screams at the killer “It's Halloween! Everyone is entitled to one good scare!”. Um, what? When he first utters that line to Laurie after she bumps into him in the original film, it makes total sense, but what the hell does it mean in this context?!?!

One aspect where “Halloween Kills” does excel in is in its use of music. John Carpenter's score (along with his son Cody, and further collaborator Daniel Davies) is just outstanding and captures the mood perfectly. I was actually disappointed with the music in 2018's “Halloween”, but I thought it was magnificent in this sequel. I particularly loved what Carpenter did with the scenes set back in 1978 where he reverted back to what I would call the “analogue” versions of the musical themes, that then becomes “digital”variations of the same themes later in the present. I am not sure if that makes total sense, because lets face it, I know nothing about music. The music for the 70's part of the film feels of that period, I guess is what I am saying. Ahem.

Finally, I will briefly mention the ending to “Halloween Kills” which as expected is a bit of a letdown and kind of a nothing ending, although it does add a supernatural twist on the story that I felt like Green was initially trying to dismiss in his 2018 film. Personally, it feels like the film just ends, and we are essentially in the same place we were when the film started, and I never got a sense of what Michael's purpose was in this film, or what he was setting out to achieve.

Overall, I know that it sounds like I did not like the film, but that is not the case. It is a very messy, and inconsistent film but I feel that whenever Michael Myers is onscreen, the film is just awesome. His brutal and vicious rampage is something to behold, and the gore and blood have been so well handled. On the other hand, the vigilante storyline was a total disaster and very poorly handled with the return of the original characters being nothing more than a wink to the fans of the series. The length of these riot scenes have also pushed the Strode family into minor characters essentially for this latest entry, which was sad to see. However, I think the opening twenty minutes of “Halloween Kills” are outstanding, and the film would be worth seeing just for them alone. I will still be looking forward to “Halloween Ends” and hope that this trilogy goes out in style. Whilst the latest entry is a lot of fun at times, it also has moments of total cheese throughout.

3 Stars.