Halloween
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Written by: David Gordon Green & Danny McBride & Jeff Fradley - Based on characters by John Carpenter & Debra Hill
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Judy Greer, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, Virginia Gardner, Miles Robbins, Dave Scheid, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Dylan Hall, Toby Huss, Jibrail Nantambru
Horror/Thriller - 106 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 18 Oct 2018
Written by: David Gordon Green & Danny McBride & Jeff Fradley - Based on characters by John Carpenter & Debra Hill
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Andi Matichak, Judy Greer, Will Patton, Haluk Bilginer, Virginia Gardner, Miles Robbins, Dave Scheid, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Dylan Hall, Toby Huss, Jibrail Nantambru
Horror/Thriller - 106 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 18 Oct 2018
The new Halloween trails a complex lineage of sequels, reboots, remakes, and stand-alone films, proud enough to employ the popular Halloween name and reap the benefits of the 1978 film’s cultural standing, but setting themselves apart from the main story. David Gordon Green’s version sweeps away 10 Halloween films, pretending they do not exist - sort of what casual Halloween fans do. The first Halloween II also starred Jamie Lee Curtis and was set the same night as the original Michael Myers killing spree. Green’s Halloween attempts to replace that film, declaring this iteration is the genuine sequel, set 40 years in the future, but strangely, it is also called Halloween. Therefore, after all the back-and-forths and those who say “these movies count” while others argue “these do not”, the sequel to the 1978 Halloween is called Halloween. Come on now.
The promise this time is it will be the final confrontation between Laurie Strode (Curtis, Veronica Mars) and Michael; and if you believe that, I have some central Kansas ocean front property to sell you. However, for Michael and Laurie to meet and engage in their ultimate butcher knife showcase showdown, Michael must escape the mental institution he’s been chained up in for the past four decades. Naturally, Michael is part of a large prisoner movement the night before Halloween, the kind where a converted school bus is ripe to never reach its destination. Michael should be spun up and ready to go as well. Having remained completely silent and stoic for so long, the day before he is to travel, an amateur pair of podcast journalists attempt to get Michael to tell his side of the story. Trying to cash in on the popularity of serial podcasts and streaming series casting doubt on convicted murderers, perhaps there is something they can undercover about Michael’s motives and early childhood no other investigator has learned, nor his doctor who has studied him up close for his entire professional life.
The promise this time is it will be the final confrontation between Laurie Strode (Curtis, Veronica Mars) and Michael; and if you believe that, I have some central Kansas ocean front property to sell you. However, for Michael and Laurie to meet and engage in their ultimate butcher knife showcase showdown, Michael must escape the mental institution he’s been chained up in for the past four decades. Naturally, Michael is part of a large prisoner movement the night before Halloween, the kind where a converted school bus is ripe to never reach its destination. Michael should be spun up and ready to go as well. Having remained completely silent and stoic for so long, the day before he is to travel, an amateur pair of podcast journalists attempt to get Michael to tell his side of the story. Trying to cash in on the popularity of serial podcasts and streaming series casting doubt on convicted murderers, perhaps there is something they can undercover about Michael’s motives and early childhood no other investigator has learned, nor his doctor who has studied him up close for his entire professional life.
Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer, Ben-Hur) is an odd duck. He knows there is more to Michael than meets the eye, but he is unable to unlock the mask. Speaking of the mask, one of the horror genre’s most famous accessories reappears as one of the podcasters waves it around to inspire Michael to end his silence, sit down over a cup of joe, and sob out his past. Displaying how much director David Gordon Green and co-writers Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley consider Dr. Sartain, the first thing Laurie says to him is “Oh, you’re the new Loomis,” referring to Michael’s doctor who appeared in the first few films. Later on amidst Michael’s gruesome carnage cavalcade, Sartain tells the gathered locals peering from their front porches, “Go back inside, I’m a doctor!”
The podcasters also track down Laurie, now a self-exiled outsider holed up in a country house fortress surrounded by barbed wire fences, security cameras, flood lights, and an arsenal the envy of despotic warlords everywhere. Nobody believes her, including daughter Karen (Judy Greer), that Michael is coming back. But even though it costs her social standing, marriages, and a close relationship with Karen and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), Laurie will be ready for the masked madman this time. The podcasters ask Laurie, “Don’t you want closure? Why don’t you talk to him?” They must subscribe to ‘so what’ theory of Halloween night in 1978 Haddonfield, Illinois. In 2018, five murders doesn’t come across as that big a deal says one of Allyson’s school friends. He has a point. Amidst real life classroom, nightclub, and outdoor concert massacres, whose victim counts nudge higher and higher as at home armories grow larger and larger, five murder victims really doesn’t sound so shocking.
But Michael Myers is not your average high school student with a grudge. He may or may not have supernatural powers, depending on if you subscribe to particular sequel theories about how a six year-old boy suddenly morphed into a remorseless killing machine. While Laurie grew up and had some version of a life, Michael remained the same thing he always was; he hasn’t changed a bit. Neither has Halloween’s general story arc and directorial choices. Apparently, David Gordon Green has never met a jump scare he didn’t want to unnecessarily throw in to elicit a cheap jolt. The on-screen knifings will not petrify 2018 audiences the way they did 40 years ago. We watch Michael both slyly stalk his victims for a surprise attack and confront them head on pummeling them from one end of a room to another, and none of it will scare you. There will be some audible groans when gooey brain matter splatters about, but that is not fear. Therefore, it’s jump scare for us.
If you’re seen the original 1978 film, you’re already seen this movie. They are deliberately and cheekily the same, with multiple insider winks at those in the know. Babysitters take center stage again and victims are marked if they try to engage in fumbling, carnal teenager activities - an indicator all horror fans recognize as a harbinger of doom. Most impressive is Virginia Gardner, who plays Vicky, the unfortunate babysitter this time around, as she offers a fresh take on the ‘there’s a monster in the closet’ device. She is more believable than Andi Matichak as Laurie’s granddaughter who mostly runs around in scream mode while Curtis goes full on Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2 - all mission, no fun. I do not understand the fascination with the Halloween franchise. There are devoted acolytes to the story of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, but the routine of Michael escapes and kills some people wears thin. You either are a fan of this setup or you’re not and it will determine your enjoyment of this remake. The studio claims it’s a sequel, but it’s really Halloween 40 years later, hence why they didn’t even change the title.
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