Logan Sork Film Reviews
Halloween
The Halloween franchise has been unique to say the least. After the massive success of the first film, which also spawned other slasher franchises, there came a slew of sequels. Some were good, some were bad, and others were downright terrible (I’m looking at you Halloween: Resurrection). The franchise was then rebooted with Halloween H20 in 1998, serving as a direct sequel to the original. The franchise was again rebooted with the remake of the original Halloween in 2007 by director Rob Zombie. It is now 2018 and the franchise has once again been rebooted by David Gordon Green’s Halloween, which serves as a direct continuation to the original ignoring all previous sequels and reboots. So, is this reboot/sequel any good, or should it be thrown in the pile with all of the others that failed to live up to the original horror icon?
Halloween is directed by David Gordon Green and stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode. The film picks up 40 years after the infamous babysitter murders committed by Michael Myer’s on Halloween of 1978. Since then, Myers has been locked up and Laurie has become a paranoid recluse, resulting in her distancing herself from her daughter and granddaughter. While being transferred to a new facility, Myers escapes and goes on a killing spree through Haddonfield, Illinois. Laurie must work with the authorities to track down and kill Myers before he can bring harm to anyone else, all while she must try and save what little bond she has with her family.
Without a doubt Jamie Lee Curtis is the best thing in the movie. She brings a sense of world weariness to the character of Laurie Strode, a nice contrast when compared to being relatively innocent in the original film. She is unwilling to give up, even when she knows she may not make it out alive. I was also surprised by how well the family dynamic played into the film overall. There’s a real sense of pain and suffering as Laurie struggles to make amends with her daughter, leading to some genuinely touching scenes amongst the violence and bloodshed. There are also some nice moments between her and her granddaughter, which sheds some hope that the family bond can still be mended.
That being said, the real star of the show is of course Michael Myers. He is as scary as ever in this film as he kills of victims one by one without showing a shred of emotion while he does so. There are some scenes where he is seen without his mask, this bothered me at first as it’s kind of underwhelmed me. But as he killed people and still showed no emotion even without the mask, it makes for a creepy feeling, almost as if he is not human. There are also some great moments in the film in which Myers makes his way through town in an almost nonchalant manner, adding to the already creepy vibe that he gives off, proving that after 40 years he’s still got it.
The scenes in which it is Laurie goes against Michael are excellent from both a technical standpoint as well as an emotional one. It’s not just a battle between Laurie against Michael, but also with her own personal demons as she relives the night that mentally scarred here and resulted in the weak familial bond she now has. There are also several great moments featured throughout the films that serves as callbacks to the original film, but with some unique twists. The central story is also very good as it serves not only as a callback to the original 1978 film, but also as a tale of revenge not only from Michaels perspective, but also from Laurie’s as well.
That being said, this is far from a perfect film. The biggest problem for me personally is the direction. David Gordon Green hails from comedy films and there are several moments throughout the film that feel like a different movie. He just doesn’t have the same command of the atmosphere and suspense that John Carpenter had in the original, though there are shades of it. There are some jokes that land, but when the don’t they really don’t. The plot involving Laurie’s granddaughter felt like it stopped dead in its tracks as there is no real ending to the plot involving her and her boyfriend. There is also a twist that involved one of the main characters that felt completely out of left field and only served to advance the plot.
My last problem doesn’t really involve the movie itself and sounds extremely nitpicky… but I don’t like the title. This is the third film in the series called Halloween and is a sequel to a film called Halloween that once had a remake called Halloween. I really wished they stuck with the early title Halloween Returns as this really does feel like the return to form for the franchise and would help distinguish it from the other films. This is more of a rant, but I just had to get it out there.
Aside from the problems (and small nitpick), this film is the best in the franchise since the original. With a strong central performance from Jamie Lee Curtis, a killer portrayal of Michael Myers and nice balance of slasher violence and family drama, this film proves that after 40 years, there’s plenty of carnage still in its bones.
7/10