Halloween (2018) Review

Initially I was worried this movie would fall to terrible sequel syndrome(™), but I was pleasantly surprised. One thing I will comment on before anything else, DO NOT watch the trailer for this movie if you haven't already. It contains some of the best moments, and is the reason I stay away from trailers, but I was too excited for this movie to not see the plot setup for this one via the trailer. Halloween is one of all time favorite movies, so this direct sequel to the original had a lot to live up to, and I believe that while not superior, this is a quality follow up to an amazing horror movie. Spoilers, I loved it.

Story- After 40 years of being locked up, it's time for Michael Myers to be transferred to a different facility (for reasons that escape me). Laurie Strode has been preparing herself (and her daughter/daughter's family) for the inevitable return of the man/myth/legend. After an "accident" Michael escapes the prison transport (it's not a spoiler, it's in the trailer) and returns to the place he killed 5 people to kill many more, and to potentially finish off Laurie once and for all. I'm going to start with the minor dislikes I had, because there was a lot more good than bad. There was a sequence or two in the movie where there's just a slight "exposition dump", but now that I think about it the first one with the podcast duo makes sense because they're detailing the night to their listeners... I take that one back, but there is still one other scene that does this. The only other issue I had was the twist they set up that I was nervous would take over in the final act of the film, which thankfully was not what happened. If it had, honestly it would've given me a distaste for the whole movie so I'm glad they didn't go through with it. I wonder if they put that in as a sort of red herring, to subvert the expectations of the audience for a slight second with a trick, who knows.

Now on to the good though, starting with the fact that there was enough freshness in this movie and attention to detail without it turning into a blatant ripoff of the original. On a YouTube channel I highly recommend you watch, Dead Meat has kill counts and he did one for the entire Halloween franchise, which I'm presently refusing to watch in it's entirety because I have too much respect for the original and I don't want it to taint the reputation of it. With movies like Friday the 13th they're all campy (no pun intended) so it's fine. But anyway, he brings to light just how much the sequels copy from the previous ones, and he actually did a review with his girlfriend on his podcast where he also mentions the homage vs ripoff scenario from this movie. Another breath of fresh air was the fact that the characters in pretty much every sense were not stupid horror movie cliches, which is always welcome, such as final girl Erin in the movie You're Next. Funny enough James from Dead Meat also compared her character to Laurie's daughter in the movie given their special training childhood.

Sticking with Laurie and how smart she is, she literally has a boobytrapped Home Alone style house/compound that she built herself and it's awesome, and it's secluded in the woods, so she's all sorts of smart and prepared. I like that this movie got into the psyche of Laurie, really making you feel and empathize with her decisions and the pain/paranoia she's been dealing with for so long. You really get that sense of grief and distress through the editing and scene composition.There are also some throwback shots which venture into that homage territory, like when her granddaughter is sitting in class and she looks out the window and Laurie is by her car, reminiscent of when Michael is staring at her in the original. There's also an ultimate role reversal with Laurie and Michael, I won't specify but it's crazy to see the prey turn into the predator. The way they created a Loomis-type character didn't feel unnatural or forced which I was relieved of, because I wasn't sure how they would fill that void since the original actor Donald Pleasance unfortunately passed away.

One interesting choice they made was almost to have Michael be this almost omnipresent force, like when he is in the courtyard and the podcast dude pulls out his mask, all of the inmates start to react and freak out and there is a gust of wind that comes through the place. It seems sort of odd, but he kinda is inhuman, given how he just keeps coming back, which is another thing that makes him so terrifying. Danny McBride was oddly enough involved as a writer, which probably shows most in the humorous parts of the movie, which didn't feel out of place but it's funny yet interesting that he was involved with this movie.

The final thing I'll talk about is the gore/violence. I wouldn't even call it either of those things, I'd call it visceral. You could just feel the audience cringe at certain scenes, which was enjoyable to me personally. In my opinion it wasn't quite over the top, but some may definitely think so if you're squeamish. The brutality and creativeness of the kills was interesting because it was almost like "what could he possibly do next?". The funny thing is, a good handful of the kills are offscreen, but you see what unfolded after hearing it first, and it's subtle, not zooming in on a close up of a bloody face or eviscerated body part.

Cinematography/Props- This movie is visually appealing for sure. One of the first scenes that takes place in the courtyard of the prison/asylum looks great, with the shots being framed very nicely, such as the squares around the inmates that are drawn as safe zones, and the podcast guy walks right up to it, stopping just shy of the line. That's just one of many great shots, and another that I have to give props to Dead Meat for is something I didn't necessarily notice, the first shot of Halloween night is a seemingly one shot, which is always impressive. The main thing I was unsure of going in was the slight redesign of Michael's mask, but in the end I dig it. It's got the wear to it one would expect after many years, but still resembles the original terrifying mask. And I dig that he gets a regular sized knife then upgrades to his signature huge piece of steel.

Acting- Who else to talk about first but Jamie Lee Curtis. This woman kills it yet again, reprising her role as the original scream queen Laurie Strode. She plays her character's "doomsday prepper" type likable and completely reasonable despite all of the flak she gets for her paranoia, to which I say it's better to be safe than sorry, because I could 100% understand where she is coming from. The chemistry between Judy Greer's daughter in the movie Andi Matichak and Jamie was nuanced. She clearly believes her mom is too hard on her grandmother, yet wants her to finally get away from the experience she had 40 years ago. Everyone else in the movie was done well. I didn't much care for the "comic relief" friend in this one but I rarely ever find them that funny, at least in modern movies, because they seem forced. That's not to say that it was a bad portrayal though. James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle portrayed Michael Myers (who on the IMDb page is dubbed The Shape, which I love), and their physicality to the role shows. This big hulking mass is just super intimidating in my opinion, and I dug the look. Honestly the other highlight of this movie was the little kid who's being babysat, Julian. This kid cracked me up probably more than any other kid actor, he played it perfectly. I won't spoil his dialogue but trust me it's top notch. As I was just thinking about it he reminded me of the little sister from Stranger Things season 2 and her great little scene in one of the episodes.

Directing- David Gordon Green really hasn't directed much of note, mostly television shows like Eastbound and Down, so for his arguably first time working a big budget project, I'm very impressed with this outing. One interesting thing that I noted throughout was the cuts that took place with all of the scenes in the movie. They're frenetic in a sense, shifting your view before you get too comfortable, which from what I took of it was a subconscious feeling of not getting to comfortable with your surroundings. I also absolutely loved the title cards, because they payed homage to the original both with it's text and of course the music. One thing I picked up on as well is the pumpkin that gets "re-pieced" together, between the eye hole and the nose there is a shape of a knife, which is a nice little nod. Blumhouse also is a notable name for horror especially, A24 being the other big name in producing horror movies, so it's nice to see them back this movie because I dig some of their other works, like Get Out. I think there was just enough fan service/tribute in this movie without going overboard.

Soundtrack/Audio- The soundtrack for this movie was performed by none other than John Carpenter himself, with a little bit of help, which is fantastic. The fact that he oversaw the direction of the movie as well as doing the soundtrack adds credibility in my eyes to the quality of care that was given to the movie in making it a tribute as well as a standalone sequel to the original Halloween. You've got the classics here in a sense, but revitalized. I read the description to the soundtrack on Amazon which I'm going to purchase, and it said something along the lines of even though there is more production value (everything about the original was very low budget which makes it even more amazing that we got the stellar movie from 1978), they didn't compromise the integrity of what made the original soundtrack so eerie and atmospheric. One of the biggest praises I have for this movie which could sort of go in the story department but makes more sense to me to go here, there are no stupid loud noises or unnecessary fakeout jump scares! I cannot tell you how relieved I am to say these words about a horror film in 2018 given that it's my biggest annoyance with every modern horror movie basically, with a slim few exceptions. Creep me out with your quality content, not a flash on the screen or in my ears. Anyway good job with the soundtrack.

Final Verdict- A-. The few extremely minor gripes I had with the movie prevented me from going to an A, but this is barely an A-, if it was feasible I'd do an A-1/2, but otherwise this was one of my favorites of the year. Clearly you can tell I liked it because this is one of the longest reviews I've done, sorry if it was long winded but there was a lot to discuss about this great movie. Definitely check it out if you want to have a good time at the movies. (hopefully you don't get someone who brings their 5 or 6 year old child, or have millenial underage teens like I dealt with)

#Horror #Suspense #JamieLeeCurtis