Directed by:
David Gordon GreenCinematography:
Michael SimmondsCast:
Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Haluk Bilginer, Will Patton, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall, Toby Huss (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. (Universal Pictures CA)
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Reviews (12)
A predator does not want to die until it kills its prey. But the same goes for the prey. David Gordon Green has carved out and carefully shone a dignified tribute on the unbeatable original, with an amazing soundtrack proving that, like Michael, John's tunes from the 1980s do not age. The atmosphere is dense, the homage is elegant, the camera rides are smooth. The jump scares are not completely inventive, but the atmosphere is sharp ... I see no reason not to get sliced up again.
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A typically painful sequel or the expected flush down the toilet. The new Halloween may be good in terms of craftsmanship, but by the most part is a characterless homage to the original that coldly copies Carpenter’s style, and every attempt at a signature of its own and to subjectivise the titular evil in potentially climactic scenes is paradoxically buried by Michael Myers’s legendary ghostly aura. The intro is a modern spasm that has nothing to do with the darkness of the first one, there’s one key twist that suddenly develops dementia and there are moments when it feels like a Wes Craven flick (the wisecracking black kid). At least the rest is an above-average, lively and at times inventive slasher, the kind we get in cinemas every now and again, but as a direct sequel to a horror legend, unfortunately, it’s not worth much. 55%
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Mad killer Michael Myers is free and goes after Laurie Strode, who escaped him on his first spree. She's a mental wreck, but she's been preparing for this confrontation for 40 years. Only one can survive, but anyone can die... The new Halloween follows in the footsteps of the original one, refusing to conform to new trends and contemporary styles. It's old-school, unafraid to build tension for long, knows how to get under the skin and refuses cheap violence. Instead of gratuitous brutality, it relies on uncomfortable chills, excellent actors and the most traditional "Halloween" scares in the style of the classic first film. If you want modern horror, look elsewhere. But if you're a fan of Carpenter's film, you couldn't possibly get anything better in the cinema.
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The sequel that the original Halloween deserved. If we assume that making a sequel four decades later is a good idea, I can’t imagine how it could have been done better. On the other hand, I also have no idea what would have to happen for a thoroughbred slasher to truly excite me in 2018. In an era when prime horror films are not only scary and superbly crafted, but also try to go a bit further, the simple slasher movie is inevitably a step lower. Proof that Halloween, and the sub-genre as a whole, is a relic from the past can be seen when the creators, in a surprising twist, attempt to deviate a little and address the unhealthy obsession of the public with horror icons, which in a slasher movie is a bit too much. Though it does make sense conceptually and fits into the logic of the plot, I cringed at the screen because I was watching something that had no business doing in a slasher flick. Other than that, it’s really brilliant. A masked killing machine immune to psychological analysis, American suburbia and scared teenagers. The moment when Alysson sees her friend skewered on the fence and runs hysterically down the street is the closest to the sheer terror of the original film.
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The new Halloween may not be as scary as the original from 1978 or as entertaining as H20, but it is still stimulating and self-aware enough to not be an unnecessary sequel. It can be seen as, for example, a morbidly humorous argument with films and (documentary) series that attempt to understand evil (e.g. with the aid of psychology). Laurie Strode knows that sometimes it is better not to ask too much – as done by other characters attempting to encourage Myers (by whom they are as similarly unhealthily fascinated as some horror fans) to express himself (which they mostly accomplish, but not in the way they would have imagined) – but instead to simply pick up a kitchen knife or shotgun. Based on more than just Laurie’s example, Green’s three-generation horror film shows how in the past forty years women have learned to more effectively protect themselves against danger and to cast off their assigned roles (in addition to costume gender swapping at a Halloween party, an inverted variation of a famous scene from the first Halloween appears). Despite that, they still have to face mistrust and the suspicion that they are deranged hysterics, in which the film is very much in step with the times. The film’s direction is above reproach and the music by the father-and-son team John and Cody Carpenter is blood-chilling. When cult films are brought back to life, this is how it should be done. 85%
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