Halloween (2018) (Review)


Arguably the most popular slasher-horror series in cinema, Halloween has spawned sequel after sequel, all attempting to cash-in on the goodwill of John Carpenter's ludicrously successful 1978 hit. It took forty years, however, for the team to put out this: a course correction of sorts, that renders the franchise's other films irrelevant. A direct continuation of the first, albeit one that has seen four decades pass, Halloween (2018) brings Laurie Strode and Michael Meyers face-to-face - or rather, face-to-mask - for one last hurrah. Revenge is on the cards for both and not everyone's coming out alive.

Forty years after the Haddonfield massacre, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder following Michael's murderous rampage, living in fear of him returning: a terror that has negatively impacted her relationships with others, including her family. Having spent her life preparing to kill the monster who has tormented her for so long, a bus crash that causes Michael to escape and return leads her on a rampage of her own, eager to finally kill the man who has caused such suffering. 

Halloween exists, pure and simply, because it can. There is absolutely no reason for David Gordon Green's sequel-cum-reboot-cum-retcon to exist, but it does because the demand for Michael Myers return is there. What could have been utilised as an opportunity to reinvent the genre wheel it has influenced so intensely is wasted on a cliched, disappointingly predictable effort, one that seems content in sticking to the now well-worn formula. It survives only on the nostaglia so many hold towards the original, often playing more like a remake than a sequel in its own right. It riffs and constructs scenes and kills almost shot-for-shot; intended as a nod to its roots, it is so undeniably identical that you cannot help but feel ripped off, questioning the point of this whole exercise.

Despite some half-hearted attempts to subvert expectations, the tricks in Halloween so rarely stick. From open to close, it plays out exactly as you expect it to, with little in the way of suprise; while not quite as enraputred with the original as most, it is a great film because of its ingenuis simplicity. Here, it's just empty, a hollow attempt to recapture that brilliance without the creativity to execute an effective genre flick. It will win over most content with surrounding themselves with the characters and their circumstances they have come to love - but those hoping for a more innovative approach will find this rather lame indeed.

Even in spite of its pointlessness, there is some fun to be had here. This is not a bad film more so than it is a disappointing one. Peppered with a handful of functiona; moments, it zips along rather quickly, benefited by a rather tight 106 minute runtime. It's lean and it's mean and its finale is no doubt the highlight with its crowd-pleasing winks and nudges bound to excite fans of the original. It'll be too little, too late for some, and isn't enough to excuse the flaws, but it ends the film on a higher note. Most of its strengths are linked to Laurie, and Curtis throws herself in with a comitted performance that burrows under Strode's skin, exploring her grief and trauma efficently. She's a compelling character and Curtis fully embodies the character she has essentially grown up with.

And many will be relieved to know that Carpenter's score is given a killer makeover, maintaining the atmospheric tone of the original while giving it an updated kick of its own. If only the overall film could strike that balance between innovation and nostaglia so confidently. Alas.

Halloween is lame. It's unneccesary, it's underwhelming and it's pointless. It exists not because the filmmakers have something interesting to say or do, but because the franchise is beloved and it's going to make a lot of money. It's closer to being a good film than it is to being a bad one but the overwhelming disappointment that this, after forty years, is the best they can whip up, is unbelievably furstrating. With fun to be had, there are worse ways to spend your time - but I feel more tricked than treated with this Halloween.

★★★★☆
(5/10)

Summary: Halloween is lame, an entirely pointless exercise that exists because it can, not because it should. Jamie Lee Curtis' return gives it some weight and it is infrequently fun but a forty-years-in-the-making sequel should not feel this redundant.