Witty and paying homage to the original without being cheesy or tongue-in-cheek, Halloween (2018) is the sequel that fans of the series have been clamoring and yearning for.
From the guys who brought you Pineapple Express and Vice Principals comes the movie that reunites the original Scream Queen (Jamie Lee Curtis, “Laurie Strode”), the original Boogeyman (Nick Castle, reprising his role as “The Shape” and sharing time on screen with James Jude Courtney), and the original director (John Carpenter, who returns here as an Executive Producer and Composer alongside son Cody and Daniel Davies) in a flick that’s easily one of the best horror movies of 2018 and the sequel that fans of the series and genre have needed.
More surprising than the muscle behind the latest entry in the forty year old series (And we’d be remiss not to mention Blumhouse Productions for supporting this beast) are the victims who aren’t victims, potential victims you thought would be spared, and potential victims that are ultimately spared (Especially in light of that last statement).
Yeah, that’s right! Inventive kills in an age and genre where everything has seemingly already been done. And even better are the set ups for said kills (There’s one in particular that is so “Weeping Angels” from Doctor Who yet still so incredible). Brutal but so fun with suspense that’s EVERYWHERE, the flick will surprise even the most jaded of horror fans. And if you thought you saw everything in the trailers already, you are sadly mistaken.
Ignoring everything in between, Halloween is a direct sequel to the 1978 classic in a world where Michael Myers was arrested that fateful night in 1978 and Laurie Strode went on to live her life like Sarah Connor preparing for a day when Myers would eventually return. And boy, does he! They mention early on that Myers was institutionalized because of those initial few murders but in the span of his first 24 hours free he manages to match that and then some (SPOILER ALERT! Michael escapes).
Relative newcomer Andi Matichak as Strode’s granddaughter Allyson and Haluk Bilginer as Dr. Loomis v.2 (AKA Dr. Sartain) with Toby Huss as the hapless Ray (We’ll never forget you as “The Wiz” on Seinfeld!) and Judy Greer as the traumatized Karen, daughter of Strode, are all welcome additions to the Halloween family and build the story with characters way beyond your typical cannon fodder. As an aside, there’s a moment close to halfway through where the movie almost takes a nasty turn that, while would’ve been a bad choice for this particular flick, would be one of the more interesting takes should the series move beyond this redux. And with an entry as solid as this, that actually DOES live up to the hype, there’s no reason why that shouldn’t happen.
Halloween arrives in cinemas on October 19th. See it wherever you can and as soon as you can by clicking here to reserve a seat.