After being delayed for over a year, Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) makes his violent return in Halloween Kills. While the film may be vastly different from its predecessor, it does live up to its title. Michael Myers absolutely lets loose on the fictional town of Haddonfield, Illinois.
It doesn’t add a lot to the series’ long mythos or characters, and it doesn’t push the plot forward much either. It’s very much a middle point in this new trilogy of films, though I don’t think that’s necessarily a problem if the film is entertaining — and it is.
Halloween Kills picks up immediately where the previous film left off, with the women of the Strode family — Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), Karen (Judy Greer) and Allyson (Andi Matichak) — escaping from the burning house they left Michael in. He quickly escapes, courtesy of the Haddonfield Fire Department, embarking on his town-wide murder spree, killing (possibly) more than he ever has before.
The film, as the title suggests, has plenty of kills, all of which are mostly interesting and creative, and they’re always brutal. This is an extremely bloody movie with some pretty great-looking gore when the film bothers to show it. The majority of the kills lack a good amount of gore, but it’s great when it is there.
The practical makeup effects all look great and fittingly gross, as they should. Gorehounds should be pleased, and general audiences should be slightly disturbed, the perfect balance for a modern slasher.
The cast is mostly good, certainly better than most other mainstream horror films. Curtis is great in every scene she’s in, but she’s sadly not featured as much as I’d hoped. It makes sense for her character’s situation, but her sidelining is still disappointing nonetheless. The rest of the cast is also mostly underutilized, especially the other Strode women. This is Michael’s movie, and it shows.
The film also features survivors of the original 1978 film, most of whom are also not used much in the plot but, instead, used to heighten the already staggering body count. The two who stand out the most from that group are Lonnie (Robert Longstreet) and Tommy (Anthony Michael Hall). Hall is great in the film, fueled by vengeance and egging the town on to hunt Michael, instead of the reverse. Longstreet is also great when he’s given things to do, which isn’t very often. He was also fantastic in the recent Netflix series Midnight Mass.
Halloween Kills tries to be more than just another dumb slasher, though, by fitting in some social commentary. The film specifically tackles the mob mentality many feel both online and in-person and how it can negatively affect both people on the outside of that mob and the people within it.
It’s subtle enough to not feel like it’s pushing an agenda, but the message is still there and works for the story the film is trying to tell. It could’ve been handled better, especially if the message wasn’t hammered home in such a disturbing way, but it’s a good message to send on top of a film that’s mostly focused on pleasing its audience and keeping its momentum going.
Despite its breakneck pace, the film makes time to look backward as well as forward; it features several flashback scenes to the original 1978 massacre that all look and feel like they’re plucked right out of the late ‘70s. From the film grain to the artifacting, the film somehow manages to make its flashback sequences feel genuinely of that time, something I haven’t seen pulled off in a film this well. It’s seriously impressive and will most likely be overshadowed and forgotten by most viewers by the time the credits roll.
The film has another issue, but I wouldn’t say it’s as big as others will make it out to be. The film has no real resolution, as it’s the middle entry of a planned trilogy (the conclusion, Halloween Ends, releases next October). I wasn’t bothered by this, but I can see why others would be; people are paying to see a complete story, and they’re just not getting that out of this film. I do think this problem will be rectified as time goes on and people are able to watch the trilogy back to back without any issue.
I recommend seeing Halloween Kills, especially if you’re a fan of the series or if you just want a fun and spooky time at the movies during October. It’s fast-paced, extremely brutal and better than its predecessor. While it may be a bit underwritten and doesn’t feature Curtis as much as fans may want, it sets up next year’s finale well and has some solid kills to boot.
