Halloween Kills
Year: 2021
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Judy Greer, Anthony Michael Hall, James Jude Courtney, Jamie Lee Curtis & Andi Matichak
Runtime: 105 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 20/10/21
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Judy Greer, Anthony Michael Hall, James Jude Courtney, Jamie Lee Curtis & Andi Matichak
Runtime: 105 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 20/10/21
Despite horror being one of my favourite genre’s, I’ve rarely dipped my toes in the classics like Friday the Thirteenth, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween beyond a couple of entries. But 2018’s Halloween was a welcome breath of fresh air for the series that took Michael Myers back to his roots and it payed off massively, being the best thing to come out of the Halloween franchise since the 1978 original. With the success of the 2018 film two sequels were greenlit, and after a year’s delay the first sequel Halloween Kills has arrived. Does it continue in the same stead as its predecessor, or does it succumb to the same problems as many of the franchise’s other entries?
When firefighters respond to the inferno at Laurie Strode’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) house they find Michael Myers trapped in the basement. With an escape route now opened up, Michael escapes the house and continues his murderous hunt for Laurie.
As Michael’s trail of carnage becomes known to the citizens of Haddonfield, Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), a citizen who remembers the 1978 killings, rallies together a mob of Haddonfield residents to go up against the terror that has haunted them for forty years.
I feel as though your opinion of Halloween Kills is likely to depend on what you wanted out of this sequel. If you were after more of the same as what 2018’s offering provided then you’ll come away from it reasonably satisfied; but if you wanted something more than just more senseless killing then unfortunately Halloween Kills will disappoint.
Personally, I had a fun time with Halloween Kills, and whilst it doesn’t reach the same highs as its 2018 predecessor it certainly scratched that itch I had for mindless bloody violence.
Halloween Kills features more creative, bloodier, and more frequent killings than Halloween 2018, but it does suffer heavily from middle child syndrome in that it has no real beginning or ending. In fact, it ends on a hell of a cliff-hanger setting up next years Halloween Ends. For some this will be a big issue as the film definitely can’t stand alone as a solo entry to the franchise, but I have a feeling that once Halloween Ends provides us with the conclusion to the story, Kills will likely be seen more favourably.
When firefighters respond to the inferno at Laurie Strode’s (Jamie Lee Curtis) house they find Michael Myers trapped in the basement. With an escape route now opened up, Michael escapes the house and continues his murderous hunt for Laurie.
As Michael’s trail of carnage becomes known to the citizens of Haddonfield, Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), a citizen who remembers the 1978 killings, rallies together a mob of Haddonfield residents to go up against the terror that has haunted them for forty years.
I feel as though your opinion of Halloween Kills is likely to depend on what you wanted out of this sequel. If you were after more of the same as what 2018’s offering provided then you’ll come away from it reasonably satisfied; but if you wanted something more than just more senseless killing then unfortunately Halloween Kills will disappoint.
Personally, I had a fun time with Halloween Kills, and whilst it doesn’t reach the same highs as its 2018 predecessor it certainly scratched that itch I had for mindless bloody violence.
Halloween Kills features more creative, bloodier, and more frequent killings than Halloween 2018, but it does suffer heavily from middle child syndrome in that it has no real beginning or ending. In fact, it ends on a hell of a cliff-hanger setting up next years Halloween Ends. For some this will be a big issue as the film definitely can’t stand alone as a solo entry to the franchise, but I have a feeling that once Halloween Ends provides us with the conclusion to the story, Kills will likely be seen more favourably.
Despite what the marketing shows us, Halloween Kills pulls a fast one on audiences by having Laurie be stuck in a hospital bed for the whole film. It makes sense considering what happened to her in Halloween 2018, but it’s a bold move to put the franchise favourite character out of action.
Instead Tommy is the main character as we spend time with him learning about the killings that are taking place and he builds an army to fight back against Michael. I wasn’t all that invested in Tommy as a character, but I did enjoy the whole angry mob side-plot and the payoff from that.
The biggest issue I have with Halloween Kills is that Michael Myers is pretty much invincible. No matter how many times he’s beaten down, stabbed, or shot, he just keeps getting back up and it does start to become absurd.
But the thing I loved the most about Halloween Kills is how the film looks. Like Halloween 2018 before it, Kills is a visually striking film, and it manages to one up its predecessor by jumping back in time to 1978 at various points. This is no simple wardrobe and set switch up though as the film also becomes grainier, colours look softer, and the sound mix also feels appropriately retro. At first, I thought it was footage from the first Halloween film, but casting my mind back made me realise that this was new footage which I found very impressive.
Halloween Kills is going to be divisive amongst the Halloween fanbase as some will undoubtedly take issue with the lack of progress this entry seems to make following 2018’s massive leap forward; but other fans will appreciate the simplicity and the avoidance of any of the lore problems that made previous Halloween sequels so dry and tedious.
Kills does suffer when seen as a standalone product, I won’t deny that, but hopefully Halloween Ends will soften the blow for subsequent viewings.
Instead Tommy is the main character as we spend time with him learning about the killings that are taking place and he builds an army to fight back against Michael. I wasn’t all that invested in Tommy as a character, but I did enjoy the whole angry mob side-plot and the payoff from that.
The biggest issue I have with Halloween Kills is that Michael Myers is pretty much invincible. No matter how many times he’s beaten down, stabbed, or shot, he just keeps getting back up and it does start to become absurd.
But the thing I loved the most about Halloween Kills is how the film looks. Like Halloween 2018 before it, Kills is a visually striking film, and it manages to one up its predecessor by jumping back in time to 1978 at various points. This is no simple wardrobe and set switch up though as the film also becomes grainier, colours look softer, and the sound mix also feels appropriately retro. At first, I thought it was footage from the first Halloween film, but casting my mind back made me realise that this was new footage which I found very impressive.
Halloween Kills is going to be divisive amongst the Halloween fanbase as some will undoubtedly take issue with the lack of progress this entry seems to make following 2018’s massive leap forward; but other fans will appreciate the simplicity and the avoidance of any of the lore problems that made previous Halloween sequels so dry and tedious.
Kills does suffer when seen as a standalone product, I won’t deny that, but hopefully Halloween Ends will soften the blow for subsequent viewings.