I wasn't as big a fan of the previous Halloween movie as some people were and thought it was closer to the high-body count sequels than the original. As it's spooky season though, it seemed appropriate to visit Haddonfield once again and spend an hour and forty with the Michael Myers who isn't responsible for Wayne's World.
And if like me, you thought the previous film focused too much on blood-spattered set pieces and not enough on tension, you ain't seen nothing yet. More people die in the first ten minutes of Halloween Kills than in the original 1978 movie and its immediate sequel combined. By the time the credits roll, more people have bitten the dust than in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan. There's no gradual, unsettling atmosphere or escalating discomfort, just a constant stream of fire axes hitting heads and knives slicing throats. Halloween is no longer a horror film, this is an action movie.
Which is a shame because there's a few good ideas bubbling just below the surface. For one thing, unlike the slashers of the eighties, you're not cheering for the villain. All of the victims are likeable and you don't want any of them to die. There's not one, but two married couples who are enormously charming in the few minutes they're onscreen before Michael carves them up and not a single person who dies is even remotely arrogant or unpleasant.
Plus, David Gordon Green can handle a fight. Michael's rampage through a squad of firefighters is an early highlight and there's a commendable preference for practical effects over CGI. Some of these kills are really, really unpleasant to behold.
There's even a tantalising glimpse of how mob rule can warp people, but it's not fully explored. Halloween Kills most interesting moment is when a crowd of frightened people give in to their base instincts with tragic results, but it's only a surface-level look. It hints at the possibility that a Halloween movie where Michael doesn't even appear, but people think he does, could be a very intriguing film if in the hands of a capable director.
For the most part though, Halloween Kills is too interested in slamming heads into banisters to look into social commentary. It's a fine action movie, but it's a terrible horror film. Seventeen people died in the 2018 film, but compared to this it's a quiet, unassuming movie. The ending is frustrating too; a subtle suggestion that evil doesn't die and instead changes and adapts is jettisoned in favour of MORE GORE!
And if like me, you thought the previous film focused too much on blood-spattered set pieces and not enough on tension, you ain't seen nothing yet. More people die in the first ten minutes of Halloween Kills than in the original 1978 movie and its immediate sequel combined. By the time the credits roll, more people have bitten the dust than in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan. There's no gradual, unsettling atmosphere or escalating discomfort, just a constant stream of fire axes hitting heads and knives slicing throats. Halloween is no longer a horror film, this is an action movie.
Which is a shame because there's a few good ideas bubbling just below the surface. For one thing, unlike the slashers of the eighties, you're not cheering for the villain. All of the victims are likeable and you don't want any of them to die. There's not one, but two married couples who are enormously charming in the few minutes they're onscreen before Michael carves them up and not a single person who dies is even remotely arrogant or unpleasant.
Plus, David Gordon Green can handle a fight. Michael's rampage through a squad of firefighters is an early highlight and there's a commendable preference for practical effects over CGI. Some of these kills are really, really unpleasant to behold.
There's even a tantalising glimpse of how mob rule can warp people, but it's not fully explored. Halloween Kills most interesting moment is when a crowd of frightened people give in to their base instincts with tragic results, but it's only a surface-level look. It hints at the possibility that a Halloween movie where Michael doesn't even appear, but people think he does, could be a very intriguing film if in the hands of a capable director.
For the most part though, Halloween Kills is too interested in slamming heads into banisters to look into social commentary. It's a fine action movie, but it's a terrible horror film. Seventeen people died in the 2018 film, but compared to this it's a quiet, unassuming movie. The ending is frustrating too; a subtle suggestion that evil doesn't die and instead changes and adapts is jettisoned in favour of MORE GORE!