Halloween (2018): Saving the Series or Falling Back on Failures?

            When John Carpenter’s horror masterpiece Halloween was released 40 years ago, it kicked off revolution in horror films by popularizing one of its most iconic subgenres: the slasher.  However, since the original’s release, the long-running franchise no longer has the pull in the genre it once had, and has since started to resemble antagonist Michael Myers: mindless, slow-moving, and leaving horror fans waiting for it to die.  Director David Gordon Green is aware that the franchise has seemingly outstayed its welcome, and he has chosen to combat fan fatigue by wiping the slate clean and treat the newest installment in the franchise as a direct sequel to the first installment.  So, could Green’s interpretation live up to Carpenter’s legacy?  Almost.  Eventually, there comes a point in the film where one has to wonder when the references to the original stop feeling like homages and instead are used as a crutch.

     The film opens with the iconic villain of the franchise Michael Myers locked back up in a mental hospital, which he soon (predictably) escapes from.  Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the sole survivor of the events in the first film, prepares for his return to Haddonfield, Illinois with the help of her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak).

            The first half of the movie is when it is at its strongest.  The tension building from the scenes of Michael still in the hospital and the introduction to the likeable main characters starts the film off in a fun and entertaining way.  The film starts off with callbacks to the first, such as Michael’s reintroduction to his iconic mask in the opening scene, and showing us how Laurie has changed since the events of the original.  We are then introduced to a couple new characters who parallel (or at first seem to) major characters from the first film: Laurie’s granddaughter Ally seems almost exactly like the 1978 version Laurie, while Michael’s psychiatrist in this film, Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), appears to allude to Donald Pleasence’s character Dr. Loomis, but is revealed to be completely different later on.  The real fun starts a little later, after Michael has made his escape and has begun his killing spree in Haddonfield in a scene with a great callback to the original.  This scene is basically nothing but Michael going into people’s houses and killing them, but the impressive thing about it is that it’s done in a single long take, like the opening of the 1978 version.  Of all the references to the original in the film, I believe this one is the strongest because it has the familiar feeling but still has enough unique charm to stand on its own, even if you haven’t seen the first film.

            Unfortunately, it isn’t long before the movie starts to lose the momentum it had previously built up.  Dr. Sartain quickly reveals himself to be evil, which sets him apart from his counterpart Dr. Loomis but slightly undercuts Michael’s role as the “big bad.”  This isn’t helped by how quickly he is killed off by Michael after this reveal, making the audience wonder what the point of his character even was, not to mention Bilginer’s hammy performance as he makes his villainous turn.  (“So, this is what it feels like,” he says while looking Michael in the eyes just after killing another character.)  The finale also feels underwhelming due to falling back on genre conventions.  The survivors end up sealing Michael in a basement with no way out, and then burning the house down.  However, the final shot of the burning basement has Michael nowhere in sight.  This ending is too obviously opened up for yet another sequel, and feels cheap and unearned.

            All in all, the newest installment in the Halloween franchise starts off strong, with just the right combination of unique and familiar elements to keep interest high, but loses steam towards the end by falling back on genre conventions.  Final verdict: 6 out of 10.

Next