Halloween is the sequel we’ve been waiting for
By Rachel Roth
Michael Myers is back after 40 years to embark on another murder spree and return to the girl that got away. Forget the other sequels, reboots and remakes because this Halloween is the only sequel we need.
When John Carpenter’s Halloween came out in 1978, it was an instant classic, changing the horror genre forever and breeding an entire generation of slasher films. Michael Myers, the killer without a conscious, terrified audiences and Jamie Lee Curtis became the Queen of Scream Queens. Since then, we’ve had four sequels (not counting Season of the Witch), two rebooted sequels, a remake and then that remake’s sequel, and they all lacked what made the original great. Now, 40 years later, Halloween is back and it’s a blast from the past.
Directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Jeff Fradley, and Danny McBride, this movie was clearly made by a group of fans. In what feels like John Carpenter’s own piece of fanfiction, Halloween is everything the original was but with a spirit of its own. There are several references to the original, some I know the writers had fun thinking up. We get Laurie and closets, a murdered babysitter, a Judith Myers mention, and even a scene that copies Michael’s famous vanishing act in ’78.
Made as a direct sequel to the original, the film acts as if none of the other movies existed and picks up where the first film ended. It’s oddly aware of itself, aware that it’s been a long time since we’ve seen a Halloween movie and that’s how it starts. Everyone’s been waiting for this night, the characters and the audience. There is even an image of a rotting pumpkin coming back to life during the title credits as if to say, “we’re bringing Halloween back from the dead.”
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We’re immediately reintroduced to Michael locked up in an asylum, waiting to be permanently transferred to a prison. As the film starts, we see the complete emotionless state of nothing that Michael lives in. He stands still, rigid as a pole, staring straight ahead. The only time he shows any kind of emotion is when he sees or senses his precious mask within reaching distance
Meanwhile, Laurie Strode (reprised by Jamie Lee Curtis) is still living in Haddonfield, Illinois, in a heavily secured house in the woods. You know, because why not live in the same town where everyone you knew got murdered and wait for the murderer to come back. I’m just wondering how much money she spent building that house. She has a secret basement under her kitchen counter, metal bars that come from the ceiling and block entrances, and a crazy amount of security cameras.
She’s been preparing to kill Michael for years, refusing to move on the way everyone advises her to. Laurie knew Michael would escape one day and that he’d come for her and she wants to be prepared. Unfortunately, her obsession cost her two marriages and put a wedge between her and her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), who are tired of her paranoia.
If they were attacked by a huge man with dead eyes in a white mask and lost all their friends in a single night, they’d probably suffer from PTSD too. Give her a break. No one even apologizes for calling her crazy when Michael escapes and comes after them. Talk about being underappreciated.
Michael escapes and goes on a murder spree in Haddonfield once again. Laurie, prepared, leads him to her house where she’s set a series of traps that she hopes will end him once and for all. Their battle at the end is the moment where the film’s revenge buildup pays off. The victim and the victimizer reunite for an intense finale that’s impossible to forget. Laurie and the other Strode women fight Myers off together and it’s perfect. Only the Strode women can survive Myers.
Halloween goes back to its roots while building on its foundation. It knows what made it famous and embraces it, except there’s more heart in the center of the story this time. Laurie isn’t a frightened teenager anymore and she’s not waiting around for The Boogeyman to get her. She’s an action gal.
There’s a reason why Curtis is The Screen Queen. Fierce but vulnerable, Curtis gives Laurie a survivalist soul devoted to killing her enemy. There is a moment, a fantastic moment, when Laurie watches The Boogeyman from behind and whispers, “Happy Halloween, Michael.” All hail the Queen.
Actor James Jude Courtney portrays Myers in the scenes wearing his mask and though we never see his face, he does a great job. Courtney got advice from a real hitman while preparing for the role and it shows in his kills. This Michael is much more assertive in his actions. He walks robotically and looks at the world as if confused, but when he kills it’s with passion, for Michael Myers is the force of evil.
There is no explanation for his actions and if possible, his kills are driven more compulsively than ever before. He walks into people’s houses and kills them, then immediately walks onto the next house as if he’s grocery shopping. The mystery of his actions is part of what makes the character frightening. Giving an explanation removes the scare factor and the mystery surrounding Myers, diminishing the purity of his evil.
Dr. Loomis’s replacement is Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) who practically embodies the franchise’s previous attempts to “diagnose” Michael. He’s obsessed with dissecting his subject’s mind and learning what makes him kill, and when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed. He’s the complete opposite of Loomis and the worst person to ever get a license in psychiatry.
The relationship between Michael and Laurie is the soul of the film. He’s driven to finish what he started in ’78 and she’s driven to finish him off. Honestly, every time Michael chokes or chases Laurie, I kept imagining it as a twisted show of affection. I bet every time he attacks her, he’s thinking, “I like you, so I must kill you.”
When he sees her, he stares at the object of his obsession like seeing a chocolate cake after being on a diet for four months. As his hands wrap around her neck and try squeezing the life out, he looks a long hard at her face, absorbing the moment he spent 40 years thinking about.
One thing I loved about this movie was the way it handled the violence. Horror franchises have a habit of getting bloodier with each movie, but about 75% of the murders that happen in Halloween happen off screen. We can hear it happen but cannot see it. Not seeing a kill happen but being able to hear it and forced to imagine it, creates a tense atmosphere and a detached emotionless state. By not seeing the victims die we get to see them through Michael’s eyes, as just inconvenient objects tossed aside.
If you’ve been keeping up with this film and its news, then you already know a sequel is in the works. This should be enough information to give away how the movie ends, I’ll give you a hint; he doesn’t die. Despite this not so shocking ending, I give Halloween four stars. Well-made and a fan film for anyone who loved Carpenter’s classic.
Halloween is now playing in theaters nationwide. It’s rated R for language, brief nudity, and graphic violence.