While most horror movie fans
revel in the bloody mayhem and murder of Halloween. There are many who take this
franchise very seriously and ponder both the good and the bad of these films and
their attempts to construct a linear story, despite the efforts of several
directors which have in fact created 3 separate timelines.
Following the slasher’s “demise” in the critical failure that was Halloween: Resurrection
(2002), musician and independent filmmaker Rob Zombie took it upon himself to
remake the movie in 2007, complete with his own unique, sleazy style of extreme
violence and vulgarity. He then followed it up with the highly-stylized and
mind-bending sequel in 2009.
But then in 2018, fans got yet another soft reboot
of the series with a more realistic and gritty version of Halloween, directed by
David Gordon Green. The 2018 movie picked up where the original film essentially
left off, but 40 years later, thus eliminating the events that took place during
Halloween II (1981), as well as the continuing story of Lori Strode’s (Jamie Lee
Curtis) offspring Jamie Lloyd (played by the beautiful Danielle Harris) in
Halloween 4 (1988) and 5 (1989), not to mention Michael’s “death” in Halloween:
H20 (1998) and Laurie’s death/suicide in Resurrection.
2018’s Halloween ended
with a much older and wounded Laurie Strode, now a grandmother, having seemingly
trapped Michael Myers (although now no longer her brother) beneath her
fortress-like safe house, while on fire, and fleeing the scene with her daughter
and grandmother. As Halloween Kills starts exactly where it ended (although
released 3 years later) with firefighters heading to Laurie’s house while the 3
women head for the hospital in the opposite direction. Sure enough you can bet
that we will find Michael Myers alive and well (sort of). Although the newest
Halloween movies has tried to get rid of any kind of supernatural references
with a more grounded, down-to-earth story, you simply cannot kill Michael Myers,
no matter what timeline after having been shot, stabbed, and burned (multiple
times). And if he didn’t survive as he has the last 10 times, we wouldn’t have a
sequel, let alone a trilogy with the announced release of “Halloween Ends” in
2022. So without even trying to spoil it, I’ve pretty much spoiled all 3 movies.
Fans have come to expect that you just can’t keep a good killer down. Whether
it’s Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface, or even little Chucky, the
many slashers from the last few decades will continue to kill, die, and be
reborn (or rebooted) and kill again, over and over until the end of time, or
until these franchises cease to be profitable. Although, I’m not so sure about
Jason’s future…
While the main focus of 2018’s movie was an older Laurie Strode
(Curtis is almost a senior citizen at 62-years-old) and her current state as a
“prepper” waiting for the day when her one-time babysitter stalker will
inevitably come back. Although since we’ve skipped Halloween II, Michael hasn’t
earned the reputation of revisiting her on October 31st, because that’s in
another timeline! Now in Halloween Kills Laurie spends much of the film in the
hospital (again) just like in Halloween II alongside her long-time “friend”
Officer (No first name?) Hawkins (Will Patton), who apparently came face-to-face
with Michael Myers (in a flashback, but not in the original movie) and failed to
shoot him or let Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance, who’s also seen in flashbacks)
kill him either, and he now regrets his actions (or inactions) all those years
ago. So now he’s in the hospital with Laurie after being mortally wounded by
Myers, while the town of Haddonfield learns that Michael Myers has returned. And
now Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall, but not played by the original actor
Brian Andrews) and Lyndsey (Kyle Richards, who was the original actress!) are
all grown-up and organize the citizens into an angry mob, without torches and
pitchforks, but with a few guns and baseball bats, to finally put an end to the
Halloween horror.
What follows is a wild-goose chase as both the cops and the
townspeople go searching for this elderly serial killer (who must be at least
80-years-old by now!) who is still stalking teenagers on Halloween night. While
his mask does show a lot of wear and tear, it’s not as extensive as the
punishment Rob Zombie gave “The Shape” in his 2nd version, now with a blackened
smirk on his cracked rubber face. The entire pursuit culminates, of course, back
at the hospital, where the crazed townsfolk think Michael is hiding. While it’s
easy to put a willing suspension of disbelief on the immortal slasher villains
like Myers, Halloween Kills relies heavily on Michael Myers’ “reputation” as an
infamous serial killer, both in real life on the screen and in the movie itself.
Which causes a problem since he really isn’t known for returning on Halloween,
or even continuing his killing spree over the years, really there was just the
one night back in 1978, and most people have forgotten it, some willingly.
As we
saw in 2018’s movie, he’s been locked up in a mental institution for years,
until some wannabe podcaster wants to meet him and produces his old mask out of
nowhere. But that plotline didn’t go anywhere. Spoiler Alert: they died!
Although many actors and stuntmen have portrayed “The Shape” of Michael Myers
over the years, at least this time, some credit is given to the original actor
Nick Castle (also a director) who also appeared in 2018, but he is also played
by 2 other actors, both in modern times and in flashback.
The film portrays the
law in a somewhat negative role (although unfortunate, it is not surprising,
given our current controversies, but let’s not get into that shall we.), but not
as bumbling as they were depicted in Halloween 4 and 5 (clown shoes!), but kind
of blaming them for letting Michael’s killing spree to continue, and the
ineptitude of both the former Sherriff Bracket (played by returning actor
Charles Cyphers) and the current black cowboy hat-wearing Sheriff Barker (Omar
Dorsey). Not to mention their inability to catch Michael again as they did 40
years ago, in a bizarre retcon of the 1978 movie’s ending. While it does seem
popular lately to delve into this retroactive continuity and produce more
reboots and remakes of popular films, especially those of the 1980s, horror
being the number 1 genre with the most remakes. I feel that many fans will be
heavily divided on the reception of Halloween Kills.
While there will always be
fans of the original 1978 movie, its sequels have both hits and misses, more
often misses. And there are some who may prefer Rob Zombie’s versions as well.
After we see what writers and producers Danny McBride and David Gordon Green
have in store for us, we may be talking about these endeavors as just another
attempt to catch lightning in a time where Hollywood is bereft of originality
and constantly rely on reinvigorating nostalgia. Maybe we’ll see what happens in
the year 2038?
