Released: October 19th 2018 (UK)
Length: 106 Minutes
Certificate: 18
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Virginia Gardner, Haluk Bilginer and James Jude Courtney
1978’s Halloween was an arresting experience; in the decades since it rocked the horror genre, no follow-up has matched it. With his last big screen appearance being a bizarre Rob Zombie two-parter from 2007 to 2009, the pressure is on for the new film to return to form.
Ignoring the events of all previous Halloween sequels, Halloween 2018 begins in a mental institution. After being locked away for forty years, silent serial killer Michael Myers (Played by the returning Nick Castle and stuntman James Jude Courtney) is set to be placed in maximum security prison, but in transit he mysteriously escapes and returns to Haddonfield again for another round of stalking. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her extended family are put up against the evil as the body count starts to mount. The new Halloween pays many tributes to the franchise, but by replaying moments from different angles the film smartly steers away from rehash territory. It operates on a similar template to John Carpenter’s work, transferring from day to night when Michael begins to kill. There’s a fair bit more going on here, with Laurie’s daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak) eventually being pulled into the madness. Things move at pace, even with some speed bumps along the way.
More than any other sequel before it, Halloween 2018 works hard to capture the look and feel of the source material. The film is much more explicit in its portrayal of Michael, often following him around the environment to deliver some incredibly bloody moments. Yet at other points, it’s faithful to the first film, keeping Myers out of sight to get everyone on edge; a relatively well-balanced mix that’s true to the nature of the antagonist. The soundtrack to the film is great, with the returning John Carpenter working alongside Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies to bring a meticulous modern update to the chilling original. The synths have been emphasised in Halloween 2018 and it’s placed at all the right moments to send shivers down your spine. With that said, the film’s atmosphere falls short due to scene transitions; the quieter moments are clearly telegraphed which causes problems for suspense building; moving from a solitary house to a pounding school dance floor puts distance between the audience and Michael for example. The film is certainly scary, but it doesn’t quite reach nail-biting levels for this reason.
This same level of accomplishment also applies to the characters; Jamie Lee Curtis makes a rousing return to playing Laurie Strode, creating a very believable portrayal of post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s ready to face Michael and is obsessed with ensuring her family is safe. Judy Greer and Andi Matichak are also solid with Matichak channelling Curtis’s original performance in an often-visceral way. Unfortunately, other side characters become a sizeable distraction at best. Two documentary makers (Played by Jefferson Hall and Rhian Rees) don’t fit the plot; they’re a device to serve the opening and get Michael where he needs to be. The new doctor character, (played by Haluk Bilginer) when separated from Doctor Loomis, has a wholly unnecessary twist that goes nowhere in the second act. These moments stick out because when the film is showing Michael around stalking around, it comes close to matching the 1978 classic in terms of fright factor. Both Castle and Courtney do a brilliant job at recapturing the monster’s brutality throughout.
The original Halloween was always a hard act to follow and this 2018 edition, despite being the worthiest follow-up, still has problems. The scares work relatively well and most of the performances are good, but the film’s inconsistent atmosphere and unnecessary filler keep it just short of its full potential.
Rating: 3/5 Stars (Fair)
Commentaires