Title – Halloween Kills (2021)

Director – David Gordon Green (Joe) 

Cast – Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall, Robert Longstreet

Plot – The town of Haddonfield is once more haunted by the murderous presence of Michael Myers after Laurie Strode (Curtis) and her family tried to put an end to his reign of terror in a fiery clash. 

“I’m coming for you, Michael”

Review by Eddie on 05/11/2021

There’s a scene very early on in David Gordon Green’s follow-up to his surprise 2018 smash hit Halloween, where we venture back to seemingly unkillable mass murderer Michael Myers bloodthirsty beginnings of 1978.

The police force are out in numbers to track him down, Myers is on the loose and potentially hiding anywhere in the small town of Haddonfield, with a scene showing a kindly police officer pulling up alongside four children enjoying their night of festivities as he then proceeds too ask them if they’ve seen a man in a mask as his just killed a number of people in the neighborhood, unfortunately they haven’t seen him, which is sad news for the policeman who suggests to the children they should probably go home now before driving off into the night. 

Considering this scene plays out around the same time we cut back to the 2018 timeline and witness a heroic firefighter take to a very angry Myers with a firehouse whilst he marches towards him with a crowbar like tool of death and mayhem, you quickly begin to realize that Halloween Kills is going to be one of those films that features a plethora of dumb people, doing dumb things, in dumb situations with Myers and his chaotic carnage only able to carry Green’s film so far as it struggles to make an ounce of sense or find a justification to exist. 

We are repeatedly told throughout the course of Kills that “evil dies tonight”, a slogan and battle cry that a very sweaty Anthony Michael Hall’s Tommy uses to rile up the citizens of Haddonfield into a frenzy as they charge around hospital wings and dimly lit parks to hunt down a Hulk like killer with baseball bats monikered Ole Huckleberry and weapons they have no idea on how to use after Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode (here getting screen time that amounts to laying in a hospital bed wincing or wandering with grimaces around a hallway after muttering some mumbo jumbo about Myers being evil incarnate) and her family fail to put an end to Myer’s existence in the finale of the previous franchise entry but the only thing that ends up dying in this installment of the Halloween brand is enthusiasm one may’ve had heading into watching the film.  

Working once more with screenwriter and friend Danny McBride to bring Myer’s back to the big screen this time around, in what has been long planned to be a trilogy of films with the next entry Halloween Ends due sometime next year, one of the most frustrating aspects of Kills is that somewhere inside it there’s a really fun “one night” horror/thriller that could’ve existed and some scenes in the film must surely rank up there with the most gruesome and memorable of Myer’s kill cannon but these well structured moments of carnage or intrigue are always quickly undone by the next dimwitted character decision, daft dialogue or nonsensical story arc, that when you bury down into it amounts to Myers merely wanting to head back home to stare out a window while everyone else believes his concocting a master plan to bring Haddonfield undone once and for all. 

There’s likely to be many viewers that find Kills incessantly stupid moments and undercooked elements too lame to handle, while long term Halloween fans may find simple joys in seeing Myers go about his grisly business once more (with another killer John Carpenter concocted soundtrack to boot) but regardless of where the end sentiment falls, it’s hard to get excited about where this modern day version of Halloween ends up while it continues to be held back by fire hose heroes and mobs of vigilante seeking citizens that appear to not understand you’re able to run away if need be or attack in a group when a lumbering murderer is loose on the streets. 

Final Say – 

You don’t need to scratch the surface of Halloween Kills to gain an insight into its daftness with only a handful of well designed scenes and blood letting all that holds up this sequel from being one of 2021’s biggest misfires. 

2 car doors out of 5