There are two theories about Michael Myers. Dr. Loomis suggested that the famed serial killer is simply pure evil. Others empathetically insist he must be psychologically damaged.
What six-year-old would kill his own sister on Halloween if he’s not one or the other?
Part of what made John Carpenter’s 1978 Halloween a classic slasher film was that it never answered that question. Myers — or “The Shape” as he’d be known later — was everything and a singular element at the same time. And his legend has stood the test of time both on and off the screen.
Read Pop Break’s review of the brand new Halloween.
Now, 40 years after the babysitter murders in Haddonfield, Illinois, Halloween is back to answer that question but pose more: is his other half, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) truly his opposite? Is she a crazy person reeling through decades of torment, or is she pure good?
By the time the credits roll, that’s fully answered without completely destroying the legend the franchise has thrived on for decades. It’s an both an extension of a classic (even down to naming the sequel the same as the original) and an equally satisfying standalone with a lot on its mind.
In an era now sprawling with ideas surrounding the #MeToo movement, there’s a clear advocacy for turning victims into heroes as Laurie is tasked with defeating the demon that’s haunted her for forty years. But it’s an extension of Laurie as well, as her PTSD has cost her family a sense of normalcy as her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) are at odds in understanding the idea of her years of pain.
The timeliness of the film is present even in the cold open, introducing a new framework through a pair of investigative journalists/podcasters. By introducing the growth or stoicism of Myers at a mental facility through this journalistic angle, director David Gordon Green and his co-screenwriting team, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley set up an important idea of what the cost of truth is and how we cope with history. That’s especially true when our past isn’t done with us, making this an excellent pairing with the latest Mission: Impossible.
All this is accomplished with a new sense of humor you’d expect from the writing team that brought you Your Highness and Eastbound and Down. Some of the hits work, others are out of place paired with the self-seriousness of following a serial killer on the run to attack his favorite victim again.
Still, the writing succeeds by both separating and attaching itself to the source material. It’s filled with callbacks to the original, directly comparing Laurie and Myers through a number of visual cues. At times, it’s a bit too spot-on, sure to induce some eye-rolls, but other moments, like the cold open, are smart remixes and restructurings of John Carpenter’s original vision.
One thing that changes for the worse is how graphic the violence becomes. Obviously, this is a matter of taste. Watching Myers bust in a few skulls, crack open a jaw, and skewer another soul definitely modernizes the story. Maybe that’s for the best, amplifying the wickedness, but all that was left out of the original while convincing viewers they actually saw buckets of blood in a slasher film. Still, no one is spared from Myers insatiable drive. For better or worse, Green and crew don’t let the audience interpret as much as Carpenter did.
However, they did nail the atmosphere on the whole, boldly leaving Myers’ mask off in the front chapters. He’s still as brooding and daunting as with the mask—a true credit to Michael Simmonds’ cinematography. And yet again, John Carpenter’s score is stupid good, adapting to the times with ease, feeling like a piece of Trent Reznor’s theme cover last year.
Perhaps the film’s most consistent point lies with Curtis’ performance with a character she’s internalized for decades. She’s as confident as ever, lifting the rest of the cast around her, effectively showing three versions of Laurie in the family tree. So a credit to Greer and Matichak is in order as well, effectively conveying each’s pain and collective grief against a horrific backdrop.
Sure to thrill and delight all the same as the original, Halloween is back to bring closure to an uncertain time. It’s equal parts advocacy and entertainment. You can’t ask for much more, especially as it stays true to its beloved source so well.
