Halloween (2018) – Movie Review

Halloween – R
Release Date: 18 Oct 2018

This is a damn good movie.

Halloween 2018 is a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s genre-defining 1978 classic. None of the other sequels, including those that had Jamie Lee Curtis back in the cast count anymore. And in this timeline, Laurie Strode has been busy.

She has been preparing, waiting and almost wanting Michael Myers to escape. This fixation has cost her. She’s twice divorced and lost custody of her daughter (Judy Greer) at the age of twelve – because she was teaching her nothing but how to fight back when the day came that the real boogeyman returned to Haddonfield.

Halloween 2018 feels like it was made by a group of people who spent the last forty years with nothing on their minds but how to make a perfect sequel, a perfect face-off; Even perfect conversations between the characters. It’s stunning how this film makes room for little bits of exposition with minor players. Unlike the trope of every character being hate-able fodder for the knife, the characters in this movie feel like they could suddenly take over the plot if given the chance.

John Carpenter’s theme, some of the cinematography and particularly the opening titles bring this right in line with the 1978 original. Just like the original, it was made for $10 million, next to nothing considering today’s movie budgets and Jamie Lee Curtis’ higher star power.

This one is special. Try and see it in a theater with a respectful audience. Having some idiot commenting during the many silent sections gets old fast. Then again, on the other side of us was a father with a son who could not have been older than 12 – who was dressed as Michael Myers and wore the mask the whole night. It was awesome… (but don’t try it yourself – theaters aren’t supposed to allow masks any more.)

This is also one where I lean towards telling people who aren’t into horror that they may still enjoy this one. Especially if you’ve seen or are willing to see the 1978 original first.