By Brett Blake 40 years after the iconic original, we finally have an entry in the HALLOWEEN series that at least tries to be a good movie on its own merits, and on that score, this new HALLOWEEN is a success. It makes a few missteps, but the things that are great about it are really great. The premise is a simple one: ignoring every other movie other than the first, Michael Myers has been in captivity for 40 years, following his original rampage. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has spent those decades in various states of emotional trauma, something which has estranged her from her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), and her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak). But when Michael escapes the night before Halloween to begin another killing spree, Laurie is ready for him. In some ways, we’ve been down this path before. 1998’s HALLOWEEN H2O also reset the timeline, dropping parts 4, 5, and 6 from the continuity to bring the focus back to Curtis’ Laurie. This film similarly ignores the bulk of the franchise, and acts as a direct sequel to the original 1978 movie. One could argue the idea of “sequelizing” HALLOWEEN in the first place inherently detracts from the power of that film’s ending, but that ship sailed 37 years ago with the first sequel, so the decision to start fresh (or as fresh as possible without going the remake route) seems like the only option that was in any way viable, creatively. Director and co-writer David Gordon Green executes the premise with no small amount of style. Even just purely on a quality, technical level, this is unquestionably the best movie since the original. For some, that’s a low bar to clear, but it should be a genuine compliment. Beyond simply the technical merits, though, the movie gets a lot right, chiefly the classic Boogeyman himself, Michael Myers. Myers is not scary because he has a backstory. He’s not scary because he’s doing the bidding of bizarre cults. He’s not scary because he’s just insane. He’s scary because the nature of his evil is totally unknowable, and this film absolutely gets that this is key to the character. There is no reason for what he does. No justification. He exists to kill, and the “why” is utterly unimportant. We can’t comprehend it. This movie presents Michael Myers - The Shape - in more frightening ways than at any time since the first movie. Jamie Lee Curtis returns to the role that made her a star, and she (to borrow some slasher movie parlance) kills it, delivering a rock-solid and surprisingly emotional performance. She’s backed-up by Judy Greer, refreshingly in a role that doesn’t waste her talents, and Andi Matichak, who nicely conveys her character’s frustrations with being pulled in different directions by her mother and grandmother. These three women, playing three generations of the Strode family, provide a very strong, grounded anchor for the horror to unfold around. Without spoiling anything, it’s nice to see them depicted as rounded and capable characters, not just fodder for The Shape to slice through. One area in which this film is a departure from the original is its presentation of the violence and gore. Famously, the 1978 film is rather chaste when it comes to depicting actual gore on-screen, with Carpenter preferring to use other techniques to suggest the horribleness of the violence. Now in 2018, this new movie ups the ante substantially, delivering kills that are not just violent and visceral, but downright grotesque in some cases. This could rub some devotees of the Carpenter film the wrong way, but the gore here does not come across as purely gratuitous or exploitative. It is effectively upsetting in illustrating how much of a threat Michael Myers remains. And to director Green’s credit, much of the violence is preceded by some inventive suspense set-ups. A lot of mileage is gotten out of Michael Myers’ relative stillness, the way he watches people from afar, or his ability to potentially be hiding almost anywhere; the movie’s third act, particularly, features some quite tense moments of suspense that Green is really able to milk. Additionally, the way this film evokes and presents the actual Halloween holiday itself is arguably even stronger than in the classic original, which was never able to show much more than a sprinkling of leaves and a handful of trick-or-treaters. Here, though, chilly autumn air is practically palpable, and there’s a much stronger utilization of the atmosphere and goings-on surrounding All Hallows’ Eve traditions. This sets the stage for Michael Myers' new rampage in a quite strong way. There is an absolutely superb long take that Green stages involving Michael stalking the neighborhood streets of Haddonfield while assorted Halloween shenanigans unfold around him, and it’s the single purest distillation of the feel of Halloween that this series has ever achieved. So where does the movie step wrong? First, there’s perhaps a bit too much humor at inappropriate moments; nobody should argue that these movies should be completely humorless, but there are a handful of moments of comedy here that somewhat undercut the genuinely suspenseful tone that is otherwise simmering. Second, there’s a creative decision made involving a new character that absolutely, flat-out, 100% does not work; it’s an off-the-wall choice that can kind of be admired in an abstract, conceptual way, but in execution, the movie takes a total face-plant when this development arrives. The film does recover from this, but it’s still a baffling little detour that genuinely does kind of hurt the movie a little. Surely the filmmakers had a reason for attempting such a thing, but it’s a big whiff in an otherwise very solid screenplay. Bottom line, this new HALLOWEEN is a quality endeavor, anchored by stylish moments of horror and a trio of strong performances. Its flaws, though not totally insignificant, cannot overshadow its strengths, and it’s a real treat to have another legitimately good movie in this series... even if it took 40 years!
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