HALLOWEEN KILLS -- Another One

Reviewed by Adam Donato

Michael Myers (aka The Shape) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures.

The 2018 Halloween reboot/sequel was quite a hit. How could it not be, now being produced by Blumhouse, who puts ten million dollars into no-name movies with no-name talent and they are successful. Give them a franchise like Halloween and the tickets just sell themselves. The film had a finale that felt satisfying, but when a movie makes over twenty-five times its budget, there has to be a sequel.

Halloween Kills picks up right where the first movie left off. Laurie Strode and her daughters are driving away from the burning house where Michael Meyers was left to die. Some firefighters come to the rescue and inadvertently allow The Shape to escape. As he goes off on a killing spree, the town bands together to make sure evil dies tonight. Did the continuation of the story feel organic? Of course not. Does that matter? Honestly, no.

While most of the main characters have little to nothing to do in the story and having the ending of the first movie go to waste, this movie is still a good time. Let’s be very honest with ourselves. This is the third second movie in a franchise that has squeezed out more juice than it probably deserves. At the end of the day, all that matters is that the scary sequences were effective and the humor kept things entertaining in between.

Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Karen (Judy Greer) in Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green. Photo Credit: Ryan Green/Universal Pictures.

It is absolutely imperative that you watch this movie with a crowd. At the early screening, people were screaming and jumping out of their seats. There was nothing crazy inventive about the horror in the movie, but it was pure classic slasher horror. The body count was certainly high and the constant threat of dread, whenever Michael Meyers is on the loose, was prevalent as ever. It’s certainly one of the scarier movies of the year.

David Gordon Green has such an interesting filmography. How does the same director of Pineapple Express direct Joe? Then he goes on to reboot the Halloween franchise. It goes without saying that a movie written by Danny McBride is funny. The weird part about it is the most dominant emotion felt in the theater was laughter. Obviously, comedy and horror go hand in hand, but the focus on comedy here is almost admirable. This just might be the saving grace of the movie because the concept is so drawn out and ridiculous at this point. Like can this dude ever die? The humor certainly went a long way making up for the lack of a substantial story.

There are much worse reanimated horror franchises to deal with on a yearly basis. Better another at least fun Halloween movie than another Paranormal Activity spin-off. The only real complaint is the lack of thought put into the story and characters. Announcing that there is going to be not one, but two sequels and the second one has the word “ends” in the title, instilled confidence that they had some kind of plan for the trilogy. The lack of story, character, and enticing cliffhanger shows that none of those things are the priority. This is fine because this movie is a surface-level crowd pleaser. It’s a scary and funny good time at the movies. Nothing more, nothing less.

Halloween Kills hits theaters and Peacock on October 15.

Rating: 3/5