Before the 2018 Halloween was released, co-writer Danny McBride said he and co-writer/director David Gordon Green pitched two films. They proposed filming two movies back-to-back, but they ultimately decided to wait for how audiences reacted to the first one. Thankfully, the film made over $250 million against a $10 million budget and received universal acclaim from critics and audiences. Scott Teems, who gained attention for 2009’s That Evening Sun, was added to co-write the sequel with McBride and Green. Filming commenced in September 2019, primarily in Wilmington, North Carolina, with most of the surviving cast returning. Reports surfaced that Kyle Richards, Charles Cyphers, and Nancy Stephens would reprise their original roles. Principal photography wrapped in November 2019 with a scheduled release in October 2020, but the COVID-19 Pandemic delayed the release. Finally, Halloween Kills saw its release in theaters and Peacock in October 2021.
%
Rating
Synopsis
Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) believe they’ve finally killed Michael Myers. Unfortunately, as they’re going to the hospital, a group of firefighters unknowingly save Michael from the burning house. Soon, word gets out of Michael’s survival, and grown-up Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall) leads a mob to find him. He recruits fellow survivors Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens), and Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet) for the hunt. While Laurie is recovering in the hospital, Karen decides not to tell her that Michael is alive for her protection. As Michael continues carving a path through Haddonfield, the mob gets increasingly frustrated with the police and starts rioting. Laurie tries to help but succumbs to her wounds, leaving Karen and Allyson to go out and confront Michael instead. Will Michael’s reign of terror be stopped, and who will he kill next?
Review
Despite a few issues, I enjoyed the 2018 sequel/reboot and was excited to see where things would go. Unfortunately, Halloween Kills might be one of the most disappointing sequels I’ve seen in quite some time. This film can’t decide between having over-the-top kills or having a more thought-provoking message, and it ends up failing both. While the film does have some inventive and bloody kills, they feel out of place in a Halloween film. Most of these kills would be fine in a Friday the 13th sequel, but here, it just feels gratuitous. It reminds me of how Halloween II felt more like the copycats of Halloween, and that’s not the only comparison. Like that film, Jamie Lee Curtis spends most of her screen time in bed while everyone else does stuff. When she does do something, it’s mostly just monologuing about whatever random nonsense the writers think up.
I will give the film credit for trying to make a statement about the dangers of mob mentality. Granted, it fails at its message and comes off as needlessly pretentious, as if it needs to be relevant. Also, while it’s nice to see some of the original cast return, their roles are ultimately just extended cameos. Admittedly, Judy Greer was much better in this than the last film, playing her role much more seriously. Anthony Michael Hall also does a pretty good job, though I would’ve preferred if they had brought back Brian Andrews. Green tries to inject some of the suspense and tension John Carpenter utilized, but the gratuitous gore undermines those moments. They’re planning on another installment soon, and I hope they learn from their mistakes here, but I highly doubt that. Overall, Halloween Kills is a massive disappointment to such a promising start.
See Halloween Kills currently in theaters: https://fandan.co/3mS0eJY
