Director: David Gordon Green
Genre(s): Horror, Thriller
Runtime: 105 minutes (theatrical cut), 109 minutes (extended cut)
MPAA Rating: R
Fear not, gore-hounds, for Halloween Kills is a horror movie that lives up to its title. This sequel to Halloween (2018) goes all-out in the violence department, making the 2018 film look restrained in the process. Following the events in that flick, it turns out that mass-killer Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) is still alive (surprise!) and about to continue his murderous rampage, as a vigilante mob forms to stop him. If you don’t know the routine by now, then I don’t know what to tell you.
This splatterfest doesn’t do much to advance the story of the respected Halloween franchise. The plot basically comes to a standstill to allow good, ol’ Michael Myers to slaughter a shit-ton of people. He’s essentially a horror movie John Rambo at this point, tearing through waves of people with what looks like relative ease. If you just want to watch people die in gruesome ways, you’ll get your money’s worth. The relentless blood and guts almost makes Halloween Kills feel like the long-lost sibling to the Rob Zombie Halloween atrocities.
This slasher picture introduces us to a great deal of characters, which can only mean one thing: a lot of expendable folks are going to end up pushing up daisies. That’s just the way these productions work, I guess. Halloween Kills attempts to make a statement on the nature of vigilante justice, as the inhabitants of the terror-stricken town give in to their baser instincts and try to ensure that “Evil dies tonight!” It’s a questionable move to add depth to the proceedings, but I can forgive it.
Unfortunately, the character of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) spends most of her screentime cooped up in the hospital (what is this, Halloween II [1981]?). Still, this film passes the was-I-not-bored? test. It may not have advanced the story much (if at all), but it nonetheless manages to be reasonably frightening. Halloween Kills is not one of the better entries into the series. It can’t approach the classiness of Halloween (1978), the suspense of Halloween II (1981), the unintentional hilarity of Halloween: Resurrection (2002), or the nostalgic-but-not-too-nostalgic appeal of Halloween (2018), but I’d probably watch it again.
My rating is 7 outta 10.
The Film Heretic Watches a Classic 