Halloween

Halloween

By James Davidson

October is finally upon us. That means the weather finally starts to cool down, the leaves start changing, and movie studio executives release dozens of mediocre horror movies. The latest is another sequel in the “Halloween” series, that is named “Halloween”. Michael Myers is back and he is hellbent on chasing down Laurie Strode, again. Michael has spent the last four decades in a heavily secured mental institution, while Laurie has spent them preparing for his inevitable escape. Michael finally escapes and starts carving a path of destruction through a rural Illinois town while trying to track down his favorite victim.

I have never been a huge fan of scary movies at all. I’ve only seen the original “Halloween” once or twice and one or two of the sequels, so I’m not quite sure how well this movie ties in with the rest of the series. I was expecting to see a super cheesy slasher film, that’s pretty much exactly what I got. The movie was shot to look like a slasher horror movie from the 1980s. From the classic score to the camera angles and lighting, even the font of the credits were callbacks to the original “Halloween”. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the original, so I didn’t get all of the callbacks to it and I had a hard time even remembering what exactly happened in the first “Halloween”. It made this movie a little confusing when the characters would talk vaguely about what happened before, however, I was still able to get the sense of what was going on. I definitely would have liked to have seen the original again to better help me understand what was going on.

I liked the fact that they brought back a lot of the original actors, including the “Queen of Scream” Jamie Lee Curtis as Michael’s victim of choice: Laurie Strode. I thought that she not only did an outstanding job reprising her role,but that it also added to the nostalgic feel of the film. I felt that all of the characters acted well and were perfectly cast.

While the characters are portrayed very well, I think that the way they are written was handled poorly. A lot of the characters suddenly become stupid and forgetful when faced with Michael Myers. I realize that they are supposed to be terrified, but most of them go off alone or run into a dark secluded place when being chased by the deranged killer. The police also do not seem very smart, they are content to just sit back and wait for things to develop instead of investigating when something suspicious happens right in front of them.

“Halloween” is extremely gorey and is rated R for violence, bloody images, as well as lots of language, plus some drug use and nudity. This is definitely not a movie for children or anyone who does not like violence and gore.

I thought that “Halloween” was a well acted, well-made movie, but that there were a lot of writing and plot issues. It definitely has the feel of a classic horror flick. So if you love 80s slasher films, or if you’re just a big fan of the “Halloween” series; I suggest going to see this movie, but rewatch the original first. For me, I might rent this to rewatch occasionally on Halloween or a scary movie night with friends. “Halloween” earns 2.5 out of 5 stars.