Halloween Kills (2021)



Movie Title: Halloween Kills

Year Released: 2021

Rated: R

Runtime: 1h 45m

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Director: David Gordon Green

Writer: Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Jim Cummings, Dylan Arnold, Robert Longstreet, Anthony Michael Hall, Charles Cyphers, Scott MacArthur, Michael McDonald, Ross Bacon, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens, Diva Tyler, Lenny Clarke,

Review: After the horrifying happenings of Halloween (2018) Michael Myers is still at large. With Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) recovering in a hospital bed, the town of Haddonfield, along with the surviving victims of the events of Myer's original murder spree, Halloween (1978), form a vigilante mob to finally end this masked man's reign of terror over this once peaceful little town. Get ready fright fans because "EVIL DIES TONIGHT!" in Halloween Kills!

John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) is a masterful work of suspense and terror. Halloween (2018) is a reboot sequel that respectfully honors Carpenter's work while pumping some new blood into a franchise that has had more downs than ups. Now, in 2021, we get Halloween Kills... which is a movie that seems to have been made by folks that didn't see either of the previous movies or understand what they were all about. But in fact Danny McBride and David Gordon Green return to continue the costumed carnage, as they were the duo that brought us Halloween (2018), with a story that is rudderless, boring, and mean-spirited.

The only thing that this movie gets right is that Michael Myers is a killing machine that is without motivation. He's scary, brutal, and continues to be an unstoppable force of evil. And with that said, the filmmakers seemed to make Michael more of a creatively cruel killer that in both the previous entries. Before he was blunt and shocking in his murderous ways, but in Halloween Kills the character almost seems to relish in his blood-soaked exploits. I think they may have pushed it a little too far here.

And like I said before, Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode is confined to a hospital bed to almost the entire movie. So no interacting with Michael this time around. And she's not even the protagonist here. Honestly, this movie doesn't really have a protagonist. You have classic franchise characters like Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), Lindsey (Kyle Richards), Marion (Nancy Stephens), and Lonnie (Robert Longstreet) return this time around, but they have all been stunted by the events of the original 1978 film, much like Laurie, but nowhere near as extreme. So when they discover that Michael has returned they mob up and are out for blood as a crazed band of gun-totting, bloodthirsty, killjoys that want Michael dead. And that's fine, but they are all as dumb, reactionary, and unlikable. It just more fan service without making these people characters that you feel for or worry about. You don't like any of the characters and you don't root for them so you could care less what happens to them. And even then I wasn't even involved enough in the movie to root for Michael to take out these mouth-foaming, angry lunatics that are out for blood. So what's the point?

Oh, and that's another thing, nothing really happens in this movie other than Michael kills a bunch more Haddonfieldians and all of the other characters talk about the events of Halloween (1978) and Halloween (2018). The 2018 film made a point of Laurie's obsession with Michael and that her daughter was trying to get her to move on. Halloween Kills is all about how nobody in that damn town could get over it and the people that are completely unaware of what happened are willing to go along with getting mob justice because some creepy in a mask needs to be taken down and what the hell else were we gonna do, trick or treat?

And through a flashback, Will Patton's Officer Hawkins relives his interaction with Michael after the events of the 1978 massacre, but he doesn't do anything about Michael now. He just joins Laurie in her hospital room so he can recover from his injuries in the last movie. Why was any of the flashback there? It doesn't pay off at all. Why did Hawkins survive? He doesn't do anything but feel regret. Are you scared yet?

Halloween Kills was such a misfire of a movie that I honestly couldn't care less how they wrap it up in Halloween Ends, which is due out in 2022. I really hated it. It's not scary or entertaining. It might very well be one of the worst Halloween sequels ever. Just watch the original and the 2018 Halloween and leave it at that. And if you're look for something odd in the network of Halloween films then might I suggested checking out Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). It's confusing , creepy, and crazy... and tons of fun and way more entertaining than the apple with razor blades in it that is Halloween Kills.

Stars (out of 4):
       

Fun Fact: The name on one of the firefighter's helmet reads Gamby. Gamby was a character played by writer Danny McBride on the TV series Vice Principals (2016).


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