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| photo courtesy of monstersandcritics.com |
Halloween
(2018) picks up 40 years after the events of the original 1978 film, and it ignores
the nine (yes, nine) sequels,
spinoffs, and reboots that have cropped up in the intervening time. Jamie Lee
Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode, whose PTSD from her encounter with
serial killer Michael Myers in 1978 has left her paranoid, dysfunctional, and ultimately
isolated from her daughter (Judy Greer) and granddaughter (Andi Matichak). When
a bus crash frees Michael from custody once again, Laurie takes the defense of
her family into her own hands.
John Carpenter’s
original film is a horror classic in part because of its simplicity, and the
new Halloween takes that lesson to
heart. Unlike previous sequels, which inflated the franchise’s mythology to the
bursting point, Halloween keeps the
action fairly streamlined: we’ve got a serial killer, we’ve got victims, and we’ve
got about an hour and a half to watch them do their thing. The result is a taut,
spooky, well-crafted slasher flick that honors its namesake’s legacy.
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| photo courtesy of ew.com |
Halloween
isn’t the scariest movie I’ve ever seen, and, truth be told, it isn’t even quite
as scary as the original, but it proves that the old formula can work in the
right hands. Some of Halloween’s
scariness it inherits by necessity (Michael Myers will always look creepy
standing in a shadowy background), but other things it earns its own right.
Director David Gordon Green knows, for instance, how to build tension without
relying overmuch on explicit gore (which does appear here and there). He
creates several sequences that really move, and it’s often what he doesn’t show that gets your skin
crawling.
Horror movie buffs will
enjoy Halloween’s reverent attitude
toward the original. Apart from its generally faithful storyline, it’s chock
full of fun callbacks, ranging from the obvious (that wonderful 80s synth and
Carpenter’s classic score) to the obscure (a number of shots that recreate famous
images from the original). It even has an opening credits sequence that
features an ominous jack-o-lantern.
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| photo courtesy of indiewire.com |
On the other hand, Halloween isn’t so beholden to the
original that it doesn’t introduce anything of its own. We get a few slight
insights into Michael Myers’ nature (though the movie wisely leaves him enigmatic)
and a dose of modern humor. Most significantly, the movie very consciously
exists in the post “ Me Too” world;
Laurie’s lingering trauma and her determination not to be victimized again are
prominent plot points.
It’s not just empty
pandering: with that storyline, Halloween
takes the horrifying, impersonal violence of the original and turns it on its
head, making it deeply personal, traumatic, lived-in. And it’s personal not
because Michael Myers is secretly her brother (as in 1981’s Halloween II) or because their destinies
are intertwined by fate, but because the story is actually willing to reckon with
the natural consequences of violence. How’s that for a slasher?
Halloween
is rated R.
TRAILER
Watch the trailer here.
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| photo courtesy of miaminewtimes.com |
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