“Halloween Kills” Review

Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) return to cinemas for “Halloween Kills,” the sequel to 2018’s “Halloween” which served as a direct sequel to the 1978 original film.

As a horror addict, my Halloween isn’t complete without a viewing of “Halloween.” It’s a horror classic and, like pretty much everyone, I was excited for “Halloween (2018)” which rebooted the franchise and ignored every sequel after the original. Now, three years later, comes the awaited sequel “Halloween Kills” and, as the title would suggest, it’s a massively fun gorefest while also succumbing to the cliches of slashers.  

Set immediately after the events of “Halloween (2018),” Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) manages to escape from the burning house Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left him to die in. With Myers continuing his killing spree, the fed-up residents of Haddonfield band together to finally kill the boogeyman as he seemingly becomes harder to kill.

I found the 2018 film to be a good use of the clean slate and a real return to form for the series. I know that the film is a bit divisive amongst the fanbase, particularly for all the humor it had, but I enjoyed it fine. But for those who weren’t on board for “Halloween (2018),” I think “Halloween Kills” will be much more appealing because it’s nothing but kills with a few scenes of character development. Normally I would say that’s a bad thing but, since all of the characters are from the 1978 original or “Halloween (2018),” it’s not a disservice.

In fact, it’s fantastic to see many characters from “Halloween” come back to hunt down Michael Myers including Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers), who lost his daughter to Myers’ 1978 killing spree, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens), the nurse who was assaulted by Michael during his escape in 1978, Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet), who was almost killed by Michael in 1978 and Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards) and Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), the kids who Laurie saved from Michael when she babysat them.

Along with Allyson, her boyfriend Cameron (Dylan Arnold) and Karen, they all band together to take out Michael before he kills anyone else. It’s a smart idea and the story also shows how forming a violent mob can have negative effects. The mob mentality element is done pretty well, especially when they confuse people for Michael. Also, take a shot every time they say “evil dies tonight” and you’ll be more hammered than if you drank every time Lynda said “totally” in the 1978 original.

With a title like “Halloween Kills,” it’s only natural to assume that this film would have some pretty entertaining ways of axing off characters. For the most part, that is true. Director David Gordon Green knows that most people going into this film want to see Michael Myers become really extreme and we certainly get that. He starts off the film by murdering an entire team of firefighters and gets even more creative as the film goes on.

With Laurie recovering, her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) takes the lead by joining a mob trying to track down Michael Myers.

However, I think that most of the kills in this film feel more inconsequential. Even when a character we know dies, I didn’t feel that bad for them. And that’s because many of the characters in the film make incredibly stupid decisions. Decisions that films like “Scream” and “The Cabin in the Woods” openly mocked. There’s one scene in the film where a guy knows that Micheal is in a house and goes in alone, telling his companions that he needs to go in alone like a dumbass. 

Granted, his companions are teenagers and you could make the argument he was trying to protect them, but why on earth would you go in a house with Michael Myers anyway? If there’s a mob trying to hunt him down, let them know that Myers is in the house. Going to face Michael Myers alone is like downing a bottle of NyQuil to fight Freddy Krueger. 

And that’s just one example. Some character deaths in the film are actually hilarious and, with some of the ways they die, it had to be intentional. 

But “Halloween Kills” just doesn’t have the same levity as the 1978 and 2018 films. This is probably because, with “Halloween Ends” set for release on October 14, 2022, it’s clearly the first half of a two part story which means the ending feels incomplete. While this is a reality among most two-parters, I could have used something that was more definitive and set up the second half better. 

For those who were looking for another confrontation between Laurie and Michael, she doesn’t do much in the film and spends most of the film recovering in a hospital bed. However, I don’t think this hurts the film because it’s realistic, she was stabbed by Michael at the end of “Halloween (2018)”, and the film is clearly building up a confrontation in “Halloween Ends.” 

But that’s what “Halloween Kills” feels like, a film that sets up the next one. There’s not a whole lot that differentiates it from the other “Halloween” films and, while I’m sure viewing “Halloween Ends” immediately afterward will be better, “Halloween Kills” is a perfectly serviceable entry in the series with some entertainment value. However, I’m still very curious how the series is going to end next year, so the saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode has yet to disenchant me.