Halloween Kills is a 2021 Slasher Movie directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green and Danny Mcbride and is a direct sequel to the 2018 Halloween which in itself is a direct sequel to the 1978 cult classic of the exact same name.
This is a release i was eagerly anticipating as the movie was delayed a whole year due to the Covid pandemic and having a whole year added on top of my anxiety that the movie wasn’t going to be as good as the 2018 or a full blown dud at worst. This made me really unsure whether I actually wanted there to be a sequel as the 2018 film though ended on somewhat of a cliff-hanger it could have left it as an open ended film and left it up to fan speculation, alas a sequel was in fact inevitable but I would have been fine with either. However after watching Halloween kills I am super thrilled that not only is this a sequel worthy of the Halloween name ( Not that it has a lot to live up to in terms of Halloween sequels) this movie outshines its predecessors and delivers a fun and brutal slasher movie that was a huge, huge surprise and delight.
Having a movie with Kills in the title implies that there will be lots and lots of kills and my god does this movie deliver. The kill count in this movie is nothing short of spectacular…people die…a lot. Every kill is just glorious, every time Michael delivers a finishing blow I found myself squirming and out right gasping at every single piece of it. We see a side of Michael that we have never seen before, he’s an artist, he’s calm and collected and just picks people easier than counting to three…and there is no other way to describe it than utterly and brutally fantastic. This is Michael Myers at his best.
The movie is also beautifully directed, and Michael looks the best he’s ever looked now sporting a menacing half burnt mask and overalls giving a whole new side (literally) to our expressionless killer. Green has mastered the art of this franchise within two attempts every scene where he wants you to feel suspense, you feel it,every scene where he wants you to feel emotion, you feel it. There are even a few little laughs in there too which were balanced well and didn’t go too much down the route of every genre needing to be a comedy. Green clearly knows what made the 1978 classic such a classic and why it holds up today, he has taken the halloween formula (story and aesthetic) and modernized and improved upon it substantially. There are also some flashback scenes following right from 1978 and if you didn’t know it was new footage, you would think it was from the era itself its honestly masterful how much effort went into creating John carpenter’s original 1978 look it’s incredible what they were able to achieve, especially with the surprise cameo which was mind blowing to see.
A Lot of criticism was thrown towards the story and I can see why, it’s very mis-mash and the movie can’t seem to decide who its main protagonist is. For example every 30 mins or so it sets up a character who looks like they are going to be the protagonist against Michael, they deliver some speech that could be ripped straight out of 300 and proceed to try to find Michael before someone else does the same thing, over and over. However though people don’t like the back and forth, I for one loved it, as it cements our protagonists, just as monstrous as our antagonist. Their obsession with Michael drives people to do ungodly things, make mistakes and get each other killed. By the end of the movie there aren’t many good people left. This movie does not have a protagonist, it has antagonists and only antagonists, you don’t know who to root for as everyone is just as monstrous as the next and then i found myself rooting for Michael, and this guy on paper is a villain but even though he doesn’t speak or communicate other than his signature breath…he is the most compelling person in this movie as he drives everyone else’s monstrous motivations without breaking a sweat.
The performances are also great, Jamie lee curtis though she doesn’t have a lot to do in this movie knocks it out of the park, the supporting characters are great, as mentioned above they are just as monstrous at times as our Haddon field slasher and it’s great. People do make extremely stupid decsisions but i feel that can be explained away since people are in a constant state of panic and exhaust that they just want it to end and will do anything to do so, mirroring that Michael will do anything to achieve his goal…going home.
I’m super excited to see where Green and Mcbride take this franchise next. It feels like a Shakespearean play at times with its dialogue and story and feels like they are going for a fitting end to a franchise I have loved since I was first introduced. This hands down is the best Halloween film we have had since the original and probably the best we’re ever going to get.
Final Score
Title: Incredible
“Halloween Kills is everything I wanted and more in a Halloween movie. The movie delivered the best Michael Myers we’ve ever seen on screen and not only beats out the 2018 movie, it stands up there with the 1978 original. With great performances, great ideas…and more importantly gory, non stop brutality from the man, the shape, the Haddonfield slasher…Michael Myers the more he kills the more he transcends, he is the essence of evil and this movie is the essence of what a slasher movie should be. Perfection.“
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