LM23 Rating: Wait for Halloween Ends or rent it.
I had heard many bad reviews and warnings about Halloween Kills. But, I had to see it for myself. Well, the majority is correct. Unfortunately, Halloween Kills is just an extended scene from part 1 of the trilogy (Halloween, 2018) and we’re really just waiting for the movie to get to the point in Halloween Ends.
I was never scared and never engaged during the movie. It was really just Michael Myers brutally murdering a whole bunch of random innocents and that was pretty much the plot for Halloween Kills. Well, there was a bit of a plot. The start of the movie was very promising and the strongest act of the film.
We go back to where and when it all started in Halloween 1978 where we learn that a young rookie sheriff, Deputy Frank Hawkins (Thomas Mann and later played by Will Patton in present day), accidentally shot and killed his partner (Jim Cummings) as he was being held by Michael Myers in the Myers’ old family home. Even worse, Hawkins was the one who stopped Dr. Loomis from finishing off Michael Myers by swatting his gun in hand away. Right. Because no one can tell that Michael Myers is NOT human at this point.
In Halloween, it looked like Deputy Hawkins was killed off. But in Halloween Kills, we see that he manages to survive his wound as Cameron (Dylan Arnold) comes across him and calls for help. We are then brought into the small town comfort of a cramped and lively bar club where most of the adults in town have gathered to celebrate Halloween.
It’s very noticeable that this Halloween is much more progressive and modern as we finally get to see a lot of diverse faces. A couple of supporting characters, Vanessa (Carmela McNeal) and Marcus (Michael Smallwood), who are dressed as a Nurse and Doctor strike up a conversation with Haddonfield’s weary warriors, Tommy (Anthony Michael Hall), Marion (Nancy Stephens), and Lonnie (Robert Longstreet) after Tommy gives a creepy spoken word ode to his childhood trauma.
It appears to be an open mic night or something as Tommy eventually goes up to the stage to tell his Michael Myers Halloween tale. This was actually quite touching and I appreciated that there was finally some sort of acknowledgement and care for those that were killed. Usually in slasher movies like this, not much time is given to mourn the dead.
Eventually Marcus and Vanessa have to leave and so that’s the cue that someone’s going to die. But I was very impressed when Vanessa sees who she thinks is Michael Myers in her car and she runs out to tell Marcus. Marcus is like No way and they both run to get help. I was like alright! We’re finally going to have smart, modern characters!
But that’s pretty much the beginning of the end of the good guys having any sort of strategic brain cells. And all we’re left with is a bunch of egregious gore in which we actually do get to see a lot of brain matter being splattered about and overly thick blood gushing all over the place.
Maybe I’m just too sensitive, but I didn’t think it was necessary to see so many firefighter characters be killed the way they were by Michael Myers. I think the one poor guy having his head smashed in was enough and Michael could’ve just gone on his way.
What I liked about the first Halloween from 1978 is that the murders weren’t the main draw. Yes, people died, but it wasn’t like a lot of film time was wasted in seeing the deaths. The scary part is how the victims came across Michael. I still love the scene where Laurie is in class and she looks out the window and sees Michael standing across the street. Now that is scary!
In these sorts of movies, we know when a random character comes across Michael that they’re going to die. That’s a given. But can we please have some suspense? When did modern day scary movies change the rules where gruesome kills equals scary? Seeing a poor man get pinned to the kitchen island with a million kitchen knives, seeing a guy have his eyeballs pierced out, and seeing a poor teenager get his head bashed in and then twisted…that’s not scary. That’s just lazy storytelling and unnecessary. Maybe one of these scenes is good enough but not over and over and over.
Even the supposed plot of the small town folk of Haddonfield fighting back was a huge let down. Does everyone move slowly? Does no one know how to actually fight like shoot an automatic gun and do MMA style fighting? Like what is going on here?
In this day and age, we have The Avengers, we have Shang-Chi, we have Neo from The Matrix, we have James Bond, we have Law & Order: SVU…we also have lots of weapons that can finish Michael Myers off. I think this is more me than the movie, but I’m at the point where I don’t think it’s believable that having a killer on the loose like a Michael Myers would be viable. The Governor of Illinois would be deploying the military and an APB would be sent to all nearby police jurisdictions. If anything, when Tommy was rounding up the town troops to hunt Michael down, his plan was going in the right direction. But then the implementation fell apart.
Why is it whenever people in a car come across something suspicious, the driver gets out alone and no one bothers to keep the car running? Again, do we not know how to do this by now? I was really annoyed when Lindsey (Kyle Richards) got out of the SUV alone and left Marion, Vanessa, and Marcus in the car. I was even more annoyed when everyone in the car died. I thought there was a glimmer of hope for some smart characters when Vanessa told Marcus she had experience shooting a gun. But no, all of these characters just randomly shoot at nothing and waste bullets and that’s the end for them.
I was even more annoyed when Lindsey ran off into some forest/creek area and her breathing was so loud. It’s like come on now… Lindsey luckily is found alive by Tommy and crew, but she’s freaking out and falling apart. That didn’t make sense as she was quick witted enough to load a bag with what looks like bricks and hit Michael with it. She seemed strong and capable, so it was again disappointing to see her just wither away like that. I think it would’ve been better if the folks in the car all lived but managed to wound and scare off Michael.
There was never really a moment of hope or momentum for the good guys. Everyone is eventually cut down and you start to wonder like what is the point of the movie again? The strange plot point of the Haddonfield residents thinking they found Michael Myers in the hospital and going after him like an out of control mob was also unnecessary.
I first didn’t understand or missed the point of the old man who escaped from an asylum or something. I also don’t understand why everyone thought it was Michael Myers. I also didn’t understand why Karen (Judy Greer) was so intent on being his savior such that she stupidly locked him in a corridor and making him an easy target for the mob. The poor guy eventually leaps to his own death and yes, we do get to see it all…again…
I think this whole mob scene was an allegory of how people in society can be. Where they vent their anger on an outsider or someone deemed a bad person and they are blinded by their rage. This whole whatever it was supposed to represent was totally not needed. And we didn’t need to see the poor man’s body after he jumped.
Halloween Kills would’ve been so much better if the actual plot was about the town of Haddonfield fighting back. But, fighting back smartly and strategically. I thought the lead sheriff (Omar Dorsey) was going to step forward and take the lead as he did show up in many scenes, but that never materialized. He was another wasted character even though he was not wasted by Michael Myers.
And even when the town finally cornered Michael Myers and fought back…don’t get me started with how stupid this was. Why in the world would Karen finish off Michael Myers with one stab wound in the back/neck area and then leave the knife there? Why would she just walk away? As soon as Michael was down, the people should’ve chained him up, cut him to pieces, or doused him in flames or something to really finish him off. Again, do we not know how to do this by now?
I love Jamie Lee Curtis and it was so cool to see her name listed as Executive Producer. But, Laure Strode was barely in the film and even then, she was sidelined with a stomach wound and never really had much screen time. The ending of the movie also didn’t make much sense. When Michael Myers comes back to life (as he always does) and kills off each person in the mob one by one, can’t anyone hear what’s happening? At this point, the police and others have arrived at the Myers home where Karen and Allyson are while Michael Myers is wiping out the mob one by one.
The movie ends with Karen going upstairs to the home. Why? I don’t know. There’s no reason for Karen to leave her wounded daughter to check out the view that Michael has been so obsessed with. And again, we all know what happens when a character leaves the group and goes off alone. How in the world Michael Myers managed to enter the house so quickly and then knock off Karen without anyone hearing her screams…I was just annoyed.
I left the movie feeling very frustrated and disgusted like I just ate a bad meal and I needed to get rid of the taste with something better. I needed to watch something more positive and progressive, and so I watched several episodes of Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. Which, by the way, I’ve grown to love. The last episode featuring Margaret Cho is so far the best episode.
If you’re a Halloween fan or curious, I would say stream or rent it. I will still see Halloween Ends as I think that is when the real action and story begins and ends. If anything, maybe Halloween Kills should’ve been shorted to a half hour summary and tacked onto Halloween Ends. But yeah, a huge let down but I’m still hopeful with Halloween Ends.
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