Halloween Kills Review

Driving home from the cinema, I called my brother to share some initial thoughts on the latest visit to Haddonfield. As I worked through my feelings I described Halloween Kills as the Empire Strikes Back of David Gordon Green’s trilogy.

But with a few more hours under my belt, I’ve realised I was wrong.

Halloween Kills is actually The Last Jedi.

‘HK’ is several things – a commentary on mob culture, societal views on mental illness, and survivors guilt – wrapped up in one of The Shape’s most vicious outings. It’s also a direct rebuttal of ideas and mysteries posited in Halloween ’18. So at times it’s subversive, and I appreciate that, but it’s clumsy too.

However! I feel my expectations were correctly calibrated on entry, so even the pieces that don’t go down so smoothly, are digested well enough.

Personally, I love lore. I love seeing how things come together, and I adore details. HK is full of this, with plenty of callbacks, returning characters/actors, and even a pretty damn awesome flashback. Following on immediately from the 2018 film doesn’t give some characters much chance to recover and really get involved though. It’s a risk. Risks alienate people. But I’m all in.

And let’s be honest, even if you’re not keen, it’s not The Curse of Michael Myers is it?

I have a different relationship with gore. Some films, such as The Devil’s Rejects, are repulsive. But Halloween films, and especially the better ones, neatly walk the line of interesting and ‘fun’ kills that don’t completely gross me out. Going to the original Halloween, Michael was almost artistic in his murders, and that comes through here too. I’m sure we’ve all wondered “how many knives should be used in someone’s back?” Watching Michael ponder this one is just the right side of ridiculous.

Over the years the films have been through some tumultuous productions. What I’ve found just as interesting is the look of The Shape. His mask, costume, and how he moves. I even had to comment on each film’s take in my ‘Halloween Films Ranked‘ piece. Well, HK continues on from ’18 with a perfect representation of Myers. James Jude Courtney is The Shape. The walk, mask, and his emotionless but somehow full of feeling performance is pitch perfect.

To touch on the clumsiness, people are really dumb in horror films aren’t they? Michael is beyond human sure, but he’s still a person. Enough people using their heads rather than their hearts could deal with him. You have to give some leeway, but my goodness.

Expecting a solid conclusion in the second film of a trilogy is asking for frustration. To refer back to Star Wars, this is the one where shit gets real. There’s been a victory, but now…now you’ve got as near as possible to a pissed Michael Myers, and watching him instill fear in the population of Haddonfield again is great fun.

Halloween Kills takes the story of 2018 and moves it on in a somewhat logical fashion. It’s predecessor means that perhaps we expect more now, but even when it doesn’t match that level, its still giving plenty of what we want. It’s an ensemble piece that takes some big swings, and mainly sticks it. In the back. With a bloody big knife.