Halloween

I typically don’t like horror movies. There are however a few exceptions to the rule, namely anything to do with either writer/director John Carpenter, writer-director Guillermo Del Toro, and Sam Raimi, who also wears many hats as a filmmaker. That is why I decided to see the all new update of “Halloween” by director David Gordon Green. I liked his release of “Joe” in 2013, which starred a more subtle turn from Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage. Gordon Green also directed the Sandra Bullock-led “Our Brand is Crisis” in 2015.

The original “Halloween,” released forty years ago this year, is a landmark horror film. Director John Carpenter took the everyday serial killer concept and twisted the story to make it something new and refreshing for American audiences.

Flash forward quite a few years to 2018, where Laurie Strode is now not only a mother to Judy Greer’s Karen, but a grandmother to Andi Matichak’s Alliyson as well. She appears normal at first, but she has her entire house set up to get rid of Michael Myers, her nemesis for many a year. She is no longer a damsel in distress, but an ace at all forms of firepower, including crossbows, guns, shotguns and anything else that can dispel a bullet.

Gordon Green relishes the violence factor quite a bit in this incarnation, since Myers bludgeons quite a few characters in this journey. Of course he does more than just gut them, because he has an uncanny ability via sheer strength and an incomparable stride and lackadaisical attitude to death.

To make it more accessible to today’s youth, the journalists in this story are covering the Halloween related story for a school’s podcast.
Returning to the new incarnation is the writer and director of the original 1978 adaptation, John Carpenter. This time out, however, he gets composition credit for just updating his original theme. He adds new fresh sound cues only those who relished the original will notice.

Also in a small supporting role is Will Patton (“Kevin Costner's "The Postman,” “No Way Out”) as Officer Hawkins, who keeps peace in the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois.

Not involved in the storyline is Josh Hartnett, who played her son, John, in “Halloween H2O: 20 Years Later.” There is no mention of him in any capacity, as if Laurie has spent her life as a crackpot hermit, not relating to the outside world in any capacity.

For those keeping track, this is the seventh film in the series covering anything and everything that is Michael Myers. The ones directed by Rob Zombie do not count in the lineage, but they deserve a mention since it is covering the same sort of backstory.

If you count those as well, the number increases to 11.

Also not counted is chapter 3, subtitled “Season of the Witch” since it did not involve Myers in any way, shape or form.
I had friends that enjoyed this entry more than I did, but I left with a small sigh and grimace of a so-so letdown.

Grade: C+
(Review by Ricky Miller)