Halloween Kills Review

I feel it is only fair to preface this commentary with the open admission that I am, very much, a Michael Myers guy. The 1978 original Halloween film has been my favorite flick for as long as I can remember. My home features what some might call a shrine to the nefarious Shape of Haddonfield; complete with posters, action figures, and an alarming 13 latex Myers masks. I make this admission to acknowledge the simple fact that I am, by all accounts, incredibly biased when it comes to the Halloween franchise. However, I would also argue that my distinct affinity for the series positions me as a reasonable and attuned respondent to its ongoing development. With that out of the way, onward to the review (which contains spoilers, obviously).

In the time since Halloween Kills released, I have seen two primary complaints arise from die-hard slasher fans. First, that the movie is badly written. Second, that it features numerous underwhelming performances. I will say that these accusations are largely valid. Halloween Kills is rife with cheesy one-liners that make your eyes-roll and body cringe. From Dr. Loomis’s laughable exclamation, “The evil is here!” to the incessant chants of “Evil dies tonight!”, clumsy dialogue plagues the script, and I love it.

If we think back to the original film, a slew of patently awful lines emerge, largely delivered by Donald Pleasance’s Dr. Loomis. Just to survey: “The evil is gone from here!” “You don’t know what death is!” “Hey, Lonny! Get yo’ ass away from there!” Let us not pretend that John Carpenter’s Halloween is a masterpiece of dramatic literature. However, these silly quips and quotes are intrinsically part of the film’s charm. Sometimes bad writing makes good moments. Through the humorous and often clumsy delivery of these lines, Halloween (1978) was able to breathe. These small moments of camp allow the audience to release the tensions of Halloween’s slow burning fear, only to have them amped even further by its next jump-scare. Halloween Kills, in my estimation, is the first sequel to attempt a similar style. Admittedly, the “Evil dies tonight” motif is perhaps heavy-handed, but overall, the combination of high-tension sequences and ludicrous exclamations allows the film to consistently elevate audience suspense. So, yes. Halloween Kills features some clunky dialogue and stiff deliveries, but that is part of the fun.

It’s clear that the new trilogy is a passion project for director David Gordon Green and is an unabashed love letter to its source material. For me, that is part of the films’ appeal. Green’s trilogy is intentionally building on our nostalgia for the first film, and Halloween Kills makes that more evident than ever with the inclusion of numerous series returns including 1978 alums Kyle Richards, Charles Cyphers, and Nancy Stephens as Lindsey Wallace, Sheriff Brackett, and Marion Chambers respectively. Joining them are returning characters Lonnie Elam, Tommy Doyle, and Dr. Loomis each being undertaken by new actors. Add to that a return to the architectural stylings of the original Myers house (not seen in a Halloween film since 1981’s Halloween II, debatably 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection) and the incorporation of numerous flashback sequences which expand the lore of the OG Halloween, and Green’s newest offering seethes with memory. Some might say that such nostalgia baiting is a cheap trick, and perhaps they’re right. While I love the revival of the characters and aesthetics that made me fall in love with Halloween, it carries a certain cost as well.

While Halloween Kills makes delightful use of its returning characters, their presence significantly undermines series newcomers. It is difficult to care about Doctor/Nurse duo Vanessa and Marcus when their screen time is utilized exclusively to pander to series icons Tommy, Lindsey, and Marion. Granted, every slasher film requires some expendable and meaningless side characters, but with historic final girl Laurie sidelined, Halloween Kills lacks a reason to care. Virtually every character that dies was either a nobody or a notable figure whose demise was spoiled months ago in the trailer (I’m looking at you Nurse Marion). Those few exceptions, Cameron Elam and Karen (allegedly but more on that later), still lacked the character development to make their deaths feel impactful. Sure, it sucks that Allyson had to watch her beau bite it, but as an audience member I was left largely indifferent to his expeditious exit.

I can’t help but assume that this issue of character establishment and development is the direct result of one singular fact. Halloween Kills is not a Michael Myers movie; it is a mob movie. Obviously, I don’t mean mob in the sense of The Godfather but rather in the vein of a frenzied riotous mass. By the end of film, Green makes it crystal clear that the antagonist is not Michael Myers, but rather the concept of fear itself. It is paranoia and terror that stir Tommy, Brackett, and the people of Haddonfield into an angry mob, and as the movie climaxes their fear is increasingly personified. By the time Karen is left bleeding out on the floor of the Myer’s house, it has been driven home that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. This effort of personifying fear recalls the original Halloween’s effort to separate Michael Myers and the boogeyman, the Shape. The figure of destruction which rampages through Halloween Kills is not meant to be a man; it is an idea. It is fear.

It’s been well documented that Halloween Kills is only the second entry into an intended three-part saga, a fact which perhaps helps explain away the seemingly meandering mob narrative of the film. By refocusing our gaze on the town of Haddonfield and its inhabitants, rather than upon Michael and Laurie, Halloween Kills serves to reorient audiences. We are given a sort of liminal narrative which offers just enough Michael to keep us interested, while keeping some gas in reserve for next year’s finale in Halloween Ends. Personally, I think this is smart approach. Green’s effort to interrogate the effect of Michael’s reign of terror upon the town provides a subplot that feels mostly fresh. That said, Halloween Kills is not the first entry to question how the murders impact Haddonfield. That honor belongs to 1995’s Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. However, Green’s take on the matter is streamlined and significantly more functional as a plot device. Overall, Halloween Kill’s is not remotely discreet about its position as a middle passage between two films. From beginning to end, it is working to set us up for an act three. As to what that might look like, who knows? Not me.

But… I do have a theory. This is the point were thought and analysis give way to fanatical supposition, so fair warning the following might contain spoilers for Halloween Ends (but not likely). While I don’t think this theory will actually play out in the upcoming culmination of Green’s trilogy, I do think there are threads in Halloween Kills which point towards its plausibility. I expect that the ending of Halloween Kills, much like Michael’s beheading at the end of Halloween H20, is a red herring. Everything up to and including Karen plunging the knife into Michael’s spine as he lay beaten is real, permanent, and canonical. From that point forward, I suspect things take on a hallucinatory element. The moment when Karen stands outside the Myer’s house staring at the apparition of young Michael at his sister’s window serves as a figurative representation of Karen’s abrupt descent into madness. When Karen herself stands at the window and is confronted by Michael Myers, her sanity wholly collapses. Michael, in fact, is not there. Karen is alone and her death is purely symbolic. This moment at the window establishes that Karen as we knew her is gone. I suspect, however, that she may not be dead but rather has been reborn as a new incarnation of The Shape. Halloween Kills puts a great deal of effort into forcing a comparison between Michael and Karen. The most distinct example of this comes as Officer Hawkins lays in his hospital bed insisting that when Michael stood at Judith’s window, he was not looking out at Haddonfield, but rather looking in at his own reflection. As he speaks the camera cuts to Karen standing at a hospital window, her reflection staring back at her. Now maybe you’re thinking the idea of someone other than Michael donning the infamous mask is insane, but this wouldn’t be the first time. An early 2000 run of comic books by Chaos Comics saw Laurie Strode take up the mantel of the Shape as she terrorized the residents of Haddonfield. While these comics are not cannon, they do at least set a precedent. Again, this is mostly just good-natured supposition. In all likelihood, Halloween Ends will continue to follow Michael Myers and his murderous exploits, but sometimes it’s fun to wonder what if…