Halloween Kills, David Gordon Green’s second installment in the Halloween franchise, bridges 2018’s Halloween and the final film, Halloween Ends (2022). This sequel, undoubtedly the most brutal of the franchise, takes audiences on a trip through Haddonfield, showing another side of the town while reuniting original Halloween (1978) characters.
Before picking up after the events of Halloween (2018), we’re taken back to October 31, 1978. A young Deputy Hawkins (Thomas Mann) has a traumatizing on-job incident which sees the death of his partner. This is the night Michael is apprehended, with Dr. Sam Loomis (an uncanny Tom Jones, Jr.) leading the charge. The flashbacks throughout the film are effectively chilling, never feeling like needless filler. The well-crafted soundtrack from John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies beautifully complements these moments of dread, and does well at balancing nostalgia and contemporary.
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Back in present day, Michael not only survived being shot and burned alive, but he is seemingly stronger, and more vengeful than ever. As he goes on the ultimate killing spree throughout Haddonfield, survivors of the original film come together, headed by Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), and rally a violent town mob hellbent on ensuring that “Evil dies tonight.” If only it were that easy.
We knew from the title and trailer that Halloween Kills would feature the most savage Michael yet. The massacre is not only insanely vicious, but we get some of the most creative deaths in the franchise. While it is a common horror movie cliche for characters to grate on our nerves, making us root for their inevitable death, many of the side characters are charismatic and good-natured, making it hit that much harder. In the brief moments we meet them, I was an instant fan of couple Sondra (Diva Tyler) and Phil (Lenny Clarke) while the eccentric Johns (Scott MacArthur, Michael McDonald) were a delight. There were odd choices made, to be sure, but that didn’t take away from how entertained I was by these Haddonfield residents. While Michael being cruel and murderous for the fun of it is to be expected, not every death felt right.
The film is all about bringing 1978 into the present, with Tommy, Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens), and Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet) armed and ready to put an end to the madman. Although the in-film introduction to the characters was cheesy, it is great to see some familiar faces and names. However, the treatment of these characters (with one exception) is unfortunate, with Leigh Brackett’s death in particular feeling totally unnecessary and callous towards fans. That seems odd to say about a film which kills indiscriminately, but bringing some of these characters back should have served more of a purpose than to just die on-screen. Tommy’s descent into madness perhaps makes him the aforementioned cliche character, although this is somewhat understandable, due to being traumatized by “The Boogeyman” at a young age. His brief likeability quickly fades away, as his overbearing, rally the troops attitude takes him from a bat-wielding hero to a character who needs to meet his end, and I just hoped for more.
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Halloween 2018 has a strong message of female empowerment, however, due to injuries, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is forced to sit this one out. While it’s a shame to not see her dance toe-to-toe with Michael for an entire film, we know the ultimate battle is yet to come. Laurie’s time in the hospital, frail and wounded, is a far cry from the survivalist machine we saw in the last film. This experience allows for endearingly sweet moments that make her feel vulnerable once again. It was a brave creative decision, but one that excites me more to see Laurie back on the playing field, with an intense need to have Michael’s head on a platter.
The film’s gruesome body count is one for the books, and while mostly gratuitous, shows us more of the monster. Some writing choices may not sit well with fans, and there’s no lack of corny dialogue and questionable character moments (comes with the slasher territory), but Halloween Kills does an effective job at setting up Halloween Ends. It raises the stakes for what’s to come in the finale and, after that ending, we’re left knowing anything can happen.
Halloween Kills is now in theaters and available on the Peacock Premium platform.
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