Director David Gordon Green brings audiences back to the small town in Illinois 40 years after Michael Myers wreaked havoc on the community in the original 1978 “Halloween” movie. The film takes place in a modern day era where Michael Myers is back to stalk Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) yet again. The 2018 film is the fifth movie in the series that Jamie Lee Curtis has been a part of. Alongside Curtis and Green, original writer and director John Carpenter jumped on board to produce and write the score for the 2018 film.
The timeline picks up decades after the 1978 film, which means the slew of sequels and reboots are based on separate timelines. The film offers a new twist to Laurie Strode compared to the first time we saw her in the original film. Audiences are presented with a woman who has been preparing and awaiting the return of Haddonfield’s infamous slasher inside her fortified home. Broken and paranoid, Laurie Strode returns obsessed and determined to kill Michael Myers for good.
This time around, the film gives viewers a glimpse on the toll and paranoia Laurie has put on her family. Her daughter Karen Strode (Judy Greer) struggles getting over her rough past of survival techniques that her mother forced on her while getting her granddaughter Allyson Strode (Andi Matichak) ready for college. The millennial granddaughter is portrayed in the film wondering why people are obsessed about five killings that happened 40 years ago. This could be compared to today’s society and the insensitivity to violence due to how much of it happens and is portrayed in the media.
Aside from getting a more dense background of Laurie Strode and her family, the film also presents us with a Dr. Loomis type character, Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), who is the replacement for Myers’ psychiatrist. Now, throw in two British podcasters, Aaron Korey (Jefferson Hall) and Dana Haines (Rhian Rees), who set out to make an award-winning narrative about Myers and Strode. The two end up finding Michael at Smithsgrove Penitentiary where they provoke the dormant evil by showing him the mask, and Haddonfield is reliving the hell that was unleashed in 1978. This is also how the new film puts a twist on how Michael becomes one with the mask again.
Since the film takes place in modern day, writers have adapted to fit the tone of horror. The deaths in this film are seen as more graphic than those in the first film with a character’s head being smashed like a pumpkin. Horror movies are always trying to up the intensity and the 2018 film succeeds in giving the audience a new angry Myers, who also appears to walk a bit faster. The film shows how the evil has been waiting to return after all this time.
Green’s film gives audience a true sequel to the 1978 film while still paying homage to the classic slasher. The two films (1978 and 2018) are very parallel in particular scenes. In the first film, Laurie Strode pushes Myers off a balcony, and in the new version it is Myers who throws Laurie. The film offers more similar nods to the original such as the pumpkin intro, which displays a jack-o’-lantern being re-morphed. Not only does the new film make nods to the older film, but also to “Halloween III: Season of the Witch.” In one scene, two kids are seen wearing masks portrayed in the third film.
Overall, the movie was good at giving audiences a new era slasher that uses hints of cinematography from 1978 and a score written by the original director himself, John Carpenter. The film does have laughs at certain times throughout, giving the audience a little stress reliever from the intensity. From one perspective, “Halloween 2018” is a fan-made film made for the fans. The sequel does a tremendous amount of fan service reinventing a low budget film that became a holiday phenomenon and put the audiences right back into the story.
Published By: Stephen Dumnich