The boogeyman comes home. On Oct. 15, Michael Myers returned to the big screen. “Halloween Kills” is the newest installment of the famous “Halloween” franchise created by John Carpenter’s “Halloween” released in 1978. “Halloween Kills” made huge earnings at the box office, according to CNBC it generated an estimated $50.35 million in ticket sales during its domestic debut over the weekend despite also being made available on Universal’s streaming platform Peacock.
“Halloween” started a new trend in the ’80s of slasher films such as “Friday the 13th,” “Scream,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and many more films embedded in this category. It has been 43 years since the release of the first “Halloween” and to this day it continues to terrorize people as the story of Myers lives on.
There have been many “Halloween” films over the years. This new trilogy is made specifically to connect the pieces and honor the first “Halloween” from 1978.
“Halloween” 1978 is based on the ordinary town of Haddonfield, Illinois; everything changes when a little boy, Myers, stabs his sister to death on Halloween night in 1963. 15 years later, Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to Haddonfield to kill again. On Halloween night, he goes on a rampage while Doctor Loomis (Myer’s doctor) and the local sheriff search Myers’ neighborhood for him. Meanwhile, Strode is babysitting a neighbor’s child. Little does she know the danger she is in. Myers has a personal vendetta against her and he will not stop until he succeeds.
In “Halloween Kills,” the night is far from over, presenting each character from the original 1978 film 43 years later. This new film carries on the exact night from “Halloween” 2018 when Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left the masked monster, portrayed by Myers, caged and burning in Laurie’s basement, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Myers manages to free himself from Laurie’s trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. However, the town of Haddonfield has had enough of these heinous acts and they themselves become the monsters, a collective villain to defeat this masked devil. “Evil dies tonight” is the phrase that the citizens of the town scream in the hunt for Myers.
This movie ends with a cliffhanger. Questions are aroused about who is Myers? What is his purpose? Does he just kill for sport? Or does he have a motive or a reason to perform these acts that show the darkness of humanity? Hopefully, all these questions will finally be answered in the final movie tie-in of the trilogy “Halloween Ends” set to be released in Oct. 2022. Will Myers finally be defeated? Or will his torment continue? I guess we must wait to find out.
As a horror movie fan, I enjoyed this film. Director David Gordon Green made great decisions with the connections made in this new film. It was an exact continuation from “Halloween” released in 2018. It connected the dots, expanded the story and had the proper visuals and cinematography to really assemble what Halloween night should look and feel like.
However, I believe the gore added to this film is too extreme. It shies away from what the directors and writers of the original “Halloween” in 1978 established prior to filming. Irwing Yabkans – The executive producer stated during an interview for Netflix’s “Movies that made us” documentary episode 1 – “Halloween.” “I want no gore, I want no blood,” he said. In this first installment, little to no blood was shown to viewers. It was your imagination of the darkness that made your skin crawl. I understand time changes and some things become more popular. Nonetheless, it was not necessary to include such horrific death acts performed by the serial killer.
The “Halloween” franchise has become a horror classic. It has become a tradition for many people to watch “Halloween” every Halloween night. Myers has become an iconic character in horror movie history. His attire and terrifying mask have been an inspiration to costumes during the spooky season.
