Michael Myers in the latest film in the “Halloween” franchise. Courtesy of TNS
Another Halloween and another “Halloween.”
The newest addition to the “Halloween” franchise wipes the slate clean and restarts the continuity timeline. Now, the only thing that matters is what happened 40 years ago on Halloween night.
The film is directed by David Gordon Green, who directed “Pineapple Express,” and stars Jamie Lee Curtis, who is back to reprise her role as the original “last girl” Laurie Strode. Andi Matichak and Judy Greer star as Laurie Strode’s granddaughter Allyson and daughter Karen, respectively.
This time around, though, “last girl” is ready. Ever since Halloween night 40 years ago when Strode narrowly escaped a vicious attack by Michael Myers, she’s been preparing for his eventual return by building a shelter out of her home fit for a zombie apocalypse, complete with fences and gated entry, an arsenal fit for SEAL Team 6 and a secret bunker underneath her kitchen.
While the film has only one character from the original “Halloween,” it falls between remake and sequel. The majority of the run time is spent craftily re-creating scenarios from the original movie while maintaining its status as a sequel.
Strode even remarks directly to Dr. Ranbir Sartain’s face that he’s the new Dr. Samuel Loomis, a psychiatrist who has pursued Myers throughout many of the previous “Halloween” films.
Still, the movie does take its own risks. It’s considerably funnier and considerably less direct than the original “Halloween.”
There is a fair amount of comedy — genuine comedy that you will laugh at — throughout the movie. Even toward the end, Green and the other writers sprinkle in a comic scene or two.
At times the film also entertains ideas of departing entirely from the premise that it has set up and some plots go virtually nowhere, appearing only to carry the story to its final scene. But that’s what this movie was all about to begin with:The unstoppable force of Michael Myers meeting the unstoppable force that is Laurie Strode.
While it doesn’t have the same innovation or nearly the amount of raw horror as the original film, the new “Halloween” is a lot of fun. It has a ton of visual and narrative callbacks for fans of the franchise and includes an epic final sequence that makes all of its flaws forgivable, depending on whether you want another sequel, that is.
3.5/5
