Halloween (2018)

"I would suspect the notion of being a predator or the fear
 of becoming prey keeps both of them alive."

The original Halloween movie looms large in my childhood. I remember watching it, and greedily seeking out all of its sequels, even the third one that didn't make any damn sense, at my local Blockbuster. I remember being scared and fascinated by the Michael Myers character. I remember the heroic Dr. Loomis: the one no one listened to, until it was too late. I remember Laurie Strode, the girl who never gave up. I remember that stinging synth score.

John Carpenter's 1978 original would popularize the slasher sub-genre and become a pop culture touchstone. It was brutally simple, and chillingly effective. It was a masterclass in making a small budget work.

When the film was rebooted in 1998, with Halloween: H20, I went and saw it in the theater. When a sequel was made in 2002, Halloween: Resurrection, I dutifully went and saw that. I even watched Rob Zombie's 2007 remake. And its 2009 sequel. Sadly, the franchise could never quite capture the magic of the first film. Filmmakers tried to explore Michael Myers as a character, and that was a huge mistake. Loomis was right: he is pure evil. There is no character. There is only killing. Which is what made it so darned scary in the first place: there can be no leveling or negotiating with Michael Myers. Because there is no humanity there to parlay with.

The series is now ten movies long, and the count is skewed in favor of misfires and cash grabs.

So when a sequel was announced a year or so ago, an eleventh film, I was very skeptical. The more that leaked about it, month by month, however, I became more excited for it. It would be a direct sequel to the very first movie. It would do away with the entire series' lore. And it would star Jamie Lee Curtis.

So I decided to watch a shit load of horror films this month in preparation for this movie.

So: how was it?

Summary:

Forty years after he went on a Halloween evening killing spree, Michael Myers escapes from the psychiatric institution that has housed him these many years. He has come back, but Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), sole survivor of that initial killing spree, has spent every day since preparing for the inevitable.

Pros:

Remix and Subvert: This is not a reboot, or a remake. This is a straight up sequel. It does not try to recreate the magic of the first film. It remixes the elements that made the first film work, and subverts others to serve its own needs. Laurie Strode is no longer a helpless girl. She is ready for Michael. Myers immediately goes to killing as many babysitters as he can find, once he gets back to Haddonfield. The only reason he tried to kill Laurie all those years ago was that she was babysitting. It was nice to see the filmmakers respect that Myers' evil is so one-dimensional. It seems almost inconsequential that he ends up at Strode's house in the final act: he's there to kill people, and it just so happens that Strode, and her daughter and granddaughter, get in his way. It's an interesting counterpoint to Strode's trauma. Laurie has spent her entire life training for her next encounter. The event was a singular moment in her life that, despite the pleadings of her family, she cannot "get over." On the other hand, Michael Myers has just been... evil. The entire time. He is a force of nature. He doesn't try to kill Laurie because she is his sister, or because he wants revenge, or because some satanic bullshit. He wants to kill her because she is a warm body in front of him. This evil is mindless, directionless, and without motivation. We get a new Loomis type this time around, too: Strode even snidely remarks, "Oh, you're the new Loomis." We get dead bodies under sheets. We get Michael's penchant for ghoulish theater on full display: he pins people to walls with knives, he hollows out people's skulls like Jack O' Laneterns and illuminates the insides of their faces with flashlights. We get bodies thrown out of windows. We get accordion-doored closets. The film takes the elements from the first movie, the ones that worked,  updates them, and places them into new context. It is more of a call and response to the first film without being a complete retread. In other words: fans of the 1978 original will find plenty of nods and fan service, but a new comer will not be alienated by too much eye-winking and nudge-nudging.

Disregards a Complicated Lore: David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley wisely decide to just throw out all of the sequels in the series to refocus. There is no complication, hidden motive, or familial bond. There is only profound evil, and people willing to underestimate it. Or, rather, people who assume that they can deal with it in a "normal" manner. It is telling that the film brutally kills off anyone who even mentions the expanded lore, or tries to humanize Michael. The two podcast hosts, ahem "investigative journalists," are swiftly dispatched. They want to think of Michael as a human being who is about to be sent to a "living hell" of a facility for the rest of his days. Dr. Sartain, Neo Loomis, wants to study Michael and see what makes him tick. The sick joke of it all is that there is nothing that makes him tick. The thrill is in not knowing Why that mask? Why that night? Why Laurie? Why won't he die? Why, why, why? There is no why. Unexplainable horror keeps its edge.

A Tale of Trauma: Laurie Strode has dealt with being the sole survivor of a mindless murder rampage for forty years. She's had her daughter taken away by the state, and divorced twice. She can't go out in public. Her house is an isolated death trap, waiting for prey. She still wears her hair the same way she did in '78, and keeps those wonderfully flared bellbottom jeans. She is stuck in stasis. And can you blame her? Jamie Lee Curtis proves why she got famous in the first place: she can act. She is vulnerable, and righteous, and badass, all at once. She plays all of Strode's strengths and weaknesses to the hilt. By the time she confronts Myers in the third act, the audience has seen what such profound trauma wreaks on a singular life, and on the lives of that person's loved ones. Curtis carries that weight, and it is an impressive, affecting performance.

The Maestro Returns: Not only does the film come with the blessing, and consultation, of John Carpenter and Debra Hill, it comes locked and loaded with a John Carpenter score. John Carpenter, his son Cody Carpenter, and frequent collaborator Daniel A. Davies step behind the synth keys and deliver a sterling, classic score. Carpenter & Co. update and remix that classic theme, but it still retains its chilling simplicity.

Knows When to Tip It's Hand: The film is surprisingly careful with which violence it shows (in gloriously violent detail). Yes, there is gore. Yes, a man's head is popped like a melon after a power stomp from Michael Myers. But the film also knows when to keep the violence off screen, communicated only with the excellently layered sound design: blood squelches, necks crack, bodies thump onto the floor, legs shake in a final death rattle, and all the while Michael Myers' steady breathing wheezes in and out. I respect the level of restraint from David Gordon Green: he didn't have to do that, but I think that committing to that helped make this film more mature and interesting.

Alleviating Humor: The script has humorous bits and dialogue sprinkled throughout. Danny McBride's influence is keenly felt in this regard: at one point a character, while making a sandwich, says, "Oh man, I got peanut butter on my dick." The jokes land, and let some of the pressure off. The screenwriting team were wise to do this: horror films in particular need this kind of comic relief, otherwise you hazard oppressing your audience with doom and gloom for 100 minutes. Of course a balance needs to be struck: often times you run the risk of having your horror undercut by the comedic elements. Halloween manages to toe the line nicely, with believably funny jokes, without sacrificing the impact of its brutality.

"You go in there, you gonna die, Dave!": Jibrail Nantambu steals every second of screen time he has as Julian, a ward of one of the endangered babysitters. He zips out funny one-liners with ease, and is probably the smartest person in the film: he runs right the fuck away. Good on you, kid.

Cons:

Suspension of Disbelief: This movie requires some. The audience needs to set aside the fact that Michael Myers would almost certainly have been executed in 1978. The audience needs to set aside the fact that Myers can take multiple gunshot wounds and various other trauma and keep on stalking. You might find your ability to give this movie the benefit of the doubt lacking. I find that the underestimation of Myers is one of the hallmarks of the series, and is part and parcel with any horror film, but I understand why it would throw some people for a loop.

There Shouldn't Be a Sequel: This movie tells a really nice story. It completes Laurie Strode's story arc with a nice sense of finality. However, it is making a boatload of cash, especially in comparison to its relatively meager $10 million budget. This means a sequel will almost certainly be greenlit: Hollywood will hardly be able to help themselves. A sequel should NOT be made, however. It would undermine the solid storytelling and cathartic end that this film realizes. I would love for well enough to be left alone... but past history tells me that we'll have another Halloween sequel in two years. That makes me sad.

In Conclusion:

I really enjoyed this movie. It made a truly audacious move, but paid it off with smart writing, clever film making, and affecting performances.

Should You Watch It?

Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It marks a return to form for the series, and tells newcomers everything they need to know. If you are looking a movie currently in theaters for some spooky Halloween fun, this new Halloween might be right up your alley.

Miscellany:

- The film's release coincides with Michael Myers' in-canon birthday: October 19th.
- Close family friend Jake Gyllenhaal was the one who reportedly talked Curtis into reprising her role as Laurie Strode.
- John Carpenter has said that this is the last Halloween film. I hope he's right.
- OG Michael Myers, Nick Castle, comes back to play The Shape this time around. At 70 years old, he is the oldest actor to portray the role. P. J. Soles, who played Lynda in the original film also returns: she plays a teacher at Allyson's school. 
- The gas station in the film is a complete replica of a gas station that features prominently in Halloween 4: The Curse of Michael Myers (1988).
- Myers, upon returning to Haddonfield, begins murdering babysitters. This is a throwback to the original title of the first film: The Babysitter Murders.
- The official body count: 19.
-  On its $10 million budget, the film has currently run up a $91 million box office. It boasts a 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 226 reviews.