Halloween

Halloween

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton

Directed by David Gordon Green

The Story:
Forty years after he murdered five people, Michael Myers (Nick Castle) has been incarcerated at the Smith's Grove Sanitarium, where he's remained mute the entire time.  Two podcasters want to do a story on the murders, and bring Michael's old mask to try to elicit a response, to no avail.

Then they go to Haddonfield, where they interview Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the lone survivor of the massacre.  She's become reclusive, suffering two divorces, becoming estranged from her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), and has basically spent her life preparing for Michael's eventual escape.

When he's being transferred to another prison, the bus Michael's on crashes, and he escapes.  He makes his way back to Haddonfield to finish what he started forty years ago, but this time Laurie is ready.

The Synopsis:
Hollywood has this very immoral aspect about it that's understandable but still frustrating: milking their cash cows until they're utterly dried up.  When they find a hit movie, they have to churn out sequels to keep the money coming, even at the cost of actual talent.  No one ever asked for "Zoolander 2," "Dumb and Dumber Too," or "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," yet Hollywood put them out because the originals were big hits.  No other movie genre does this happen to more than the horror one, with loads of unnecessary sequels being released every year.  The "Saw" franchise would've been fine with three, but they went on and on.  "Paranormal Activity" was good with one, but of course they had to churn out more.  With "Halloween," the franchise has gone through so many sequels, remakes, and retcons you need a wall-sized map to piece everything together, and most were done for the sake of a quick buck.  So when word came that another "Halloween" movie was being made, true fans groaned and feared that their favorite Shape would be again treated to a heartless, cash-grab endeavor.  Fortunately, the film not only kept the heart of the original, but in many peoples' minds - myself included - became the best sequel of the franchise, and has come the closest to reaching the high bar the original set.


After Michael escapes from the sanitarium, he makes his way back to Haddonfield to finish the job by killing Laurie Strode, who is now twice-divorced, estranged from her daughter and granddaughter, and lives like a hermit in a well-constructed fortress of a home, where she's been waiting for Michael to visit.  As Michael hacks and slashes his way back to his ultimate prize, Laurie prepares and this time won't be caught off-guard when The Shape comes knocking.

Disregarding all other sequels in the franchise, writers David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley decided to once again offer a new timeline in the "Halloween" saga, focusing on just the first film and having their story happen forty years later.  No longer are Michael and Laurie brother and sister, and there's no sinister Druid cult behind Michael's madness, but instead we return to what made the original "Halloween" so frightening - a killer who kills with no motive.  No one knows why Michael targeted Laurie, but it's this obsession that's haunted both characters for forty years, and both have been preparing for their eventual rematch.

Forget Ali vs. Frazier.  Forget Burr vs. Hamilton.  Forget Jason vs. Tommy.  It's Michael vs. Laurie that's the bout for the ages, and fans have been eagerly anticipating this rematch for some time (even though their reunion in "H20" was alright, and we won't even go into their final confrontation in the other movie-that-shall-not-be-named).  When the final event begins, we're all in and on the edge of our seats, as we get to witness two titans of horror cinema going toe-to-toe again, but this time they're on equal footing.  The result is a thrilling, emotional, no-holds-barred battle that will have you cheering like you're watching the best boxing match in history.


"Halloween" blends the buildup terror that the original did so well with sheer, brutal violence that today's audiences crave in a way that doesn't tilt the bar too far one way or the other, but achieves perfect balance.  We feel the dread rising as Michael slowly makes his way to his unclaimed prize, and relish in the gory violence he leaves in his wake, like a tornado's path of destruction.  Combined with John Carpenter's classic score, we feel like there wasn't a slew of unnecessary sequels before and after, but we're catching up right where the original left off.

That's not to say the film doesn't take license from the other films, as there's a boatload of references and Easter eggs to all the previous "Halloween" films that are incredibly obvious, and some that are not-so-subtle.  For a diehard "Halloween" fan like myself, I was having fun noticing these similarities and enjoying the fact that director and writer David Gordon Green included them in the movie to pay homage to the long-living franchise.

Yet the film isn't just about visceral terror, but actually gives focus on something that most movies of this type fail to investigate: what effect a traumatic event has on the victim.  For forty years, Laurie Strode has been living in her own self-contained prison, isolating herself from everyone she's loved for the eventual fear of her arch-nemesis returning.  Jamie Lee Curtis - who got her illustrious film career started with the first "Halloween" - returns to the role that made her a household name, but she's not the same naive, nice, sweet girl we met forty years ago.  Now she hardly cracks a smile, sits stoically, and is extremely proficient in firearms and hand-to-hand combat.  She's ready for Michael, but she's given up forty years of her life to do so.

This is where the film really shines, in that it shows how a victim can be mentally scarred for life after a traumatic event.  Even though their confrontation only lasted about twenty minutes, it drastically changed the trajectory of life for Laurie.  She's twice-divorced, estranged from her family, and basically lives as a hermit.  I can't help but feel bad for her, but worse for people who've gone through this in real life.  There's real monsters out there who've hurt and traumatized good people, and their lives will never be the same.  Jamie Lee Curtis takes this role incredibly seriously and puts her whole emotion into it, delivering a powerful performance that's undeniable.

"Halloween" really focuses on female empowerment and the legacy of family in the three Strode girls.  Laurie is the grandmother who went through the worst event imaginable, and became hardened after the fact.  She trained her daughter Karen to be a fighter like herself, which led to her being taken away at the age of twelve.  Now, Karen doesn't even talk to her mother, and blames her for all the bad things she goes through.  Yet this hatred hasn't effected Karen's daughter Allyson, who longs for a personal relationship with her grandmother.  Curtis, Judy Greer, and newcomer Andi Matichak all deserve recognition for their performances, and when the finale comes and Michael goes toe-to-toe against these three femme fatales, it's all-encompassing and empowering for them as well as the audience as a whole.  It serves as the best sequel in the franchise, one that wonderfully ties up all loose ends, and hopefully this time Hollywood won't tarnish the legacy by making another sequel.

*Sees articles about a "Halloween" sequel in the works*

Dangit.

The Summary:
Paying homage to the original, serving up a story that disregards all the confusing, pointless tales in between, and reuniting two of horror cinema's most iconic characters, "Halloween" serves as the perfect sequel to the original, providing audiences with an exciting thrill ride and also providing an emotional performance by the amazing Jamie Lee Curtis that no true "Halloween" fan should miss.

The Score: A+