‘Halloween’ (2018) review — Michael Myers is back after 40 years

Halloween (2018) is a product of the original film it’s following up and the long-changed slasher genre that it spawned.

Where to watch Halloween (2018): Streaming on HBO platforms. Available to buy or rent on Prime Video.

Halloween (2018) is the eleventh entry in the long-running franchise that stemmed from John Carpenter’s 1978 film of the same name. However, this iteration ignores all of the other sequels to the film including the ones that had the mythology that ultimate final girl Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is The Shape’s (aka Michael Meyers) sister. However, since breaking ground for the horror genre four decades ago, the slasher subgenre has changed as well—most of that is due to the original Halloween. And those changes show in this version. 

However, to truly talk about the merits of David Gordon Green’s Halloween, we have to talk about what made Carpenter’s original such a classic. Dr. Sam Loomis—Donald Pleasance played the iconic character in five of the franchise’s installments—always referred to Michael Myers as “the evil.” And that’s what Michael was in that film. He was a mythical force of pure evil. That’s the most terrifying thing about him. He doesn’t have motivations or emotions or attachments. He simply kills. However, he doesn’t actually kill that many people in the film—just five. And the first main character isn’t killed until 54 minutes into the movie. The real horror came from the dread leading up to those murders.

The same cannot be said for the 2018 sequel. Both Carpenter and Green are great visual storytellers. Green displayed that stunningly in his 2017 film Stronger. While there is artfulness in the construction of the kills on screen just like the original, this film is truly the product of years and years of blood and guts infecting our slashers. Truly, Halloween (2018) is tamer than the slashers of the 2000s, but it feels out of place in a story that is more profound than most of those movies. 

Forty years after Michael Myers’ return to Haddonfield, he is confined to a mental institution not talking or interacting with anyone. Conversely, his would-be victim Laurie Strode is confined to her home—fortified might be a better word—with guns, steel doors, and other equipment in preparation for Michael’s return. Her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), a psychiatrist, is concerned with her mother’s mental state and has distanced herself from her. This film deals with Laurie’s trauma following the events of the original. She is broken and paranoid but motivated to take back the life that Michael took away from her. She’s no longer the plucky high-schooler who’s worried that she forgot her chemistry book. She’s a warrior. 

Eventually, as fate has it, the bus transporting Michael to a new facility crashes and he escapes bringing terror back to Haddonfield. However, his spree includes characters that are clearly there to up the body count, even if their kills are interestingly staged and captures. Still, it feels like it’s done to excess. Michael’s rampage leads him to Laurie’s well-fortified home where she, her daughter, and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), who Michael has also been stalking, are hiding out. The final 20 minutes are staggering as the three women and Michael play a game of cat and mouse. Thematically, it ties in well to Laurie’s empowerment over the man who assaulted her and brought her so much pain. It would be more profound if the film didn’t try so hard to make you understand that theme. 

Jamie Lee Curtis likened the storyline to the Me Too movement. At one point, a character even says “time’s up,” the name of the fund run by Hollywood actresses to help pay the legal fees of victims of sexual assault. This incarnation of Halloween isn’t about victims. It’s about victims winning back their peace of mind. The final 20 minutes, packed with glorious uses of light and shadow that harken back to the original, do well to tie that theme together. If only the rest of the movie did. The excess of gore and violence, the unnecessary side characters, and the needlessly twisting plot prevent it from reaching it’s full potential. If anything, fans of the original will find solace in the many callbacks and especially John Carpenter’s synth-infused score that rivals his original.