Tag: Jamie Lee Curtis

‘Halloween Ends’ is not a Halloween movie (and that’s a good thing) | movie review
Forty-four years after Laurie Strode survived Michael Myers’ massacre, she goes up against a familiar enemy in Halloween Ends.

Halloween Ends shouldn’t work—and almost doesn’t. It’s an absurd and deeply weird interpolation of the Halloween lore that feels less like another installment and more like a story within its world—like Halloween III: Season of the Witch. However, the audacity to take a risk with its story—and to go so far as making it closer to a drama than a horror—is both admirable and surprisingly entertaining. “Fanboys” looking for the movie to up the gore and kills will be disappointed—and perhaps those looking for a satisfying conclusion to Laurie Strode’s saga will too. However, some, like me, will tune into its off-the-wall wavelength and find the good in it. Halloween Ends will divide audiences. However, it will also get people talking—for better or worse.

Halloween Ends is so absurd and deeply weird that it’s impossible not to at least appreciate its audacity—something that so-called “fanboys” of the original are going to detest. However, as a critic that lists the original 1978 Halloween as one of my favorite movies of all time, I can say that I’m kinda obsessed with how Halloween Ends feels nothing like the rest of the series—like an interpolation of the story rather than a continuation. That’s no more apparent than the movie’s bold 10-minute cold open that begins a year after the events of Halloween Kills as we follow Corey (Rohan Campbell), a directionless young man babysitting the son of a wealthy family in Haddonfield, Illinois. After a few callbacks to the original—including a late-night TV showing of John Carpenter’s The Thing, dark closets, and a wide shot of Corey investigating outside the house—something happens. Something even more shocking than all the unnecessary gratuitous killings in the previous installment.

Spoiler Alert in 3… 2… 1…

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When the child he is babysitting locks him in the attic, a panicked Corey attempts to kick down the door. What he doesn’t realize is the kid is just on the other side. When the door finally gives it flings the child over the banister crashing down three stories below just as his parents walk in. Cue the title sequence.

Spoilers over.

It was always a fool’s errand to continue Laurie Strode and Michael Myers’ saga in a way that respected John Carpenter’s vision for the original.

That was no more apparent than with 2018’s “just fine” Halloween and 2021’s actively terrible Halloween Kills (evil died that night and so did all my hope). That’s because it’s a movie that was always successful in a vacuum and as an allegory. It was never meant to be a story that continued on—and it famously didn’t with the third installment Season of the Witch, which didn’t even feature Myers. It’s only appropriate that Halloween Ends use the same font for the title card as the third film since, although this does feature Myers, it feels more like its own self-contained story in the same world.

Another couple years after the events of Corey’s babysitting mishap we catch up with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) sitting at a desk typing what sounds like a soliloquy about her life fighting Michael Myers—I couldn’t help but think of Diane Keaton crying at her laptop as she wrote her newest play in Something’s Gotta Give. She’s settled down in a house with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and attempts to live a normal life. But a city won’t quickly forget the murderous rampage of a supernatural-like serial killer. They also won’t forgive the woman that brought him into their town. Laurie, now labeled as the town “freakshow,” can’t go anywhere without somebody bringing Michael up in the same sentence. The same goes for Corey, who was acquitted of any wrongdoing, yet is still labeled a “psycho” by the town folk. Especially a group of cartoonishly unpleasant teens—who knew band geeks could be so vicious. However, Laurie sees more in him and after an altercation involving Corey, she orchestrates a meet-cute between him and Allyson.

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For nearly half of the runtime, other than the cold open, Halloween Ends plays like a family drama—and even a quirky romantic comedy—about misunderstood people navigating their trauma.

We watch Corey and Allyson get closer as they bond over the feeling of being unwanted in the town but unable to leave—like Terrence Malick’s Badlands or Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. However, at the same time, we also see a change in Corey as a series of incidents—another altercation with the group of teens, a Halloween party gone wrong, a run-in with Allyson’s ex—start to drive him to resent the town and its people. As Norman Bates infamously said, “we all go a little mad sometimes.” In a way, Halloween Ends is a villain origin story.

You’ll notice I haven’t mentioned two things: Michael Myers and murders. That’s because the movie is more tactful in its approach to both—almost the polar opposite to Halloween Kills and more reminiscent of the original where the body count remained in the single digits. The marketing hasn’t hidden that Myers makes his return and faces off against Laurie, however, he isn’t the main focus of the movie. Instead, his influence (or shape), is the real villain of the movie. Or perhaps, what happens when you call someone a monster enough? Eventually, they become one.

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Halloween Ends shouldn’t work—and in some ways doesn’t. As a conclusion to the 40-year Halloween saga it leaves a lot to be desired, even if Laurie does get her moment to face Michael.

However, I’d rather a huge swing and miss than more of the same. Clearly that didn’t work in the last movie. At the very least, I was never less than entertained—whether intentionally or unintentionally—by the lunacy of it all. Did I ever expect there to be a Hallmark-channel version of a Halloween movie about shared trauma with a central romance plot? Definitely not.

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Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter and Letterboxd. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.

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October 13, 2022
'Knives Out' is a whodunit done well — movie review

On his 80th birthday, Harlan Thrombey is found dead and sets off a classic whodunit where all the suspects have their knives out for each other

One-sentence review: Knives Out creates one of the great movie families with the ridiculous Thrombeys and puts them in a murder mystery that’s as compelling as it is relevant.

Details: ? Rian Johnson // ⏳ 130 minutes // ? 2019

The cast: Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, Christopher Plummer

Though Ready or Not is a horror, Knives Out is a whodunit mystery, and Parasite is… well, Parasite, they all center on a character (or characters) spending time around people in another class. In Knives Out, that character is Marta (Blade Runner 2049’s breakout Ana De Armas) and the people of another class is the Thrombey Family. And while the movie is packaged as a neat, tidy, and ridiculous sendup of the classic murder mystery, director and writer Rian Johnson has a lot more on his mind and the movie is all the better for it.

However, Johnson isn’t opaque about his point-of-view, the fun of the movie is that you know exactly what he’s talking about. You see, the Thrombeys are the kind of rich people that think they’re entitled to being rich. Something the recently passed patriarch and famed crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is keenly aware of. During the reading of his will you can tell what each character wants — his publishing business, the house, his money. However, Harlan’s untimely demise — which is initially ruled a suicide — means there’s more in the way of the Thrombeys and their money.

Knives Out poster. Credit: Lionsgate.

That’s because someone hired famed private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig), a heavily southern Hercule Poirot-type that Harlan’s grandson Ransom (Chris Evans) refers to as “CSI: KFC,” to investigate whether Harlan’s death was truly a suicide. The suspects are largely his family. There’s his son Walt (Michael Shannon), who is bent on getting control of the publishing business so he can sell film rights to Netflix. Then there’s his daughter and Ransom’s mother Linda (Jamie Lee Curtis), a “self-made” business woman who just needed $1 million of daddy’s money to get her business off the ground — her husband Richard (Don Johnson) is being towed along. And best of all, there’s Joni (Toni Collette), a Gwyneth Paltrow-inspired lifecycle blogger who runs a website called Flam.

Each of them — and the people connected to them — has a reason for wanting Harlan dead. And at the center of it all is Marta. Blanc takes a shining to her because she has a very unique “superpower.” She cannot help but throw up violently when she tells a lie. He sees that as an asset. But like everyone in this movie, she has something to hide.

Leave it to Johnson, who managed to piece together one of the most compelling Star Wars movies with The Last Jedi, to construct a nearly perfect murder mystery. Despite the many twists and turns, all the pieces to solve the mystery are always there. He doesn’t insert any out of nowhere surprises. You can truly solve the puzzle. That doesn’t stop him from presenting it in an interesting way.

The first act is largely comprised of interviews with each family member who gives their account of the night in question — Harlan’s 80th birthday party. However, each of them twists the facts to make themselves look innocent. Hilariously, all their terrible sides are uncovered. In one of my favorite small details, each family member says a different country the Marta immigrated from despite them constantly saying she’s “part of the family.” In another, Richard praises Marta for immigrating “correctly.” As integrated she is into their lives, she’s still a class visitor.

It’s those small microaggressions that elevate Knives Out past its premise. Not that its premise isn’t already great. Like Get Out, Johnson is careful to make the movie work as a genre pic as well as a social commentary. It’s just what gives it that extra push past being crowd-pleasing popcorn fare. Admittedly, it’s great crowd-pleasing popcorn fare.

The mystery, the characters, and the humor are all spot on. Craig is a standout as is Evans, who plays Ransom as the typical New Englander heir who probably just bought a boat. Then there’s Collette who nails it with the line, “I read a Tweet about a New Yorker article about you,” referencing Blanc. If anything, I wish we spent more time with the Thrombeys. Though, Craig, de Armas, plus Lakeith Stanfield and Noah Segan as a pair of not-so-helpful detectives are certainly fun to watch.

As I’m thinking back to watching the movie there isn’t a singular moment that stands out — perhaps the stellar final shot. But I think that’s a testament to the sheer consistency of it all. The movie is built around character and story instead of just finding the next gag. It’s so refreshing and so effective. It’s easily one of the best times I had in a theater this year.

November 24, 2019
‘The Fog’ review — John Carpenter’s horror classic is a ghost story worth watching

The Fog is a short and effective ghost story told by horror master John Carpenter. Now, it returns beautifully restored in a collectible steelbook thanks to Shout Factory.

The Fog opens on a campfire surrounded by a group of engrossed kids and an old maritime storyteller regaling them with the tale of a ship that crashed on the shores of Antonio Bay, right near where the storyteller was telling the tale. The storyteller, an old man dressed like the specter of a lighthouse keeper, speaks in a slow, gravelly voice with a foreboding tone. “11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story,” he says. “One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm.”

This cold open was not in the original cut of the film. Legendary director John Carpenter, hot off the success of 1978’s Halloween, decided to include it after being unhappy with the finished product. That decision propels The Fog from a good horror movie to a minor classic within Carpenter’s legendary career. With the cold open, Carpenter sets an eerie, indelible atmosphere for the rest of the film. The Fog feels like a ghost story being told around a fire. The kind where you lean in slightly, put your chin on your hands and find yourself lost in the tale.

The Fog returns via a stunning HD transfer available on blu-ray steelbook thanks to Shout Factory. And with the first new Halloween movie in more than a decade coming out this year, it’s a welcome reminder of the breadth of work Carpenter has under his belt outside of his most remembered films. And The Fog is a perfect example of how Carpenter could do so much with so little. Though made for just $1.1 million, the tiny seaside town of Antonio Bay, California looks more sweeping than it actually was.

The Cast of John Carpenter’s THE FOG

The Fog begins on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Antonio Bay. Right as the clock strikes midnight, mysterious paranormal incidents begin happening around town — car alarms suddenly go off, televisions turn to static. All this while station owner and DJ Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau gives a standout performance) is finishing her show at the KAB radio station located in the Antonio Bay lighthouse.

Meanwhile, a group of fisherman just offshore are relaxing and enjoying a drink while listening to Stevie’s show. However, they’re disturbed by a mysterious fog bank that is rolling past their boat. Out of the fog emerges a ship out of the 1800s and shadowy figures that kill the men. Elsewhere in Antonio Bay, Nick Castle (Tom Atkins) picks up Elizabeth Solley (Jamie Lee Curtis) who is hitchhiking down a dark road. All seems normal until suddenly all the windows of the car shatter.

However, at one in the morning, all the paranormal activity stops. Carpenter harnesses the silent dread that stalked so much of Halloween in a whole new way here. Michael Myers already felt like an apparition, so dealing with actual apparitions in this movie feels like a natural extension. The next morning, Stevie’s son finds a plank of wood with the word “DANE” carved into it.

Meanwhile, Nick and Elizabeth venture out to find the missing Seagrass, the fishing vessel that went missing in the middle of the night. Elsewhere in town, Kathy Williams (the legendary Janet Leigh, who also happens to be Curtis’ mother in real-life) and her assistant Sandy (Nancy Loomis) prepare for the town’s centennial celebration.

Eventually, these stories will come together. Along the way, there are creeps and scares that show again why John Carpenter is a master of horror. In particular, a scene involving the plank of wood in the radio station is pure horror without any loud clangs in the score or sudden jumps. Speaking of the score, it is iconic as any other Carpenter score. He is a master of mood and he perfectly matches his synthesized score to the ghost story quality of the movie.

The Fog doesn’t go particularly deep into its characters and doesn’t have much in way of themes. However, a lot of that is to its benefit. It’s a breezy 89 minutes of horror with a compelling story and background. There is tension throughout and great scares, it’s an easy movie to watch and one that’s hard not to enjoy. The final act is a bit of a letdown after the effective build up. That’s where the shallowness of the characters and themes betray it. But overall, The Fog is an underrated movie in the Carpenter canon and on that should get its due. Hopefully, it will with this new beautiful steelbook release.

Where to watch The Fog: Available to buy or rent on Prime Video or

You can get the limited edition Blu-Ray steelbook here!

June 19, 2018