E's Reviews: Halloween (2018)



HALLOWEEN (2018) was directed by David Gordon Green, written by David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, and Jeff Fradley. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, and Andi Matichak as mother, daughter, and granddaughter who must come together when The Boogeyman Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital 40 years after the infamous events that happened 40 years earlier in Haddonfield on October 31st and is out to finish the job.

Now, I went into this with a bit of worry. Michael Myers is one of my all-time favorite movie murderers and the original Halloween is, to me, the movie that gave us the slasher genre as we know it and love it today. But Michael hasn't been done proper since the late 70s...as the sequels have not really been that great (Halloween 3: Season of the Witch doesn't count, since that was a stand-alone and had nothing to do with The Shape). I had re-watched Halloween (in glorious 4K) to prepare for this new installment (that movie gets creepier and creepier every time I watch it...) and it totally works even for today. So can Blumhouse really top Horror Master John Carpenter's masterpiece? In short, no, they really can't, and I don't think any slasher movie will ever top Halloween (1978). But...I will say this...they definitely made a damn good movie.

We'll start, as always, with some things I disliked about the movie. For one, the dialogue is a bit bland for me. I wasn't completely sold on Laurie's relationship with her daughter or granddaughter whenever they interacted. There was some editing issues I had where they'd jump around a little bit too much. There were some characters that really had no reason to even be in it, or some characters that weren't fleshed out enough, and I understand why since this was supposed to center around the Strodes and, of course, Michael. This is all more or less me nit-picking and I had to struggle to actually find something to complain about. Otherwise....

This movie is friggin amazing! Michael works at a break-neck pace, just cutting up and murdering ANYONE who gets in his way. There are legitimate scares in this film that make you jump out of your skin, and there are fantastic throwback moments to the old days of horror, you know what I'm talking about, where you'd sit there freaking out and shouting at the screen "HE'S BEHIND YOU! RUN RUN! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Yeah, those moments. The cast is fun to watch and Jamie Lee eats up the screen. Michael is legitimately scary and has some really great kills. There are some really great comedic moments between some characters and they don't go overboard with it. The cinematography is great, giving you full view of everything that's going on and using some really creepy angles to show it to you. And finally...the score...is magnificent. Everyone who worked on the music of this film should be nominated for an Oscar for the hard work they put into it.

There are lots of critics online who are actually bashing this film, calling it "run of the mill" but this movie is anything but. It's got legitimate scares, it has a great final act, it's got a great cast, it's fun, it has an amazing score...what else could you ask for from a revival of one of the most important slashers in modern cinematic history? So I say BRAVO to Jason Blum of Blumhouse, BRAVO to Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Jeff Fradley, BRAVO to Jamie Lee Curtis and the entire cast of this film! It brought Michael back and made him an icon once again! It's in theaters NOW so go see it!

Final Score: 9/10

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