Bonus Film 10) Halloween (2018)
That was a dumb thing to pray for.
Before I see
Halloween Kills, a re-watch of its predecessor, following on from the 1978 original last weekend.
Now,
Halloween 1978 is an all time great for horror films, but its sequels have been uh, mixed to say the least. There's a couple of gems like
III (and I retain a soft spot for
H20), but also some absolute stinkers like
Curse of Michael Myers and
Resurrection. Given it inspired such a wave of slashers, it's ironic that many of the issues of the sequels has been the feeling they're just aping other slashers of their day. So 2018, I was very pleasantly surprised by, and enjoyed just as much this time.
It's one of the only ones, possibly the sole one actually, to get Myers right. Not even
Halloween II really does. There is no attempt to explain him in any way, and he is seemingly unstoppable but not invincible. Inhuman while still human, if that makes sense. Gone is the borderline parodic linebacker of
IV and
V with his hilariously awful mask or the giant redneck from Rob Zombie's terrible remakes. Michael is swift and deadly in this, and played once again as a total void of humanity, entirely inscrutable to others. The unbroken shot of him marching through houses killing everyone in them with detached efficiency is superb (and notable given he seems to gain a lot more satisfaction from his longer and crueler terrorizing of the babysitter soon after). While he never speaks or reveals anything, his body language does seem to communicate his state of mind on each kill, such as a very gory foot-related kill late in the film that, to me, speaks to deep disdain and anger at that moment. Props to his actor who models his fine work on Nick Castle's from the original.
Something I love is that many other characters project explanations onto him, Laurie, his doctor, the pretentious true crime podcasters that kick off the plot, but he defies answering any of them. They all are certain he will regard Laurie as an archenemy, but when their eventual showdown comes (and he has to be brought to her) it's not clear if he even recognizes her, or if he does, whether he thinks of her any different from the many other victims he kills for no reason. Or he is simply pissed that she just shot off half his hand. Said victims like 1978 are also portrayed that way, victims. The film is gory but doesn't revel in it, and the victims are generally likable and their deaths unfortunate (compared to
Friday the 13th where the appeal is Jason killing some annoying fratboys in often hilarious and creative ways).
It's all handsomely shot, particularly the saturated lighting, all orange street lamps and foggy backdrops. It's also surprisingly funny, a lot of quiet humor wrung out of the often delusional or clueless characters. The funniest bit is Michael getting shot at by Laurie, him realizing someone outside is gunning for him something fierce, and then straight up skedaddling. He does about the fastest slow walk he's ever done and doesn't even attempt to be stealthy.
All in all, the original remains king but this is high among the sequels and has a few of the best moments in the franchise, along with Carpenter thoroughly throwing down on his keyboards. It's reverent to the original, with plenty of callbacks, but not to the point where it drowns itself in rote nostalgic recreation like a lot of media properties lately, and remains its own film with its own style; faithful but not enslaved.
Now on to
Halloween Kills. Given the highly mixed reception it's possible they balls up everything I praised here, but I'm still eager to see it.