HALLOWEEN KILLS

Halloween Kills Movie Review

Michael Myers (predictably) survives the fire at the end of the 2018 Halloween film, and is once again on a warpath. This time, Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall of 1980's John Hughes movies fame), Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards reprising her role), and other side characters from the original Halloween film track down the killer, while Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) spends most of the movie in her hospital bed...seriously. You may already know this, but I'll go over the history anyway. The 2018 Halloween film was a direct sequel of the original 1978 movie--all other Halloween films do not exist in this universe (hence Laurie still being alive and not being Michael's sister, no Jamie Lloyd, no mysterious white horses, no Busta Rhymes, and, most importantly, no backstory showing us Michael is the way he is because of school bullies, a stripper mom, and an alcoholic stepfather). The 2021 film is a sequel of both, serving as the third film in this timeline. 

"Got it...I think"

You've probably guessed the main issue I have with this outing--the primary story in the Halloween films is Laurie vs Michael, yet, as was the case in Halloween II (the 1981 version, not Rob Zombie's), Laurie spends most of her time in the hospital--in fact, we never see her and Michael on the screen at the same time in this movie. It would be like if you went to watch Hulk Hogan vs Rowdy Roddy Piper in 1985, but when you got there, Hogan faced Cowboy Bob Orton instead, and Piper never appeared--Orton was a side character in the feud, just as Tommy, Lindsey, and the others are in this movie--as a side note, I'd like to imagine a reality where Piper won the WWF World Title from Hogan and we never saw the Hulkster again, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. 

"...and the NEEEEEEEW..."

If you watch this movie for no reason other than the death scenes, and you have no investment in the story, you will have plenty to enjoy. There are no fewer than 31 kills in this film...yes, 31. Unfortunately, they are less Michael Myers and more Jason Vorhees dressed as Michael Myers. The atmosphere that made the 1978 film so creepy is gone, replaced by kill after kill, just like, you guessed it, Friday the 13th. If this is a good thing or a bad thing will depend on your slasher preference, but the kills are certainly graphic. The acting is fair--there's nothing terrible, but nothing that will garner an Academy Award either. I am generally a fan of Hall, but was kind of disappointed with his portrayal of Tommy, so that was a personal letdown. Also worth noting is the wonderful job they did bringing Dr. Loomis into the movie. They went old school here, using practical effects to make the art director of the movie look like the late Donald Pleasence, the original Dr. Loomis. 

Donald Doppelganger 

Oddly, for as much as the movie disregards anything that happened in any Halloween films outside of 1978 and 2018, it sure references these movies often--diehard Halloween franchise fans will delight in some of this. What is slated to be the final Halloween movie (at least of this timeline) is due for release later this year, and Halloween Kills feels very much like exactly what it is--filler to lead us up to the finale. 

On A Scale Of One To Ten: 5

Halloween Kills Movie Trailer