Movie review: Halloween Kills
HALLOWEEN KILLS (M18)
Kills? More like Halloween fills. It also disappoints, confuses and bores.
As a huge fan of the 2018 reboot of Halloween, it gives me no pleasure in saying this sequel - by the same team of writer- director David Gordon Green and co-writer Danny McBride - is a mess.
Even at a relatively short 106 minutes, it feels over by at least an hour.
It is not helped by a lengthy flashback that tells us very little.
Currently showing in cinemas here, Halloween Kills is meant to be a bridge to next year's supposed finale Halloween Ends, yet there is nothing here that could not have been achieved in a 20-minute online short.
Minutes after Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) leaves masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in her basement, Laurie believes she has finally killed her lifelong tormentor.
But when he manages to free himself from Laurie's trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes.
The 2018 version - a direct sequel to the 1978 original - was a thrilling masterclass in modern horror. It understood its characters yet it also had something to say on both trauma and the modern fascination with true crime.
It also brought out the real horror of Michael Myers.
He is a relentless killer, stronger than most but able to kill because he invades and scares people into inaction. His actions are primal, animalistic. His victims do not stand a chance. But he still felt believable.
In Halloween Kills, it appears he is a supernatural figure. He is shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, burned - all to no avail - and he must be in his 60s.
In places, he may as well be John Wick for all the smart kill moves he employs.
Not that he needs to be too fancy. The good people of Haddonfield are now all idiots, fodder squandering every chance to kill him despite seeing what he can do.
And here, the body count is huge.
The makers do not even have a handle on the big message of this film, as mob justice fuelled by an idiotic chant of "Evil dies tonight!" is shown to be a bad thing... and a good thing.
There is still real artistry in the shots, but the lack of attention to the story all feels like a rush job wrapped in a bow of "Will this do?".
score : 2/5
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