Halloween
Easily the best of the Halloween sequels, Halloween picks up 40 years after the events of its predecessor and follows Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode as she must once again battle Michael Myers after he escapes from custody. It’s clear immediately that Halloween benefits substantially from David Gordon Green’s top-notch directorial efforts, as the movie, written by Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and Green, boasts an irresistible mix of intense slasher shenanigans and impressively down-to-earth character development – with the latter especially true of Green’s handling of Curtis’ iconic protagonist (ie Laurie remains affected and scarred by her initial encounter with The Shape, undoubtedly). There are subsequently few lulls within the relatively pared-down narrative and it’s apparent, as well, that the picture benefits from its above-average roster of kill sequences, while the surviving protagonists’ climactic confrontation with the seemingly unstoppable Myers is as gripping and exciting as one might’ve hoped. (And, of course, Green leaves the door wide open for further installments.) Halloween ultimately earns its place right alongside John Carpenter’s superb 1978 original, which is an unexpected surprise, certainly, given the almost uniformly underwhelming nature of the preceding sequels (and this is to say nothing of Rob Zombie’s bottom-of-the-barrel take on the series).
***1/2 out of ****
This likely comes too late to review but it took a night of tedium TV , a year later, to make me watch Halloween.
I saw the original at the time of first release with reservations as I don’t like the slasher genre.Five murders in 90 minutes in 1978 was more effective , compared to 5 murders in the first 19 minutes. of this laughable remake. My humble layman’s criticism.: Primarily , Jamie Lee Curtis’s character was ‘ Rambo’ inspired’ .. Some subtlety concerning PTSD would have been effective. And who designed that set? Much of it looks like they drag parts from an old Western. What community celebrates Halloween with such enthusiasm, including allowing a high school dance on a school night?, iIn forty years since the remake, nothing stands out as original although the first 7 or 8 minutes produced some sense of dread. How can so many professional critics stamp their approval on such mediocrity? Are you all unfamiliar with slasher film plots?
And returning to the violence quotient these days, it’s depressing – made more so by enthusiastic film reviewers. I wouldn’t want your job to sit through this.
RD – I don’t think the idea was to be original. I think the idea was to celebrate the original and pay homage to that. I thought it was effective, whilst not scary. Jamie Lee Curtis was a powerhouse and it was her performance that held the whole thing together. Don’t forget she’s already done this PTSD comeback movie 21 years ago and played Laurie altogether differently. It’s a credit to her that she’s now returned to the role in two different universes and handled the character in completely alternative ways. This is not the Laurie we saw holding it together with a moderately successful life in 1998. Not many actresses could have played the same role in two separate continuities and come off with that much dignity. She really has survived Halloween.
BTW this was not a remake – it was a sequel.