A Reel Review: HALLOWEEN KILLS

In 2018, horror icon Michael Myers returned to the big screen in David Gordon Green’s HALLOWEEN, which was a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN from 1978. Ignoring the countless sequels that covered over 20 years, the film was ballyhooed as the long-awaited final showdown between the knife-wielding, masked Michael and Laurie Strode, as reprised by Jamie Lee Curtis. For the most part it was, until the very end when the film just punted that final showdown away for another film…which brings us to HALLOWEEN KILLS. 

 

Moments after the end of HALLOWEEN (the 2018 HALLOWEEN, not the 1978 HALLOWEEN), Laurie (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), head to the hospital to recover from their fight with Michael…who was left to burn alive. Michael escapes and resumes his killing spree, which inspires the town of Haddonfield to form a mob to go after him. 

 

HALLOWEEN KILLS is a slasher film that has a lot going on. While Laurie recovers from her wounds, a handful of Michael’s original targets rally the town into a frenzied mob. The mob is led by 1978 characters Tommy (played here by Anthony Michael Hall), Lindsey (reprised by original actress Kyle Richards), and the former Nurse Chambers (original actress Nancy Stephens). Meanwhile, Deputy Hawkins (Will Patton), survives his attack from the previous film and spends the rest of the movie in a hospital bed…which then goes into a series of flashbacks showing his connection to the 1978 attacks. 

 

If it seems like a lot for a slasher film, it is. Although the flashbacks, which provides backstory and motivation for Hawkins, are very well executed by re-using and re-manipulating footage from previous films, they don’t mean much here as Hawkins does nothing for the rest of the film but lay around; again, just another set-up for another movie. The mob that forms to hunt down Michael isn’t the worst idea on paper, but the townsfolk, which includes an entire hospital staff, gets whipped into a frenzy way too quickly and it becomes laughable. Toss in a mistaken-identity sequence where the mob chases an escaped inmate to his death, and it becomes a lot of noise that goes nowhere. 

 

But if kills, blood, gore, and stabbing is what’s wanted out of a HALLOWEEN movie, then KILLS does live up to his name. Characters are introduced and hacked up within minutes, and the kills are inventive, brutal, gory, and true to the franchise. Director David Gordon Green does provide atmosphere when Michael can’t be seen (but we know he’s lurking about), and photographs one great-looking film. The score, which was partly done by John Carpenter, is excellent. KILLS often goes out of its way to pay tribute to the original movie, and the inclusion of 1978 characters and actors is a nice touch…right down to 82-year-old Charles Cyphers reprising his role as Sheriff Brackett. KILLS shows these legacy characters celebrating the fact that they are survivors of Michael’s original killing spree…but then the film oddly, and stupidly kills some of them off anyway. 

 

Acting is hard to judge as so many characters come and go over the course of the 105 minute running-time. Jamie Lee Curtis does the most yelling, but unfortunately for her, she spends most of the film in bed and doesn’t do much of anything. Anthony Michael Hall is very good. 

 

If seeing the shape of Michael lurk in the shadows and whip out his blade in gory fashion is all that is needed out of a HALLOWEEN film, then KILLS does deliver. The film does have the disadvantage of being a middle-chapter as most of it’s work is just set-up for yet another film…because no, Laurie and Michael still haven’t had their final showdown. In fact, they are never even in the same room together in KILLS. It’s frustrating, as KILLS delivers in some areas but whiffs badly in others. Maybe in 2022 the next movie will make this one seem better in hindsight. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it