A Short Review of 'Halloween' (2018, David Gordon Green)

Tonight is the night he returned.

That's right, Myers is back, for another bloody Halloween rampage.

This new instalment of the Halloween saga was apparently pitched by a group of writers, Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green, and from what I have read, all three are true lovers of John Carpenter's original classic. What they pitched was a direct sequel, taking place years after the original time setting and ignoring the other numerous sequels of the failed franchise. The pitch even got the approval of Carpenter himself, who also returned as the soundtrack composer. With this information already circulating, I immediately knew I had to see this film no matter what. I am most certainly glad I saw it. It exceeded and met all expectations.

What I saw was a chilling, high tension slasher horror and true homage to the original classic. Using unnerving suspense to build tension, minimal creative usage of gore and a truly well written story, I am immediately travelled back in time to the moment and feelings I felt when I first watched the original 1978 classic but also still got something new and original, from this really well made sequel. A sequel that not only stands tall as a truly worth watching horror film but also, is just downright fun to watch.

The only bad point I can really give the film is a plot twist for one of the characters. To me it felt very forced and seeming mostly to just be a way to transport one character to another, especially as the motivation behind this twist for the character seemed too farfetched. Aside from this slight narrative issue, I didn't find anything else to complain about. There are occasionally a few jokes in the film, which would normally seem out of place but surprisingly they actually worked and were well done. They definitely gave me a slight chuckle and didn't disrupt the tension of the story.

Another issue I would normally find annoying is jump scares but this is one of the first horror films of the modern age where I've seen jump scares actually done correctly. Using tension and suspense to build up to the scare and then giving it a decent pay off, by propelling and developing the characters and story further forward. Not just randomly placed sudden moments of a ghost going BOO! All for the sake of giving the audience a quick scare, like I find so many mainstream horror schlock doing nowadays. This is a horror film that has been truly done right.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns in a very well done performance, reprising her character, Laurie Strode, now a paranoid old woman bent on vengeance against her psychotic counterpart Michael Myers. Who, I have to say, comes across in the film as genuinely menacing. This can be mainly attributed to the performance of Nick Castle, who played Michael, and also the directing style of David Gordon Green but also I feel one thing that has truly made him scary once again is how his character has been written. Giving Michael a complete lack of motivation works in a way to make him truly intense and terrifying. Though he is fully committed to his actions, we are completely blind to what drives him, making him a total unknown. A true figure of pure intense evil.

This film has truly revitalised one of the most iconic horror characters ever conceived in cinema. This is no wonder, as it definitely comes across that the film makers had a genuine passion for this production. If you want to see a horror film this Halloween, get your friends together, go to the cinema, and see this film. I can guarantee you will not be disappointed and will have genuine fun watching it.

However, be careful on your way out the cinema.

Be sure you're not followed home.

Check all the rooms.

Lock all the doors.

And pray he does not find you....

Happy Halloween.