After so many lousy sequels, remakes and reimagining, finally a director with caliber has come forward to pump out a worthy sequel to the original John Carpenter's classic that shook the world in 1978. Trailing right off events from the first film, we're once again in Haddonfield to experience Michael Myers' terrorism!
It felt so good to see Jamie Lee Curtis onscreen as Laurie Strode after a long time. Her bold and imposing presence was like the strongest muscle the movie had. We catch up on her heavily-guarded present life; a life that has been severely impacted by the tragedy 40 years ago. Although 4 decades of not being able to move on from the same trauma seemed stretched, especially considering how tame it was by concurrent standards (even one of the minor characters said the same thing in the picture!), we pretty much do not have any other choice but to accept / believe it for the rest of the story to work. To back this up, we see how Laurie's personal relationships have been affected too, for instance the way she has brought up her daughter in preparation for incidents as such. But, this aspect of Laurie functioned as a great Lie / Ghost. She's unable to move past her past, and this narrative will either prove or disapprove it!
Halloween 2018 has a screenplay that recaps the previous proceedings smartly. Through the eyes of the investigative journalists, we're able to travel back in time to remember what happened. Homages with new spins were simply fantastic! To witness the rebirth of some of these iconic sequences in a creative twist was surprising to be honest. Disappointingly, most of the characters had no proper closure after set-up and development; they ended up nothing more than extras waiting on Michael Myers' kill spree. Filler humor scenes were unnecessar, but one must say the babysat kid was one of the best parts here! Certain idiotic decisions such as walking out of the car for investigation upon encountering a sea of mentally-ill escapees on the loose and shooting the basement door to alert the murderer who's exactly searching for you were beyond facepalms. Also, there was no reason to include the clip where Allyson's shown screaming in terror after stumbling upon target-practice-puppets. Lastly, the Halloween festival spirit and atmosphere was definitely missing here.
Michael Myers was the prime reason we paid the ticket price for, and it was absolutely worth it! During his introduction at the asylum, the makers managed to make us feel his evilness resonating to the surroundings! To see him on a streak of dropping gruesome bodies all over this town after putting on his mask was amazing! The oner tracking shots were so cool and the brutality was on point. Watch out for the toilet sequence, that's all we'll say! Even the lawn's motion sensor light execution was good, and not to forget, the entire climax in Laurie's trap house as she shutters one entrance by one looking for the antagonist was thrilling. Karen's diversion to trap Michael was fantastic! Jump scares such as the closet door appearance was well done. By the way, the film may have shown Michael's real face a little too much though. We fear him because he is the unknown, not the opposite.
Let's talk about character motivations. When the investigative journalists were shown passionate about discovering the reasons behind Michael Myers' crimes, it seemed over-the-top at first. But if you think about it, what drove Michael's mind to perform the acts all those years back? What is his psyche? Is he killing for fun, or bloodshed is his primal need? From this angle, the case does look extremely inviting. The doctor's action may have been a shocking nonsense, but if we give it some thought, how would you react when the fruit of your study for 40 years was about to exterminated in front of you? Spend almost half a lifetime with something, and you will achieve equilibrium with it (even suggested by the doctor wearing Michael's mask for a second). And his desire to study the subject in a never-before-placed open environment was totally understandable albeit no proper payoff. Also, if you look at the extensive configuration in Laurie's house, you'll know why she's that prepared as the makers have shown in contrast to people with normal homes where Michael could just walk in anytime and do his deeds with ease.
Combination of old theme with novel additions and touches rendered a rather alarming score! The camera's sharpness in capturing details was astounding. Inflating pumpkin during the title credits dipped in the renowned typography was the ribbon on this gift box.