Halloween Kills – Movie Reviews by Ry!

Halloween Kills – Slasher on the Prowl: Round 2

Horror is a genre defined by many things.  Along the journey of fear, the experience of dread can range from psychological to the ghostly.  The aspect of terror has its range, but it is a spectacle of absolutes.  In this review, I look at the latest in a longstanding horror series.  Being a continuation, it’s a sequel that balances expectations within familiarity.  Halloween Kills is a slasher that delivers the gore while dropping the knife.

Being a continuation of Halloween (2018), it follows in the aftermath of Laurie Stodes’ (Jamie Lee Curtis) final stand against Michael Myers.  Leaving the scene in a sense of triumph (and heading to the hospital), hope falls to the wayside when the killer emerges from the fire.  From this, the journey of evil continues to reign terror on an Illinois small town.  After a quick epilogue, the beginning sets up a journey within a typical slasher foundation.  You have the predictable ‘killer on the loose’ scenario, where we see Myers heading back into town on a path of destruction.  As the information of his survival comes to light, it drives the town into a frenzy.  Leading the pack are familiar faces from the original onslaught 40 years ago.  Seeing as the righteous cause, Tommy (Anthony Michael Hall) leads a horde of civilians to track down and kill Myers.  From this point, the directive is to create a slasher’s playground within recognizable horror tropes.  From the over-the-top gorefest, plot fodder victims and predictable setups, everything moves along a linear pace.  The setups are telegraphed between bouts of standard dialogue, taking away from the ominous mood setup by Myers present.  Even as the kills are driven with uniqueness, it still plays the fan service card.  The application of scenarios is an up-and-down affair, creating a sense of generic direction.  As Myers leaves no one alive, it all becomes a matter of what is the fallout of his bloody path.

As Myers continues on the warpath, you get a paralleling of truths from Laurie (whom is recovering at the hospital).  The juxtaposition of her situation adds value to an otherwise shallow journey, providing that fragility of what is really at stake for her, the town and Myers.  Seeing what is transpiring in town (and at the hospital), brings in some meaningful themes to the budding of violence.  The freneticism of the actions parlays bleak consequences, setting up a confrontation in the third act.  As the journey begins to stray away from its trope like nature, you start to see some depth to the characterization of ‘evil’.  This leads to an ominous climax, one that provides something left to be closed between Laurie and Myers.  Halloween Kills plays along predictable tropes, but still has enough to be satisfied.  If you are a fan of horror, slasher film or the Halloween property, this is one for you.  It can be a fun time at the theaters for the right price.

Full Score – 3 out of 5 (Theater Discount)