Halloween
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and Will Patton
Directed by David Gordon Green
Reviewed by Michael Dalton
[rating: 3/5]
In 1978, John Carpenter’s small, unassuming, and eventually hugely successful film Halloween made icons out of Jamie Lee Curtis, a certain mask, and butcher knives. Carpenter and producing partner Debra Hill gave oomph and promise to all the liitle films that could and the tremendous reception their humble enterprise received made as many headlines as the film itself. I can still remember the controversy that erupted at the time. “Not since Psycho!!!” they were saying and they were right. Carpenter’s simple, very effective story of a masked maniac killing teenagers spawned a long line of imitators along with a dwindling series of sequels. Now we have the first honest to goodness Halloween movie in the age of social media and the various platforms have been an inferno of teasers, silly GIFs that soften the fear rather than enhance it, and promises of one helluva haunted house ride. Directed by David Gordon Green, the good news is it is a decent film. The scares (I confess I jumped) are barely earnt as most of them stem from the blasting score while the laughs depend on how well you know the original which I recommend you revisit before sitting down to this one. But, Curtis is back, as is Nick Castle, the first man to don that mask, and it’s a reunion the fans won’t want to miss.
It is sneaked into the screenplay at various points that everything since that first night Michael wreaked havoc in creepy old Haddonfield (six films in all) was little more than a dream or an illusion or just plain old cinematic brouhaha. No, Michael and Laurie are not siblings (just a myth) which leaves one to wonder why Michael stalked her so faithfully, he didn’t burn in that hospital explosion, and the memorable Halloween H2O didn’t happen. That, of course, was Curtis’s return to her signature role and a nifty little turn it was too. Now, four decades later, we find Laurie living as a virtual recluse. She has never let her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) forget what she endured and insisted from a young age that she too become an expert marksman. Laurie now lives in a very remote house (with long gray hair and squinty eyes the colonial setting does suit her) containing a panic room, enough weaponry to take on the White House, and a room full of creepy mannequins. Michael has been in captivity since that fateful night, still mute, and as the story begins, ready to be transferred to another facility. You just won’t believe what happens in transit.
The prize here is the leading lady. Deeply scarred, wizened and certainly wiser, Curtis does a fine job of projecting the years of nightmares and resentment and here is where Green nails it. Laurie stands tall as the poster girl for what the ripple effect of stalking and harassment can do and she wears it like a suit of armour. The persecuted live with it on a daily basis and rarely let those around them forget and Laurie wants her daughter and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) to be prepared for when it comes knocking. Watch her dash into a family gathering and gulp a glass of wine before she can settle. It is a gutsy performance and it bolsters the film. And what of Michael himself? Deadly in his silence since he murdered his sister at the age of six, the opening scene involves a couple of researchers visiting him in his confinement. “Say something!!!” one of them screams. It almost becomes a running joke when, later on, his half-crazed doctor demands the same. Considering how much time people waste here discussing the root of Michael’s evil, perhaps it’s a good thing the man in question won’t speak up. With Michael Myers, actions have always spoken louder, and in this instalment, he’s busier than ever.
