Halloween: Best Revival of a Horror Franchise of the Decade

     Michael Myers is a legend when it comes to the horror genre and this is due to not only Halloween being one of the most iconic films in Horror history, but the franchise has one of the most fascinating history when it comes to film. The series has been rebooted countless times with a string of sequels that constantly continue the original film erasing history of the prior movie. 2018 that time has come again, this time a reboot that’s 40 years after the original film, and as far as reboots go, this new Halloween is about what should be expected in terms of a good revival. It’s cliché and a bit redundant at points but has enough thrills and even themes that made the original so good, that it serves as a very solid reboot.

     As mentioned earlier, Halloween 2018 takes place forty years later as a direct sequel to the original, however it can also be seen as a remake to Halloween H20. Both films take place many years after the first movie and it shows how Laurie Strode became traumatized after witnessing her encounter with Michael Myers and how she has prepared for an eventual comeback from him. In regards to that plot, this is by far the best element of Halloween 2018; it showcases the true trauma of Laurie very well because it emphasized one of the major themes of the first Halloween. The idea of pure evil and how it can affect someone’s life despite being so mysterious with no true explanation, making this movie a lot deeper than previous Halloween sequels. However, the film does suffer from some obvious filler that doesn’t always work. The main subplot between Laurie Strode’s granddaughter seems unfortunately cliché having her be a basic teenager and encountering all the major clichés dealing with teens in horror films which kind of dismisses the film’s otherwise sophisticated nature. Not just that but also the film has a couple of moments of humor that don’t entirely work and feel out of place, along with some odd plot decisions that come out of nowhere and feel there as a last minute resort for characters to go from one place to another. It is a shame that this film has those moments that peg it down a notch, but Halloween 2018 still has many moments that make it a worthwhile reboot. 

     What makes Halloween better than the average Horror reboot is also due to how it explores it’s character, particularly the character of Laurie Strode. Jamie Lee Curtis does an outstanding job being the now over protective yet unstable version of Laurie, as not only her character is well written but she gives it her all by making herself incredibly aggressive and sells it well.  The character of Michael Myers is also fantastic in this, he looks great with his giant presence and old wore down mask making him much creepier than he has been in any other Halloween sequel. They also didn’t forget to have the appeal of Michael Myers still intact as despite knowing a bit more about him, they still realize that what makes Myers so appealing is the mystery behind him. Where other Halloween movies try to explain his motives with cliché and convoluted backstories, here there’s still a lot of mystery to the characters that makes him all the more terrifying. The rest of the cast do an adequate job however, the script does feel lacking outside of the main two characters. Some humor can work from some of them and some do have memorable moments but they still feel rather bland and cliché compared to how much effort was put into fleshing out Myers and Strode. Even despite that, the main characters at least make the film worthwhile for sure.

     As far as how Halloween works aesthetically, it makes for a solid entry in terms of direction. A lot of great Halloween style visuals and nods to the original film that don’t quite feel as forced as one would expect. There are some to be expected but there are also some really unique and clever ones including an excellent take on the opening credits to the original that is one of the coolest visuals to be seen in a recent horror movie. The camera work and editing make it a pretty well executed horror movie, but what elevates Halloween 2018 more so is the excellent score done again by John Carpenter. The score obviously has a lot of great throwback themes and the iconic Halloween theme is always a joy to hear, but it also includes some original tracks that fit seamlessly with how the original films sound. It also uses great use of electronic sounding instruments, making it probably the best modern horror movie score since 2015’s It Follows. The sound and look of this movie really gets you in the mood for the Halloween season and feels perfectly in line with the rest of the series.

     Halloween 2018 maybe flawed, but it is an entertaining return to form of a franchise that has arguably a rough history. It’s not the best sequel in recent memory nor is it one of the best modern horror films, but it is most definitely the best horror sequel in quite some time. It shows that Michael Myers can still be a great threat even in the modern age of predictable horror films.