Halloween

In 1978 John Carpenter made Halloween and frightened the shite out of the entire world. The story of a masked killer called Michael Myers who returns home to Haddonfield to kill anyone he can get his hands on. Between 1981 and 2009 there were 9 more Halloween films released. Part 2 was a ok rethread of the original. Part 3 went off on a whole other route that was a fun but failed attempt to turn the franchise into something different. Parts 4, 5 & 6 were dreadful. 1998's part 7 was a really good and genuinely surprising return to form that was ruined by a septic part 8. Then in 2007 and 2009 Rob Zombie directed two remakes that should be struck from history. For a time the world was without Halloween but now it's back again in a reboot that pretends parts 2-8 don't exist. 

Laurie Strode is still suffering the after effects of that Autumn evening 40 years ago. She's been on the defense ever since and her paranoia about Michael Myers returning has destroyed friendships and marriages and it's alienated her from her daughter and her granddaughter. Meanwhile in the Illnois state hospital an encounter with a relic from his past revs up the still living Michael and it isn't long before he's cutting a swathe through the population of Haddonfield once more.

I was pretty disappointed with this. There's plenty of good in it but at the end of the day it's yet another slasher sequel with all the baggage that entails. It's a pimped up rethread that follows the standard sequel template to a tee. Bigger bodycount, bloodier kills, more bombast. There's clever moments here and there, both meta nods to the audience and in-jokes for the diehard fans but the sense of deja vu is unmistakeable. It makes a big error too, the worst one a horror film can make. It's just not very scary. One early scene in a psychiatric hospital is unsettling and I would have liked to have seen more here but then it wouldn't be a Halloween film. The sense of dread and menace that was pervasive in the original is gone. Michael Myers is a vicious killer but when you can guess EXACTLY what he's going to do and who he's going to kill all the tension dissipates.

The good though is what stops it from being a failure. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her most famous role and is pretty damn good at it.  One trope that slasher films have always done well is that of the final girl. Here the final girl is a 60 yr old woman making this film pretty unique in it's field. Jamie's Laurie has gone down the Sarah Connor route. Tough as nails, riddled with paranoia, trusting no one and owner of an arsenal that would make a small country seethe with jealousy. She's absolutely believable when it comes time to fight back because the film takes it's time in moving all it's pieces into place. It's the face off between her and Michael that provides the films best moments near the end. Watching roles being reversed is always fun. In fact roles are reversed throughout the film. Famous shots from the original are repurposed with different characters in place and it's a nice nod to John Carpenter's direction of the original. His famous steadicam shots are homaged too in a superb one take set-piece that sees Michael utilising the tools of his trade. Director David Gordon Green builds a lot of good will here. Taking visual influence from Carpenter but making the film his own as well. It's just a pity it's built around a story so familiar and predictable.

The cast is padded out with teenagers who only exist to be bloodily butchered and it's here the film lags badly. We don't know them so we don't care when they get impaled on fences or pinned to walls with big knives (The original film has a violent reputation but barely a drop of blood is seen. This film throws buckets of it around. It really earns it's 18 certificate) .At one point I thought the movie was going to make a very surprising left turn but nothing comes of it but another momentary shock. From the opening moments you know exactly how it's all going to play out. When I read that David Gordon Green and Danny McBride, two writers from primarily comedy backgrounds were involved, I expected a different spin on things but it never appears. The supporting cast is game and tries, Judy Greer and Andy Matichik as Laurie's daughter and granddaughter respectively are fine but it's hard to give a shit about anyone but Laurie.

There's little new here. It's nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis revisit the role that made her famous but at the same time I hope it's the last we see of Laurie Strode. It's time for her and Michael Myers to rest.