Halloween

David Gordon Green – 2018 – USA

By strenuously avoiding everything that made the first twenty-odd years of Halloween sequels so frustratingly pitiful, the new reboot/remake Halloween succeeds in being an effective and entertaining film, but also demands, and therefore deserves, comparison with John Carpenter’s original masterpiece from 1978. Not unlike the recent Star Wars films, the new Halloween is a top-of-the-line fan film that has a lot going for it, but it is simply incapable of replicating the energy and originality that first won the zealous loyalty of 70s audiences. The film re-sets the timeline by ignoring all previous sequels, including the controversial establishment of a sibling connection between psycho-killer Michael Myers and shy heroine Laurie Strode; a gimmick cooked up for Halloween II (1981) and which then stuck. Thus it also ignores the fact that both characters have died at least once in past films. In this alternate universe, Laurie is now a 60-ish grandmother and a recluse who has never fully recovered from being attacked by Myers 40 years prior. As for Michael, he has never been out of high-security incarceration in these four decades. Nor has he spoken a word. As in several past forgotten Halloweens, Michael is scheduled to be transferred to a different facility on – of all dates – October 30th; just in time to escape and spend all of the 31st on a murderous rampage. In a nice twist, he doesn’t seem to know or remember Laurie at all; it is merely a series of coincidences that brings him onto her path. Laurie, however, has obsessed on Michael over the years, and has come to believe that killing him is the only thing that will grant her peace. There’s nothing terribly noteworthy about the pacing or the circumstances, but director Green deals with everything in a seemingly effortless way that’s neither too glib nor too ponderous. A few irritations pass quickly and nothing is so bad that it causes eyes to roll. I have no real complaints about it, only a question: With the means to make a horror-thriller this good, why not make an original film instead of one that is destined to be compared to a classic?