"Halloween Kills" Isn't Far From the Worst in the Series

 

by Terrance P. Elmore

I’m a huge fan of the Halloween franchise, so anytime there’s a new installment, I’m all for it. I hated horror movies until I was about 9 or 10, so Halloween 4 and 5 was my introduction to Michael Myers. There have been a few hits and misses since, but Halloween III: Season of the Witch is still the worst one. Sad to say, for me, Halloween Kills isn’t too far from it.

***SPOILER ALERT***

This film picks up where it left off with Michael trapped in the burning house. Officer Hawkins (Will Paton), who was stabbed in the neck, is still alive and has a flashback to when he encountered Michael back in 1978. This felt like an afterthought to explain Hawkins’ urgency to stop Michael and introduce a character that Michael passed up on an opportunity to kill.

Back to 2018, Michael is hidden away in a storage space with a metal door while the basement is on fire until a firefighter falls through the floor. He kills every firefighter on-site and heads towards town. Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall/not the original actor) still lives in Haddonfield and is in a bar with a few other characters (played by the original actors) from the 1978 film. An escaped mental patient, mistaken for Michael Myers, is spotted outside of the bar. Tommy leads an angry mob through town and to the hospital, while the real Michael heads home.

For the first time in franchise history, the Myers home is renovated and occupied. Fully and almost pridefully aware of the history of the house, they come face-to-face with Michael as he takes his place at the window he was always staring out of as a child. He’s lured out of the house by Laurie’s daughter into an empty street where Tommy and a larger mob are waiting to kill Michael. This mob isn’t angry enough -- because Michael overpowers and kills them all.

This movie felt rushed and thrown together. It had a resurgence of old characters that didn’t flow with the storyline of the previous film, or this one. For the entire movie, Laurie was in the hospital and never once encountered Michael. Hopefully, they’ll get it right with Halloween Ends, which is set for release in 2022. In the meantime, don’t be in a rush to watch this one. I’m glad I watched this on Peacock and not in the theaters.