The saga of Michael Myers is kind of like the character itself: it refuses to die. From a brilliant 1978 start on a shoestring budget this saga has carried on and survived the badly planned 1982 change of format (yet decent Season of the Witch; it just should never have been advertised as a Halloween follow-up), several routine sequels and now two actual re-bootings. The Rob Zombie duo (2007, 2009) are just nasty, but so are these more recent David Gordon Green massacres. And there is one more (at least) to go, due just in time for next year’s All Hallow’s Eve.
David Gordon Green’s film, however, does something really smart. It resets the action to 1978, just after Michael Myers attacks the babysitters and terrorizes Haddonfield. Flashbacks from still-surviving characters fill out the action from later that night (including Dr. Loomis!) before using those scenes to inform and direct the actions of 2018 residents to defend their town against Evil. This opens up the story and makes it particularly relevant, especially in regard to mob mentality and violence.
Star Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode) has achingly little to do, but Laurie’s return to the hospital (it must be the same one from 1981’s Halloween II but I didn’t detect any fun in-joke references to it) leads to a stronger social conscience than I can ever recall this franchise demonstrating before. I give the film credit for trying to inject some genuine meaning into its slasher premise and attempting to capitalize upon themes that could not be more timely.
On the other hand, just like Green’s last chronicle of Michael Myers mayhem (the most recent re-booting), this one is as ultra-violent as can be. Remember, in the first film, only five people perish. Michael was very selective. Now he kills anyone in his path, by any means at his disposal. It is an unrepentant bloodbath, which saddens me, because that thoroughly exploits and alters what John Carpenter’s initial vision of the character was. The scariest stuff about Halloween were the many moments where we expected attack but none came. This vision of horror is stabbing after slicing after beheading. It’s too bad; this one had real promise. ☆ ☆ 1/2.