The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)

Halloween

(Cert 18, 106 mins)

- TJ MCKAY

The boogieman does exist and for decades he has taken the towering form of masked maniac Michael Myers in a series of blood-drenched thrillers that began with John Carpenter’s seminal 1978 slasher Halloween.

Director David Gordon Green and co-writers Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride casually disregard the nine films which followed for a comforting­ly old-fashioned return to the scene of the original crime: the sleepy community of Haddonfiel­d.

Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle reprise their roles as ultimate survivor Laurie Strode and Michael for a climactic showdown that will appease fans of the series, set to the chilling strains of Carpenter’s repetitive synthesise­r score.

There is nothing self-reverentia­l, knowing or fussy about this Halloween: Michael surprises and overpowers his victims using familiar tactics and the deaths are relentless, clinical and exceedingl­y grisly.

As the 40th anniversar­y of the Haddonfiel­d murders nears, true crime podcasters Aaron Korey (Jefferson Hall) and Dana Haines (Rhias Rees) visit Smith’s Grove rehabilita­tion facility.

They meet psychiatri­st Dr Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), who oversees the care of notorious inmate Michael Myers (Castle), and foolishly attempt to bait the patient by brandishin­g his mask. Alas, Michael remains eerily silent so the journalist­s focus on Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the one woman to survive Myer’s bloodbath.

She has become a recluse inside a fortified cabin with a basement panic room. Laurie is reluctant to share the gory details of her past or talk about the estrangeme­nt from her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaugh­ter Allyson (Andi Matichak).

Soon after, the bus which is transferri­ng Michael to a new facility crashes and the hulking predator is released back into the wild.

He heads to Haddonfiel­d where an agitated Laurie tries in vain to prepare her loved ones for the coming storm.

“Say goodbye to Michael and get over it,” sighs Ally, dismissing her grandmothe­r so she can party with boyfriend Cameron (Dylan Arnold) and best friend Vicky (Virginia Gardener).

Halloween repeatedly bows its head to Carpenter’s original film, relying on solid jump scares to ensure a spiralling body count. Curtis transforms Laurie into a gun-toting avenging angel, who has secretly prayed for Michael’s escape so she can lay him to rest forever with the pull of a shotgun trigger.

Action sequences are briskly choreograp­hed and the script neatly aligns female characters as a unified force of strength against a male aggressor. ★★★★★★★★★★

 ??  ?? Scream queen: Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode.
Scream queen: Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode.

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