The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
New ‘Halloween’ sequel rather ordinary stuff
Probably sweet candy for longtime ‘Halloween’ fans, new sequel to 1978 original rather ordinary stuff
Less interesting than many modern works of horror, “Halloween” boasts many of the genre’s staples.
Before we plunge our bloody butcher’s knife into the new “Halloween” to get to the meat of matters, let’s set a few things out of the way. ¶ First, understand that while this is the 11th big-screen entry in the “Halloween” franchise, it is positioned as a sequel to director John Carpenter’s 1978 horror favorite of the same name. Not only does it ignore director Rob Zombie’s two-film reboot series of the late 2000s — hated by, among others, Carpenter — it also rolls its masked eyes at everything from 1981’s “Halloween II” through 2002’s “Halloween: Resurrection” — including 20th-anniversary effort “H20: 20 Years Later” in 1998. ¶ Second, know from the jump that these movies mean almost nothing to me, personally. Masked serial killer Michael Myers’ murderous affairs really weren’t a part of my formative years, and, to be honest, they interest me very little now. I’ve seen a movie or two and, probably, bits and bloody chunks of others. Thus, I’m afraid, if you’re looking for a strong, informed opinion about how this, er, reboot sequel(?) stacks up to other films — or for thoughts about how this one pays homage to those that came before it — your search will have to continue. ¶ As a horror flick in 2018, this new “Halloween” is … fine.
Less interesting than many modern works of horror, “Halloween” boasts many of the genre’s staples, including sinning teenagers who must pay for said sins with their lives and characters making inexplicably stupid decisions. And you don’t have to be a franchise expert to know it also has the hulking-and-skulking, familiarly masked Myers — now played by James Jude Courtney (“Far and Away”) — and the obligatory spooky musical theme, conjured up by Carpenter himself.
It also has — and this is its big selling point — 1978 “Halloween” star Jamie Lee Curtis as a revengethirsty Laurie Strode, who survived the night 40 years ago when Michael disposed of a few babysitters in Haddonfield, Illinois.