FILM OF THE WEEK
Halloween Cert: 18; Now showing
At the screening in Dublin, Jamie Lee Curtis described how during the filming of a small but important scene of this film, the entire crew wore badges saying “We Are Laurie Strode”. It was a nod to #MeToo and an important part of David Gordon Green’s sequel to the original Halloween film. A sequel that ignores and bypasses all the others to take up Laurie’s story 40 years on from the events of the first film.
Laurie (Curtis) has been living with the trauma of the babysitter murders, alone and terrified, she has untreated PTSD and knows no rest while Michael Myers (Nick Castle) is still alive. He has been incarcerated since 1978 and is about to be transferred to another institution. Two English journalists want to revisit the story, conveniently recapping for anyone who doesn’t know the original, exemplifying what Myers is capable of and giving him back that famous mask. For escape Myers does, on Halloween, and goes back to doing his thing, killing babysitters. But he is really looking for the one who got away.
Everyone thinks Laurie is mad, she is so damaged she has alienated her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and to a lesser extent her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) but with Myers out, granny will get a chance to kick ass.
The film opens with the same pumpkin credit sequence and John Carpenter’s music. There are plenty of nods to the horror maestro but this is much less scary than the first film and although the death count is higher, many die off camera, it is far from gore-free. It also has lots of laughs to break up the tension so it’s not strictly horror. But it is clever, funny and enjoyable, and Curtis is great living her personal Armageddon.