A terror-ific Halloween treat
Halloween (R16, 106 mins) Directed by David Gordon Green Reviewed by James Croot ★★★1⁄2
Who knew that the minds behind half-baked comedies such as Your Highness and The Sitter would produce one of the best horrors of the year?
Yet that’s exactly what David Gordon Green, Jeff Fradley and Danny McBride have done, while also reclaiming and restoring the reputation of one of Hollywood’s most beloved boogeymen.
Yes, Michael Myers is back, the perpetrator of Haddonfield, Illinois’ 1978 babysitter murders. The creation of horror-meister John Carpenter, his William Shatnermasked menace has been somewhat diluted over the ensuing four decades, thanks to endless sequels, reboots and remakes.
However, this 11th stab at telling the silent stalker’s story strips away all the mythological layers and baggage. The result might be simple in its execution(s), but that’s what also makes it a sometimes compellingly uncomfortable watch.
Having spent four decades locked up in Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, the seemingly mute Myers is about to be transferred to a less-than-desirable but more secure facility. The move also takes him away from Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the young woman who survived his murderous spree.
Now a grandmother, Laurie is fuelled by paranoia and neuroses. She has focused her life on ensuring she and her family are prepared for Myers’ return.
Her obsession has cost her two marriages and strained her relationship with her daughter Karen (Ant-Man and the Wasp’s Judy Greer). Knowing that this might be her last chance to get her revenge, Laurie watches as Myers boards the transport to his new home. But little does she know that the bus will never make it to its destination.
What follows won’t surprise anyone, but Gordon Green and company do a solid job of taking the audience on a terror-ific roller coaster ride that never dwells on or demeans its victims.
Via tracking and point-of-view shots, clever use of lighting and reflections and that iconic 70s synth score, they generate a couple of genuine jolts. Only a Pulp Fiction-esque food-focused scene between two cops hints at the screenwriters’ previous output.
Sure the plot isn’t exactly original – there’s a touch of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare ,a soupcon of Scream 4 ,anodto Saw and an obvious debt to Terminator 2 among the proceedings – but this Halloween sees the revival of an old franchise’s fortunes.