Jamie Lee Curtis is back and as badass as ever as Laurie Strode in “Halloween,” a direct sequel set 40 years after the original “Halloween” that finds Laurie confronting the slasher killer Michael Myers once again. Unfortunately, while Laurie has evolved as a character, her murderous counterpart is up to the same old tricks, leaving this ambitious reboot a mixed-bag.
“Halloween” 2018 pretends that its seven sequels – as well as director Rob Zombie’s remake and its sequel – didn’t take place. Instead, we find out that Michael Myers (played in the first half of the film by the original Myers actor Nick Castle), has been locked down in a maximum-security institution for the past 40 years, and has never once spoken a word.
AUDIO: Tim reviews “Halloween” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show”
Meanwhile, Laurie has remained traumatized by the events she suffered as a babysitter 40 years earlier, and after failed attempts at relationships and having her daughter taken from her by authorities at age 12, has become a survivalist. Living in a gated encampment in the woods outside of Haddonfield, Illinois, where Michael murdered five people in 1978, Laurie has been preparing the apocalypse with a cache of weapons, a safe room and a stockpile of food for when the time comes.
However, the apocalypse for Laurie isn’t nuclear annihilation, but rather the escape of Michael during a prison transfer where he murders the guard and escapes, reclaiming his identity as “The Shape,” mask, blue overalls and all butcher knife, where he slashes his way through Haddonfield once again, looking for not only Laurie, but her now-adult daughter, Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak).
The first half of “Halloween” is spectacular, as Curtis slips comfortably back into the role of Laurie, and expertly shows the wear and tear the terror took on her decades before. She lives a life in paranoia fearing his escape yet welcomes it, so she can finally confront Michael and put an end to her nightmare once and for all.
Directed by “East Bound and Down” helmer David Gordon Green and co-written by comedic actor Danny McBride, “Halloween” suffers, though, by basically delivering the same premise we’ve seen in the previous movies, where Michael goes on a cold and calculated murderous rampage where the end game seems all the same. Granted, the character is limiting, but there are really no new twists, save Michael’s psychologist (Haluk Bilginer), or as Laurie likes to call him, “The new Loomis,” referring to Donald Pleasance’s psychologist character in the original films. That twist, while welcome, doesn’t pan out, though, squashing for any hopes for creativity in the second half of the film.
There’s no question the fans of the original film will embrace the new “Halloween,” which has plenty of nods to director John Carpenter’s 1978 classic. Carpenter is back in a sense, too, as the composer of the film’s chilling score, recalling a theme that became an instant classic 40 years ago. All told, “Halloween” is a mixture of old and new with a shortage of the latter that would have made it rise above the expectations the film set for the audience when the reboot was announced. “Halloween” isn’t a bad film, by any means, just average. Hopefully the inevitable sequel will come up with some new tricks to treat its audience with.
Lammometer: 5 (out of 10)
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
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