MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Halloween" (2018)

Happy Halloween, everybody! What more appropriate a movie to have for this most spooky of days? Mind you, this film is not the 1978 original, but it is a sequel to it. And as there are no other movies by that name, we only have a slight bit of confusion concerning sequel numbering. Yes, despite the fact that this is a sequel to the original Halloween... it is only a sequel to the original Halloween.

So... Michael cutting his way through Haddonfield General Hospital and being Laurie's secret brother? Gone.

Michael coming back 10 years later to terrorize his niece? Gone.

Michael having a psychic link with said niece? Gone.

The retcon of the Thorn Cult? Gone.

Halloween Hills, 90210? Gone.

"Trick or treat, motherfucker!"? Gone... and thank God for that one!

... oh, and the Rob Zombie films are gone, too, but we all know that those never existed anyway.

Seriously, it's an awesome and powerful scene.

But yes, four decades of Halloween sequels (for good and for ill) have been wiped out by this movie. Now, in this continuity, only the events of the 1978 original have happened. As you can imagine, this deflates the menace of Michael Myers somewhat as he has now officially killed five people and one dog in the new canon. This kind of is an odd juxtaposition with the opening, which is honestly painfully brilliant. A pair of true crime podcasters (Rhian Rees and Jefferson Hall) visit Smith's Grove and attempt to get an interview with Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle). The two are brought out into the yard where the inmates are allowed outside time and one of the podcasters pulls out Michael's mask to display to him.

While Michael gives no reaction or even says a word, it seems to cause the inmates around them to become manic and frenzied. It is as if the mere presence of this is causing them to react as though Michael is some sort of eldritch entity. Not a man, but a Shape of one, and spreading a sort of madness throughout the area, as if his very presence is disrupting the very fabric of reality itself. It is absolutely chilling and sets the tone immediately. Michael is pure and simple... evil.

There's also a bit of dialogue later where a character laments getting peanut butter on their penis.

...no, I am not giving context. You'll just have to live with that.

Meanwhile, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has been living in fear since that Halloween night in 1978. However, unlike another way her life might have gone, Laurie has been drinking hard liquor and has been doomsday prepping for a day in the future that she believes Michael might break out of Smith's Grove. She's fortified her house with traps and protections, she's stocked up on guns and has gotten really, really good at using them, basically the full Sarah Connor treatment. Sure, it is something we've seen before, but Laurie's entire attitude is very much in opposition to how she was in H20.

"Hello, Avon calling!"

Rather than running away and hiding from Michael, she's ready to approach the problem head on, outright stating that she's prayed for years that Michael would escape Smith's Grove just so that she could kill him. This paranoia has put her at odds with her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), but she still remains a sort of good relationship with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Mathichak). Karen wants Laurie to move on from what happened in 1978, something that has tormented her and has done a great deal of damage to Karen coming up. Laurie, however, remains resolute... particularly after hearing of Michael's bus crashing as he's being transferred to a maximum security prison.

Michael Myers is back and, after killing off a father and being heavily implied to also kill his son (a child, for the record), Haddonfield is in deep, deep trouble.

I'm not going to lie or sugar coat it, this movie is fantastic. It's probably the best Halloween film since Revenge of Michael Myers and possibly, arguably, the best since the original. While I don't necessarily agree with jettisoning all of the pre-established lore from Halloween II onward (neither the Thorn Cult or the H20 timelines even did that), it does free them up to go different avenues with it. Those avenues pretty much all lead to Michael brutally stabbing people, but avenues nonetheless.

However, just because the film has jettisoned the franchise's past in terms of continuity doesn't mean that it's forgotten it completely. Oh, no! Almost every film in the franchise gets a nod in one form or another, be it a piece of dialogue or a background reference or something of the kind. Obviously, much of the homages are to the original film, but it really is touching that the filmmakers worked to put in a few subtle touches. This film did, after all, come out on the 40th anniversary year of the original film. It almost feels like not only a proper sequel, but a love letter to the fans and to the franchise itself and all that it has ever been. Yes, even the Rob Zombie films... there's at least one character that's horny, stupid, swears a lot, and then gets brutally murdered in an over the top fashion.

Couple this with John Carpenter coming back to score the film with the traditional synth-heavy tunes that the original was known for, and you have a masterpiece of loving homage. It is abundantly clear that the people who made this film have a great love and respect for the original, and it shows many, many times within the movie. I call it "Reverse Rian Johnson Syndrome".

Or, y'know, "competence".

"Mmmm... those muffins smell like they're almost done!"

My bitterness aside about certain other franchises, Halloween honestly seems to be recovering from its many years of darting between meandering and doing outrageously nonsensical things seems to have stopped... for the most part, anyway. While there are a few very, very minor problems here and there, Halloween seems to largely only suffer from a name of sequel naming confusion. By the time you read this, I'll have already seen Halloween Kills and will get to see if the trend continues. For now, though, the future of the Halloween franchise looks bright!

And, since it is October 31st and Horror Month draws to a close, remember: "The dark side is always there, waiting for us to enter — waiting to enter us. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight."

Happy Halloween!

Halloween (2018) is brought to us by Miramax, Blumhouse Productions, Trancas International Films, Rough House Pictures, and Universal Pictures.