A rather meager budget of $300,000. Making summer in southern California look like autumn in the Midwest. A simple music score involving the repetition of a few notes. An opening sequence which would make brilliant use of a new kind of camera. Most importantly, an altered William Shatner “Star Trek” mask, conveying the blank stare of evil.
These were some of the aspects and factors which came together in 1978 as young filmmaker John Carpenter sought to establish a name for himself in Hollywood with “Halloween.” Carpenter’s latest project now endures as one of the most profitable independent films of all time, and it became a catalyst for the inundation of the “slasher” subgenre of horror films to follow.
Forty years and multiple sequels later, director David Gordon Green of “Pineapple Express” renown brings what is meant to be, partially at least, an homage to the original with a new “Halloween.” Written by Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley and executive-produced by Carpenter and others, the film chooses to disregard all events of the “Halloween” sequels and serve as a continuation of strictly the original. Regrettably, “Halloween” will drive viewers as crazy as its iconic baddie, Michael Myers, is.
Two British podcasters, Dana (Rhian Rees) and Aaron (Jefferson Hall), pay a visit to Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, Myers’ (James Jude Courtney) “home” after his murders of 1978. Looking to gain some semblance of insight into the killer’s mind, they meet Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), Myers’ doctor, and want to meet the serial killer himself. Approaching Myers on the checkerboard-like yard of the sanitarium, Aaron shows Myers his mask but fails to bring him out of his catatonic state.
Next, the two track down Myers’ sole survivor of his past rampage who still lives in Haddonfield, Illinois: a haggard Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Locked behind a Fort Knox of security cameras and towering searchlights, Laurie bluntly gives them “no comment” and sends them on their way. A little ways from Laurie, her estranged daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and 17-year-old granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) are trying to make their own life out of the shadow of Laurie’s PTSD and paranoia that Myers will return to finish her off.
On the following day of Oct. 31, Myers and other inmates escape as they’re being transferred from Smith’s Grove to a new facility. Myers commandeers a vehicle and drives to a gas station; coincidentally, he runs into the podcasters, dispatches both of them, dons a familiar black overcoat and retrieves an also familiar mask from the car of the podcasters. Myers is set to return to Haddonfield for another night of terror.
One problem of the film is its over reliance on retreading or trying to breathe new life into sequences, items or other aspects from the original. It seems as if the filmmakers were concerned with adding as many nods to the original as possible but including them strictly for the sense of satisfying the most die-hard of fans. Practically none of these nods contribute anything new or interesting to the film’s tone or atmosphere.
A refreshing aspect of the original was that viewers could get a sense that its three main female characters, at least, were ordinary teenage girls who could be related to and sympathized with. The original also delivered a building of tension throughout as Myers prowled the streets of Haddonfield in the daytime, foreshadowing what would take place once the sun went down and darkness reigned.
This film does none of that as it fast forwards to Myers picking out a series of random targets to stab and kill. These victims are provided with virtually no development, causing a devolvement into nothing more than the film being like a standard slasher like “Friday the 13th.”
The performances in “Halloween” are nothing to write home about for the most part. Curtis’ psychologically scarred Laurie comes off more rattled than resolute and Greer’s Karen is like a dull version of Myers’ sharp choice of butcher knife for a signature weapon. One of the film’s few bright spots comes in Matichak’s Allyson, who proves to be a nice carbon copy of her grandmother’s capable 17-year-old self.
“Halloween” is meant to be relevant in the face of the #MeToo movement in terms of Laurie standing up to the one who has tortured her soul for so long. The viewer gets to see only shreds of it throughout the film, and only the film’s last 15-20 minutes are dedicated to it. Combine this with it being ultra-disappointing and formulaic and perhaps the franchise, unlike its villain, should stay dead.
