Halloween Review

Certificate: 18

Running time: 104 minutes 

Directed by: David Gordon Green.

What’s it about: Forty years after Laurie Strode survived a vicious attack by crazed serial killer Michael Myers, Strode finds herself confronting Myers once again after he escapes from a prison bus crash.

The verdict: So it should be made clear from the start that I have, prior to watching this film, only ever seen one other Halloween film - Halloween H20. And by seen, I mean I hid during most of it. So I use the word ‘seen’ loosely. I do however have a good knowledge of the franchise, but obviously this has probably had an impact on my viewing of the film. With Halloween, I think it needs to be evaluated in two ways - its merit as a horror film and its merit as a sequel. 

So firstly, let’s address its merit as a horror film. And when doing that, I have to say that I found Halloween sub-par. I really liked the first act but the consequent acts went downhill for me. When broken down into its simplest formula, Halloween is a traditional slasher film about a crazed serial killer and one of his surviving victims who fantasises about killing him. There is nothing particularly interesting or new about this formula. And so it follows that there is nothing that Halloween brings that is particularly new or interesting - in terms of creative or narrative choices. Michael Myers stalks through different locations, stabbing and slicing and dismembering, and it’s gory and it’s violent. And it feels so predictable and pointless. And Michael kills so many people that the tension starts to lessen. In the first act, the tension is high - you know that Michael is going to escape but you don’t know what he’s going to do. But as the film goes on, that tension dispels. 

I also felt that Halloween went from being reasonably smart to incredibly dumb. Again, the first act has some really good elements. In particular, two journalists who visit Michael in an institution is an interesting plot point. But what really started to annoy me, and to feel very unbelievable, was Michael’s almost superhuman abilities. Without giving too much away, Michael does not remain unscathed throughout the film and yet he manages to display super strength. Surely someone of a certain age who has just spent forty years in incarceration would be beginning to show signs of weakness? The film does throw in a line about inmates being allowed daily exercise and eating healthily, but that still doesn’t explain it. Also the characters made some appallingly stupid decisions. I understand that when facing a life or death situation and fearing for your life, you’re not exactly in the best frame of mind. But if a film is set in the modern world in true to life settings, then I feel that there needs to be a sense of realism. 

Speaking of the characters leads on to the cast. The cast were good but no one stood out. If anything, I felt that Jamie Lee Curtis should have been given better dialogue and more screen time. The characters aren’t particularly likeable either. So even though they were in a terrifying situations, I wasn’t really rooting for anyone. 

So, overall as a stand-alone horror film, Halloween did nothing for me. This leads me to think that perhaps its merit lies in being an effective sequel. There are parts of this film that go out of their way to discount the other sequels and myths surrounding the films. And reading more into the original, apparently there are a lot of similar shots. I can see how as a fan of the films then this would be really appealing. It may be that Halloween is a film for fans of the franchise and not newcomers - which is fair enough.

That being said, Halloween is not a bad film. It just didn’t particularly appeal to me or impress me. I was engaged throughout and I suppose it is entertaining enough. Unfortunately it had a few too many weaker elements that meant that I can’t rate it too highly. I wanted a bit more from it. There is one plot twist that others might really enjoy, however as I’d worked it out about ten minutes into the film, it was yet another disappointing element for me.

Should you watch this film? Yes and no. Watch it at the cinema if you’re a Halloween super fan. For anyone else, you won’t be missing out if you wait for the dvd.