The 'Halloween' formula will never change

When I first watched Halloween 2018, I was stuck between what I wanted the film to be and what the reality was. John Carpenter and Debra Hill’s original vision remains the best that the Halloween series offers despite having at least 10 films. David Gordon Green’s new vision, along with Carpenter’s return, seemed promising, at first. The score was different but satisfactory and the kills were more brutal compared to a dark 1978 atmosphere. However, Green’s second Halloween entry killed all hopes of any successful story revolving around the legendary Michael Myers.

Jamie Lee Curtis’ character seemed promising in the 2018 film as someone dealing with emotional trauma 40 years after a deadly night of babysitting. Despite several plot holes and unnecessary twists in the trilogy’s first entry, the film wasn’t perfect, but it brought a new side of the final girl trope I hadn’t yet seen during that time. Laurie Strode was mentally and physically prepared to kill Myers despite all odds.

Despite some missteps, the film’s third act was epic and seemed to have brought “The Shape” down once and for all. When it was announced that the film would have followups Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends, I was skeptical for good reason. It turns out I was right to be as Green’s latest film brought nothing new to the story nor the big screen save for brutal kills of Haddonfield’s residents.

Halloween Kills brought back original actors Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens), and Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle, only to have all but one killed off. The direction makes no sense and adding in a few clips of an escaped Sanitarium patient only to kill them off doesn’t add any new elements to the story.

Perhaps the most frustrating element of this year’s film was the fact that every person in this film makes the dumbest decisions when faced against Myers. You would think Green would take a more clever, maybe even better approach with his characters, but I was surprised when he didn’t. This series is at least 40 years old and Green made his trilogy seem different than the rest and ultimately, it isn’t. It’s likely the masked killer won’t entirely “end” after the 2022 film. This trilogy killed what hope I had left for this tired idea.

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Sources: IndieWire

Featured Image: Peacock