Halloween (2018)- Movie Review (No Spoilers)

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By Michael Momper

It's Halloween season, and that means it's time for some fresh new movies chock full of ghouls, ghosts, vampires and demons... as well as the occasional worn-out slasher re-tread. Halloween is a season with an infectious and catchy spirit, one that many aging and dull horror franchises can take advantage of by capitalizing on their reputation and the glee that comes with the festivities. It is the right atmosphere for the inevitable resurrection of countless old horror tropes, jump scares and all-too-familiar icons. Michael Meyers is one of these icons.

He was, at first, an intriguing slasher creation- no verbal communication, seemingly no motives, no visible face, the weapon of choice being the close-quarter and intimate figure of cold, sharp steel. But as soon as his mystique began to take hold of viewers and translate into franchise-capability, his legacy was blunted by the incompetent hands of bad directors and writers, like Rob Zombie. With these types of directors, the character was used more as a recognizable namesake for the carnage they already wanted to occur in a hapless horror movie; the franchise's name is their way for getting you to go watch it.

Luckily, new life is breathed into the mythology of Michael Meyers with this sequel. He remains mysterious, and Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her famous role as Laurie, a character haunted and seemingly possessed by what happened to her 40 years before. The writing is surprisingly snappy, with decent humor peppered in and a light enough atmosphere to make for  very enjoyable viewing. The violence is graphic but extremely stylish- many images hearken back to the original without being overly nostalgic (the opening credits sequence is an especially fun treat). This movie achieves its goal in spades. It got me extremely excited for the season- full of frightening stories and captivating lore- while also being interesting, thoughtful enough to take seriously through the runtime, and filled with enough character development to completely differentiate itself from most horror movies today.

One of the highlights for me was the aesthetically pleasing directorial choices. In one of my favorite scenes in a movie all year, we get a tracking shot of Michael Meyers walking down a suburban street... one masked man among a vibrant throng of jubilant children. As he attracts no attention, the shot sweeps along to follow him into a tool shed where he picks up a hammer, and then we are led along with him into a nearby house. The legendary theme music brings the scene a heightened intensity. I wanted it to go on for an hour. Extremely artistic frames of this caliber are abound in the movie, along with some fun Halloween imagery to go along with the bloodshed. Some of this bloodshed is shown in a graphic nature, but some is merely implied, which makes for very satisfying and well-paced reveal.

There aren't a whole lot of downsides to seeing this movie for your Halloween pump-up film. Sure, a couple of jokes miss the mark, and some of the plot twists seemed a little contrived in my estimation. But there aren't many better ways to get in the spirit of this season than seeing an actually well-made horror movie, and it makes it even more fun when the villain is a familiar, albeit mysterious, face.

Rating: 76/100

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