Film Review: HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021): A Slasher Film Sequel That Plays Out Unpredictably

Halloween Kills Review

Halloween Kills (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, Will Patton, Airon Armstrong, Thomas Mann, Jim Cummings, Dylan Arnold, Robert Longstreet, Charles Cyphers, Scott MacArthur, Michael McDonald, Kyle Richards and Nancy Stephens.

Halloween Kills brings Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie Strode in the sequel to the 2018 Halloween reboot. In director David Gordon Green’s follow up film, Curtis once again brings her strong, fierce female character to the table in an enjoyable horror fest that has one major surprise up its sleeve. That revelation is the excellent performance of Anthony Michael Hall from The Breakfast Club. Hall reveals himself as a gifted actor in his portrayal of a grown up Tommy Doyle who was the boy that Laurie babysat back in the 1978 original John Carpenter picture. We know we’re going to refer back to that picture when we see Donald Pleasence somehow appearing in the early stages of the movie despite the fact the actor is no longer around. Long live cinematic magic!

This time out, the setting is still in Haddonfield, Illinois as our central characters are unveiled to the audience. Doyle’s character is a survivor of the wrath of Michael Myers and gets together with other survivors such as Lindsey (Kyle Richards) and Marion (Nancy Stephens) annually to celebrate their escape from the demented serial killer with the white face mask that is Myers. The movie starts with a look back at a cop accidentally shooting his partner instead of Michael Myers. Keep these opening scenes in mind as they will come back later in the picture. Will Patton plays Deputy Hawkins who will have a key role in the storyline later on.

The earlier scenes in the film (especially the killing sequences) are not done well. There are shots that linger on the victims of Myers for way too long. Also, a scene where some kids play a prank on someone that involves a supposed razor blade in a kid’s candy is very poorly executed. But, the movie improves as it moves on and Hall’s character Tommy is given a larger role in the movie than expected as his character vows to have evil die that very Halloween night.

Also on board is Judy Greer as Laurie’s daughter Karen who gets some scene stealing moments of her own especially when she unmasks Michael at one point. Also, Karen is the character who tries to save an innocent mental patient who people wrongly believe to be an unmasked Michael Myers. Andi Matichak portrays Allyson who is Laurie Strode’s granddaughter. Matichak has some good solid scenes at the end especially when she tries to take on Myers herself and save a key character’s life.

Curtis, as Laurie, is always terrific and has some good dialogue here that demonstrates her strong independence but most of the movie disappointingly confines her to a hospital bed after she gets surgery done. This opens up the window for Hall to steal the show which he does. Hall superbly captures his character’s own need to have justice served by getting vengeance on the evil Michael Myers. Unfortunately, the mob he conjures up can only do so much to find the real Myers as the night progresses.

The ending of the picture is not going to please everyone. This is a darker, more bleak Halloween picture in terms of the way it showcases the fact that Myers is an evil being that is most likely undefeatable. Or is he? Could Tommy Doyle’s mob finally defeat Myers once and for all? You’ll need to see the film to find out.

Halloween Kills has a very insidious tone that sneaks up on the viewer. Like the recent James Bond picture, No Time To Die, the new horror film is significantly different from its predecessors. It offers more character development than ever before but Halloween Kills leaves out a lot of the stuff that made the original picture and the 2018 remake so successful. The killings are more grotesque and the film is just less fun. However, that familiar music score is always exciting to hear and the picture will hold your interest from beginning to end. There’s not a dull moment in it except for the lackluster way the movie’s murders are orchestrated.

Jamie Lee Curtis has played this character before more successfully. I’d love to see one more film in this series to finally put a definitive cap on the twisted relationship she has with Michael. We still don’t get the kind of satisfying confrontation between the two characters here that would make this sequel a true classic. That great movie has yet to made but I would like to see Laurie and Michael in a true fight to the finish one day. Although, the new film seems to finish its story by definitively stating Michael Myers’s place in the world, I think there’s one more sequel left in this franchise that I’d like to see.

Halloween Kills is a decent movie. It’s not the definitive Halloween movie but its characters are captivating, undeniably fierce and compelling in many scenes and the film proves that Anthony Michael Hall has been Hollywood’s best kept secret for some time now.

Rating: 7/10

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