Halloween Kills (2021)
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Paton, Thomas Mann
Primary genre: Horror
Secondary genre: Slasher
Pitched as the ultimate apotheosis of the Michael Myers convoluted (and countless times rebooted) saga, “Halloween Kills” promised mayhem on an unprecedent scale after the unexpected positive reception of its legacy sequel in 2018 (“Halloween”). Director David Gordon Green based on that mischievous and isolated sentiment of successful arrogance, clearly thought to take what he did the first time and multiplied it by ten, thus amplifying in the process all the negative things that made his “Halloween” such an underwhelming experience.
As the penultimate episode in a so far disappointing legacy trilogy, “Halloween Kills” has absolutely nothing to go for it besides the atmospheric cinematography of Michael Simmonds and the original synth score by John Carpenter, his son Cody and Daniel Davies. Taking itself way too seriously for its own good, it attempts to reinsert itself into Carpenter’s classic original (1978) timeline with pointless flashbacks that bring back to life a 70’s Haddonfield.
Populated with laughable pseudo-existentialistic philosophies about the nature of evil, the script swings from one topic to another contradicting the ongoing proceedings with their below average execution and the baffling mentality of its characters. Green establishes few subplots that do not affect the slicing and dicing story while an ill-conceived mob lynch mentality segment feels misplaced with its unexplored consequences, further pushing the notion in the audience’s head of why this town is so upset about a 40 year old event (that left three people dead; four if you count Myer’s sister which was 60 years ago!).
But even as a horror film, “Halloween Kills“ is a mess: there is an excessive lack of suspense with several dull sequences of Michael stabbing and cutting his way through various citizens/opponents. Illogical decisions and stupid characters can paralyze even exceptionally well-made horror flicks, an element that unfortunately plagues the script in the tenth degree with the denizens of Haddonfield unable to run or call for help but being able to denounce that “Evil dies tonight!” as a power charged anthem amidst all the carnage. By the end you are rooting for Myers to get rid of the town from this excessive stupidity .
And speaking of the mayhem, the kills are brutal yet unearned as Green is unable to maintain any tension, making this a boring installment that offers nothing that we have not seen before. While Rob Zombie’s take (2007) sought to present Myers as a towering behemoth of brute physical force with surprisingly effective amounts of realistic violence that emphasized the way of killing and not the outcome (with some well executed jump scares in there), Green goes full on gore on seemingly important characters with the minimum of a set up.
Even the cast seems less interested here with cringe-worthy performances; the usually reliable Jamie Lee Curtis cannot save this travesty of a slasher, Judy Greer feels like she is coming from another movie and the rest of the cast are resorted into yelling confused noobs amidst all the blood and guts that Michael leaves behind.
“Halloween Kills” is a colossal disappointment that doubles down to the problems that make its predecessor such a weak legacy sequel. Idiotic decisions, unlikeable characters, sub-plots that go nowhere, a lack of suspense and below the average acting makes this “Halloween” entry unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.
A subpar sequel to a mediocre legacy sequel
+Solid cinematography
+Atmospheric score
-Subplots go nowhere
-Idiotic decisions
-Stupid characters
-Weak acting
-No suspense
-Flat direction