Halloween (2018)

"Halloween" (2018, David Gordon Green, Miramax, Blumhouse Productions, Trancas International Films, Rough House Pictures, Universal Pictures) is a direct sequel to John Carpenter's original 1978 classic slasher, "Halloween". The film is set in present day and ignores all other sequels existing in the series.

We catch back up with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) who has lived a life of seclusion and paranoia with PTSD after the events of Halloween night 40 years previously in Haddonfield. She is estranged from her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer) and her family, but her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak) is keen to reconnect with her.

Concurrently, we learn of the fate of Michael Myers (Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney) through the investigations of Aaron (Jefferson Hall) and Dana (Rhian Rees) who are researching him for their true-crime podcast. He has spent the last 4 decades in a high security sanitarium. When being transferred to a high security prison, however, Michael manages to escape and heads for home to celebrate Halloween in the only way he knows how: by murdering a bunch of innocent bystanders...

Seeing the film on opening night was definitely a good experience. The crowd were good fun, but not rowdy enough to ruin the tense scenes in the film. The film plays out a little more like an action movie than a horror, but pays good homage to the original in so many ways without feeling like it's treading old ground. Where the original is a study in tense pacing, this film packs in a lot of action and some very effective gore. There are also bursts of humour that I felt added to the plot (I particularly loved the scenes with sassy kid, Julian (Jibrail Nantambu), who seemed to be the most sensible person in the movie).

Jamie Lee Curtis gives us an emotionally charged, but feisty return performance as Laurie; a woman who has been through a lot and not been able to move on. And both Karen's and Allyson's actions and feelings are understandable. The women are all strong characters but are not infallible. Their humanity is in great contrast to the Shape's lack of it.

A strange turn of events reminiscent to Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers does present itself, but does not derail the overall plot. All in all, I really enjoyed this sequel and, while it's certainly not perfect, I felt that it both slotted in as a continuation and updated the franchise effectively; bringing back Michael Myers once again to his ominous glory.

[Image: Blumhouse Productions, et al]

Hani

Halloween 2

"Halloween 2" (1981, Rick Rosenthal, Universal Pictures, Dino De Laurentiis Corporation) is the sequel to John Carpenter's masterpiece.

Michael Myers (Dick Warlock), the unstoppable madman, is still home for his favourite holiday and he's still hell-bent on tormenting Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and other teens in Haddonfield. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is still tailing him. And, wouldn't you know it, everyone is still pretty unprepared for the events, despite a whole load of murders in town already...

A pretty slow film, which holds none of the artful suspense of its predecessor but makes up for it with a lot more gore/violence, it serves as an unrequired and uninspired sequel to a good film. Rather than adding to the plot, it instead imitates its own imitators.

Not my favourite Halloween film. But still an interesting piece of cinema in respect to styling.

 

 

[Image: Universal Pictures]

 

Hani

The Fog (1980)

"The Fog" (1980, John Carpenter, AVCO Embassy Pictures) is the original and best version of the eerie seaside tale of vengeance, pirates and ghosts.

The plot is simple, there's a small fishing town called Antonio Bay which is celebrating it's 100 year anniversary. On the eve of the anniversary, however, a bad fog rolls in and a lot of unusual disturbances begin to happen across the whole town, some of which prove fatal. Ignoring these signs, the townspeople continue to prepare for their Centennial.

The strange glowing fog returns, and it soon comes to key members of the town's attention that "Something is in the fog!"

A good example of some of John Carpenter's work such as the original "Halloween" and "The Thing", the jumps are infrequent and well paced, always catching you when you're least execting them. There is next to no gore in this film, mostly Carpenter gives you an idea of what's happening and your mind does the rest! I really appreciate this in some films, and find it both classic and exciting as my mind always outdoes most horror film in grossness anyway!

The key townspeople are against the clock to try to stop the fog and its deadly contents. But when digging into the town's history to try to apease it, they might not like what they find out!

Although dated by the film quality and clothes of the day, this film is still a great experience and can still grab your attention when it needs to!

The ghosts are damned polite, knocking before killing you; how considerate!!! And Jamie Lee Curtis gets very friendly with an older man, Tom Atkins. Adrienne Barbeau also showcases her sexy radio voice.

Highly recommend!

[Picture: AVCO Embassy Pictures]

 

Hani