'Halloween Kills' an intense, scary flick

*** This is the initial review of Halloween Kills that I worked on for the Examiner last October! ***

In 2018, after lying dormant for years, Universal and Blumhouse very successfully brought the ‘Halloween’ franchise and Michael Myers back from the dead. Surprisingly for a horror/slasher movie, critics gave the 2018 movie good reviews, and audiences really enjoyed it.

2018’s ‘Halloween’ made a bold move of ignoring the previous sequels and became a direct sequel to the 1978 original. And, the filmmakers pulled it off. Now, after anxiously waiting for an additional year (thanks to COVID, as it was supposed to be released last year), horror fans can flock to the big screen in town to check out this spine-chilling (and brutal) sequel. In the Universal/Blumhouse presentation of ‘Halloween Kills,’ the nightmare isn’t over as unstoppable Michael Myers escapes from Laurie Strode’s trap to continue his ritual bloodbath. Injured and taken to the hospital, Laurie fights through the pain as Haddonfield residents come together to rise up against Myers.

Taking matters into their own hands, the Strode woman and other survivors form a vigilante mob to hunt down Michael and end his reign of terror once and for all.

‘Halloween Kills,’ the second in a new trilogy, is a unique and thrilling sequel that really entertains the die-hard ‘Halloween’ fans. The horror sequel to the 2018 movie really ups the ante majorly on quite a few of the Myers killings while he’s on his rampage.

The latest addition to the franchise really keeps the scares and chills going right from the start. There are quite a few moments that show a great deal of emotion and a good amount of the hospital scenes can get really tense. It is really awesome to see some of the townspeople (including characters from the 1978 film) team up to track Myers down. Another awesome sequence of moments that are scattered throughout the movie are the newly filmed flashbacks from the 1978 movie. These flashbacks really worked and made it feel you were watching deleted footage from the original classic.

Now, granted, ‘Halloween Kills’ isn’t perfect and a few dramatic parts do go a little overboard. This sequel will still surprise you. The crowd at the showing I attended really got into the movie and looked like they really enjoyed themselves.

All of the brutal moments and scares lead up to one of the most insane and tense endings of a ‘Halloween’ sequel ever. Now, the ending is good and leads right into the upcoming third movie. But it will really shock you, especially if you enjoyed the 2018 movie.

The cast: Jamie Lee Curtis (Knives Out) as Laurie Strode; Judy Greer (TVs Archer; Playing with Fire) as Karen; Andi Matichak (Son) as Allyson; Will Patton (The Forever Purge) as Officer Hawkins; Thomas Mann (Disney Plus’ Lady and the Tramp) as Young Hawkins; Dylan Arnold (After We Collided) as Cameron Elam; Robert Longstreet (Netflix’s Midnight Mass) as Lonnie Elam; Anthony Michael Hall (Netflix’s War Machine) as Tommy Doyle; Omar J. Dorsey (Harriet) as Sheriff Barker; Kyle Richards and Lindsay; Nancy Stephens as Marion and James Jude Courtney as The Shape, among many others.

‘Halloween Kills’ is written by Scott Teems, Danny McBride (Halloween; HBOs The Righteous Gemstones) and David Gordon Green (Halloween) and also directed by Green as well.

In June 2018, McBride confirmed that he and Green had originally intended to pitch two movies that would be shot back-to-back, and then decided against it, waiting to see the reaction of the first movie. By the end of October 2018, after the movie’s opening weekend, McBride confirmed that early development on a sequel had begun.

The following year, Universal and Blumhouse revealed the titles for the two sequels: ‘Halloween Kills’ and ‘Halloween Ends.’ The 2021 sequel premiered at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 8. ‘Kills’ was originally intended for a 2020 release, but there were kind of release date changes going on everywhere. Michael Myers will be back on the big screen next October in ‘Halloween Ends.’

‘Halloween Kills’ is rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language and some drug use and has a running time of 106 minutes.

https://youtu.be/OUwVHX3242M