Genius Review (Spoilers): Halloween 2018
Do we become the worst thing that’s happened to us?
Whenever a horror movie franchise reboots or remakes, I generally ask for three things in descending order.
1. Are you going to scare me? Lots of horror flicks focus on the nostalgia or try to overwhelm you with the gore. Sometimes they overdo the origin story and 49 minutes in you still haven’t felt an ounce of tension.
2. Will this fit? Is it logically in the universe? Halloween H2o, Jason X, Scream 4…none of them fit or made sense at all in the worlds to which they belonged. Forty years is a long time, and I was worried that Halloween 2018 was going to be Star Wars 7, all rehash and more Death Stars, or a Nightmare on Elm Street reboot without the personality of Robert Englund.
3. Is anything going to be iconic? The sounds of Freddy’s glove on the pipe. Jason’s theme. Pennywise laughing. Drew Barrymore’s phone call. These are all iconic moments burned in our brains. We all can do without the dime a dozen teen partiers and the vain hacking scenes.
I’ll cut to the chase on all three. Their were frightening moments and a few legitimate “don’t go in there” shrieks, but it wasn’t the scariest movie you’ll see. The story was the winner here, and it swept Halloweens 2–43 right into the dust bin to write a smart new canon four decades out. And since the story stole the show, that led to some iconic moments that can be used in horror movie montages for years to come.
What was great about Halloween 2018?
First and foremost, the score was brilliant. The opening theme more than paid homage to the original; it felt like you were in a theatre in 1978 watching John Carpenter tell his brand new story. Carpenter’s son wrote the remade theme, and it’s just as memorable with a modern kick to it. The driving rythym and ominous synthesizers fill the screen and the room. Throughout the film, old familiar chords and new shrill stacattos wrap you up into the real original Michael Myers saga. This film is a more seamless sequel than the original was.
The scenery was perfect as well. A small bustling middle class town teeming with kids out collecting candy for Halloween is where Michael is at his best. He stalks in plain sight, but hides among the costumed crowds. Homes are close together and quaintly decorated, and you’re least safe in the midst of the fun everyone is having around you. The police chase, but Myers can’t be found or contained.
Cinematography is weak in remakes, shooting nothing memorable, but this movie didn’t have that problem. Michael drops the teeth of his victim over a bathroom stall. There’s a few very creepy reflection and/or Myers though the window shots that add to the intensity. This film has multiple mimic shots from the original that aren’t cheesy or cheap but remind you of the original without feeling like they struggled to search for content. The deaths have a strong stalker feel which is unique to Michael unlike the chase of a Jason Vorhees. Sometimes movies don’t know which character they are writing for (hashtag DCEU).
There’s one more great thing in this film, but we’ll get there momentarily.
What’s less than great?
The acting won’t win anyone an award, Michael included, however it was good to see Laurie Strode, non-sister to Michael Myers, and Officer Hawkins again.
The guy who replaced Loomis. Yes, at one point Laurie says directly to him, “You’re the new Loomis.” The movie is self aware, but I just don’t get him or the need to have him around. He adds a weird twist later on in the film that wasn’t necessary (IMHO) and could’ve been accomplished other ways. He’s dead now anyway so don’t worry about him in the future movies. Yes, Michael is alive for another film…see post credit breathing.
Finally, there are a few other characters that don’t really develop and don’t seem to hold much of an important role in the film unless, and this is a big unless, in future films they shape the plot, in which case this film used them to plant seeds so they needn’t retcon too much later.
But that story though…
And here’s where Halloween Y40 owns the horror film of the year award.
Halloween asks the question, do we always only become a reciprocal of the worst thing that happened to us?
It doesn’t take long to realize who the real Michael Myers is in this rendition. It’s Laurie Strode. Remember that moment in H1 when Laurie looks out the window at school and Michael is across the street? This time around, that same scene is replicated, but when her granddaughter glances left, it’s Laurie gazing back.
Laurie, Michael, some podcasters at the beginning and Myer’s doctor all focus on the original protagonist and antagonist meeting again to resolve their psychological problems. One has shaped the other and maybe the other is still shaping the one. Why does Michael need to get to Laurie? Why does Laurie prepare to meet Michael? Perhaps they should have a sit down?
Michael’s crimes have formed Laurie’s personality and doomsday prepper complex. Laurie’s survival has driven Michael to wait 40 years to chase her again.
The school isn’t the only time we see Laurie play Michael. Whenever there’s a death, we pan to her, stalking the scene. She’s lurking, looking, waiting for her moment. When she finally meets Michael, there’s a reversal of roles from H1 and Laurie falls from the second story window. Michael looks away for a moment and Laurie is gone. The familiar shriek echos from the musical instruments. And finally, like Michael did forty years ago, Laurie emerges from the shadows behind him, with only her face lit in the darkness as she surprises him.
This Laurie is no longer running from the bogeyman begging people to let her in. Now she is the homeowner luring Michael into her trap. She’s not fleeing. She’s drawing him in. She’s not escaping rooms. She’s creating traps to lock him in rooms.
Laurie traps and kills (she doesn’t kill him) Michael, staring him down like he did 40 years ago, letting him know she was coming for him like he did to her 40 years ago, making sure he was dead (he’s not dead).
And the question the movie leaves us with is this. Are we the creation of the worst thing that happened to us? Do we become a reciprocal of the thing that hurt us most? In Michael’s case, Laurie escaped him, and his drive for murder only hardened him more. In Laurie’s case, she became the stalker that stalked her. She became what scared her and almost killed her.
Life is suffering, and unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it never springs up into something new and alive. Halloween 2018 deepens that theory.
Maybe suffering doesn’t just change us. Maybe, as in Laurie’s case, it’s what we become.
