444: Halloween

[00:00:00] Let's get into Halloween, which came out in 2018. It is directed by David Gordon Green, stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Annie Matochek, James Jude Courtney, Nick Castle, a few others, and the synopsis is

[00:00:19] Laurie Strode confronts her longtime foe Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. So, this one skips the Rob Zombie films because Rob Zombies two movies are in its own little universe.

[00:00:37] This continues the Jamie Lee Curtis timeline and I was really excited when I heard about this one. I'd seen all of the films up to that point so I was really excited that they had announced a trilogy. I think at the time they did say that but

[00:00:54] either way, I was really looking forward to it. I was glad that Jamie Lee Curtis was coming back and it was not just a regular reboot, you know, it was actually continuing that story.

[00:01:03] So I was really happy about that and I've seen the movie probably three or four times at this point. It's pretty solid. I think some of these movies or all of them get a lot of hate, more hate than I think they deserve.

[00:01:18] I still find it to be very entertaining. It's got some good scares. It's well directed. The score by John Carpenter is very good. Jamie Lee Curtis is excellent in the role still and I guess in some ways similar to the Scream

[00:01:34] reboot films, this one does have some more thematic weight to it and some more commentary. Not say that any of the movies have any incredible amount of complexity to them.

[00:01:46] However, in this one and we'll get to the ideas in the other two when we get to them, but this one and maybe I'm reaching here, I don't know, but I do find this one to speak a little bit to the Me Too movement where

[00:01:59] Laurie Strode is this person who when she was a teenager she had this horrible trauma and I guess assault, abuse, whatever you want to call it, and it has affected her life ever since, forever.

[00:02:14] It's something that people call her crazy for and just like with the Me Too movement, people are continuing to speak up about it. The abuse, whether it happened yesterday or 10 years ago or 30 years ago, it still

[00:02:27] oftentimes affects them forever. They never get over that and then in this and it goes with all three movies, she's often seen as the crazy person like yeah, she's the psycho. She caused all these problems. It wasn't Michael Myers who did it.

[00:02:41] It was her who instigated all this terror and violence. It was all on her. She did this or she acted that way or whatever it might be and so I think that

[00:02:50] does speak to that. At least that's what I got from the movie and I really think that's a very interesting and refreshing thing to have in a movie like this because most slashers have no real depth to them and

[00:03:02] it does get more and more interesting along the way and I think each movie has its own little set of commentary, but the idea mainly of trauma and past abuse and assault where you're having to live your life where

[00:03:14] everyone knows about it, you know, for example in the MeToo movement. It's something if you speak up about it, it's gonna be plastered all over social media. It's gonna be forever tied to you and then there are gonna be people who are saying

[00:03:26] geez, you're bringing this up after five years, after ten years. Why are you still hung up on it? Like what's the big deal? Why don't you just go off and be normal again and live your own life and blah blah blah blah blah and it

[00:03:40] is the same thing in this movie where she's aware that Michael Myers is still out there. So she's forever scared and always scared in some ways at least that he could come back at any moment. So

[00:03:53] to me that really speaks of past abusers and assault and anything along those lines where people will always have that fear, you know, looking behind their back of what if that person shows up again in my life?

[00:04:05] What if they contact me? What if they show up at my door? You know, what if they get in contact with someone I know or whatever it might be because I've known plenty of people in

[00:04:12] my life who have not dealt with what she's dealt with obviously, but in terms of abuse, assault, whatever it might be and so that really does strike true and it feels very thoughtful and poignant in terms of recent events, especially when concerning the Me Too movement.

[00:04:29] Besides that I really like the setup of the movie where there are these two podcasters who are like true crime expose podcasters and they want to go tell the story of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode and then

[00:04:45] Michael Myers ends up breaking out, of course as you would expect and they get killed and then Michael Myers goes on a spree. But also similar to the Scream films, I love how these recent reboots of these different horror slasher franchises are more about the victims

[00:05:02] standing up for themselves and fighting back. It's not like alright there's a scared boy or girl, they're about to get killed, done, movie's over. Which that's fine in some ways but I like how in these it's alright, we're not gonna be scared anymore

[00:05:18] we're gonna fight back even if we end up dying we're gonna fight back. We're not just gonna stand around get locked away in a closet and wait to be found. You know, it's like alright

[00:05:28] let's take up arms and we're gonna do whatever we can to take this person or people down. So I really like that idea and that's a very good message for this day and age where we've had decades of these slashers where it's just victims being victims

[00:05:43] there's no real redemption or justice and in these they're like alright, let's fight back. So I really like that. The relationship with Jamie Lee Curtis and her family is really interesting and that really does also speak to the Me Too movement I think where

[00:05:58] she's in some ways considered an outsider and no matter what they do she's not changing because Michael Myers is always on her brain as he would be with anyone who had gone through that but they don't understand it. Nobody understands it really but her so

[00:06:14] that's really interesting in that straining relationship where we know she's not crazy, but most other people see her as crazy. The breakout with the bus is really good where the pickup truck pulls up and the

[00:06:28] bus is crashed. That's really good. The final third act if I had to point out any part of the movie that I don't love it's the third act because not to say that I don't enjoy somewhat of a siege cat-and-mouse game, and I think it's well directed but

[00:06:45] that part goes on a little long because for the most part the movies gliding along at a fairly quick pace and different locations and then it spends about a good 30 to 40 minutes I think at Laurie's house

[00:06:59] waiting for Michael and then Laurie moving through the house and so to me that goes on a little long I like the final moment where they trap them and they set the house on fire. That's awesome And the imagery is excellent

[00:07:10] So I think the movie looks really good And I love the look of Michael Myers and it really just gets better as the movie goes along I love the look of old Michael Myers The mask the aged worn-down mask, I really love that idea and that look

[00:07:24] the performances otherwise are solid the Granddaughter is good. And she's in all of them Judy Greer is very good and I think one thing moving aside from that real quick with Michael Myers while there are other slashers who are somewhat impenetrable unbeatable I

[00:07:45] find that there's something about Michael Myers where Yes, it is grounded in a reality so much that He does just seem superhuman, but it's never like going really fantastical But obviously no one could survive what he's gone through

[00:07:58] So I like that sort of middle ground where it is set in reality and yet for some reason he is impenetrable He's unstoppable at least for the most part. We'll see but I

[00:08:08] Always find that to be very compelling just this unstoppable force that they can't do anything about really the Different kills and movie are solid. There's nothing amazing in this one. I think in Halloween kills ironically, it's the best in terms of that the violence and

[00:08:26] Some people hate on David Gore and green for these movies. I really don't fully get that I think there are flaws, of course but to me they're much better than a lot of other horror movies that have come out recently and he

[00:08:39] Putting that aside even he has a really weird filmography. He's done pineapple Express Stronger with Jake Gyllenhaal the sitter and then he does these movies then he goes and does The Exorcist believer. He did your highness like he has the strangest filmography in terms of genre

[00:08:58] But at least in some ways that's interesting. Oh also in this the Breakout sequence of Michael Myers where he is going around to the different houses and killing people Pretty much willy-nilly love that. So there are some good callbacks some people Criticize it for being too formulaic

[00:09:18] But to me, that's what makes these movies feel part of that franchise and they're paying homage to it So like where he's wandering into people's houses, that's awesome and killing them That's really good. And of course the iconic knife like kitchen knife great

[00:09:35] Other than that not a whole lot else to say in this movie. It is a good Reintroduction to the franchise. It's not really Doing anything crazy new but it's also not a remake

[00:09:46] So it's got a good little middle ground to that to where it can introduce new people to the franchise But it does make sense to all those audiences who have been following it over the years so

[00:09:59] It would be my second favorite of the trilogy spoiler and would be somewhere in the middle of the whole franchise ranking wise So do check it out if you haven't seen it yet

[00:10:10] And if you haven't seen any Halloween movies, you could go ahead and start with this one I would still start with the original if possible But it's not the worst place to start

[00:10:19] You could understand things fairly well if you started with the 2018 movie in my opinion at least maybe that's reaching but I think so but that one is a heavy four out of five