Can’t believe we will reach the 10 year milestone in 2 more years since David Gordan Green released Halloween 2018. Where has the time gone?
I thought I’d watch them all again (2018, Kills & Ends) to get a different perspective on them, as I haven’t actually watched them since I saw them in theatres.
Halloween 2018 Thoughts:
I remember when I first watched this film, I left the theatre thinking “not bad”. Watching it almost 10 years later, I can’t say this has improved for me at all. If anything, slightly worse than I remember it. There is really only one scene in this film that I absolutely loved, and that was the public bathroom scene.
Obviously a massive nod to H20, but it capitalized on what H20 missed. Where the scene in H20 wasn’t really anything other than a short suspense scene, Halloween 2018 took full advantage of that situation. Public bathroom, enclosed toilet cubicles that make you feel claustrophobic, that really made for some scary moments and I think Halloween 2018 did a really good job with this whole scene.
Outside of that, there really isn’t anything else that was scary in this film. I found a lot of the moments that were clearly trying to be scary just really underwhelming. You could see a lot of those “surprises” from a mile away, and I thought this at the time when I first watched it too. The delivery of those “surprises” were also executed really poorly I felt. It is immediately apparent to me watching these films that David Gordon Green had never directed a horror film prior to these films. The execution of scares were spoiled by certain camera angle decisions and lighting that just didn’t make any part of it feel “scary”.
The music I must say is also a contributing factor to how these scary scenes felt ruined. I feel like that is really controversial to say, as I know the legendary John Carpenter came back to compose the score, and whilst I really do love a lot of the score in this film, especially the original piece for Allison’s chase which I have always thought was amazing - the stings we are so familiar with in the first film felt… cartoonish. The choice of synthesisers to use for a lot of these sounds / strings sound childish, like watching a looney tunes version of Halloween. It made those jump scares and other scary reveals where those stings are cued make the entire thing feel very underwhelming. The original strings from the 78 film, along with every other soundtrack in the film had a very eery feel to them. They were clearly out of tune and sounded off, and that added to this very creepy and eery sound. The 2018 versions sounded too clean and too childish.
Halloween Kills:
A lot more cringey than I remember it. I lost count of how many corny lines were in this film. Almost nothing scary about this film to me. Seems like it was used as an opportunity to increase Michael’s kill count, and to bring back old characters for corny lines. So much of these lines felt forced. Nurse Marion with “Hey Michael, this is for Dr. Loomis”. I can’t tell if it’s just the writing, or the delivery by the actress and DGG was too scared to ask her for more takes due to wanting to be respectful, but god it felt so awkward during that scene. Sherrif Bracket with “Hey Michael, everyone is entitled for one good scare”. One of the most corniest parts to me, and felt so incredibly forced. If you weren’t a fan watching this film, that line would just absolutely confuse you as to why he says that.
Most of Kills, as do all three films in fact, but especially Kills, feels entirely fan serviced. Bringing back Tommy, Lindsey, Bracket, Marion, all forcing them to re-use lines they have used before, and then if it isn’t any scenes nodding to previous films, it’s just Michael killing as many people as possible. Then there was that random scene with the guy from the mental hospital who kills himself. I mean, the entire thing just felt so out of place I couldn’t help laughing during this scene watching it again. Especially with the slow montage of the guy looking around and then looking into the camera whilst some Beethoven plays in the background as he jumps from the building… I thought I was watching a Halloween movie!? 
Very out of place, which is something all three films share in common, with the Sartain in the first, mental guy who kills himself in the second which takes up way too much screen time in Kills, and then Corey in Ends…
Halloween Ends:
Now I may surprise you, but the Corey element is probably the only thing I thought was interesting in the entire trilogy… not a good idea, and I’m not saying I liked it, but I think a very interesting idea that could have worked out better, but again was totally ruined by bizarre writing.
I’ll be honest with you, the idea of 60 year old Michael Myers was never appealing. This is something the fans had said too even whilst Halloween 2018 was in the middle of production. But the trilogy takes such huge swings. They seem to make Michael even more supernatural than the first film. I lost count how many times Michael was stabbed or shot, and absolutely no sign of slowing him down at all. We only ever see Michael getting injured in the 78 film 3 times, all in the same scene essentially. It’s not made a point of. It happens in the climax of the film which gracefully allows the character to vanish and leave the viewer wondering what the hell just happened. Halloween 2018 trilogy on the other hand seems to show Michael getting stabbed, kicked, punched and shot in practically every scene we see of him, it just felt so overdone. A stark difference to how we then see him in Ends, where we now see him vulnerable and hurt. I didn’t understand the direction they were going in here. Either he’s this absolute supernatural beast you’ve made him out to be in the first two films, and now we’ve scrapped that in Ends?
I probably don’t need to mention Michael bringing on board an apprentice. We know that wasn’t a good idea and that almost everybody would hate it, which they did. But what I really liked and what I actually wish they did more of was the fact that someone else was becoming "Michael Myers”. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, because if you want my opinion, I don’t think any sequel to Halloween 1978 is a good idea as it doesn’t compliment the original story. But if DGG wanted to go there, which he did, then he should have gone all out and given us a fully fleshed out story of someone else becoming the shape. Whilst it’s risky as it doesn’t serve anyone who is a die hard fan of Michael Myers, it at least extends the story in a meaningful way.
Rather than expect an old pensioner to keep carrying the torch, you pass it on to someone else. I really liked the way they did this with Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix. Rather than Arthur Fleck being the joker, it turns out he is just what started the movement and starts Jokers story, but isn’t Joker himself. Similarly with Halloween Ends, Corey could have been Michael Myers throughout the entire thing, and now the name Michael Myers is more of an idea rather than a person. Something that truly can’t be killed. If you killed Corey, perhaps some other psycho would decide to become the shape as well, and the shape is truly something that can’t be killed - it’s an idea.
I already know how many people are reading that last part and cringing at the thought of it. I’m not saying it was a brilliant idea. I just think if he dared to go there, then he should have gone all out, rather than showing Michael in this really weird vulnerable state and teaming up with someone else. It felt so out of character that many people actually struggle to watch it and take the Michael Myers you see on the screen seriously, as did I.
Overall:
Honestly I think the entire trilogy is held together by old characters they brought back, fan service throughout and John Carpenter coming back for the score. It was all fancy things that kept the entire thing interesting. Outside of those things, I think the actual story of the trilogy isn’t anything that holds, and I will struggle to ever watch these three films again, unless it happens to be on the telly and I have the time to watch it.
