‘Halloween’ is scary, but not for the right reasons
“Halloween” starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Nick Castle, was released in theaters Oct. 19.
“Halloween,” is the sequel to the original 1978 film of the same name. There are several installments of the movie, but this one clears the slate, as if all the films were never made. This is probably for the best, since the original movie was the only one that mattered to anyone. The 2018 version of “Halloween” was not worth the budget spent rebooting the franchise.
What was good about this film? The special effects, the musical throwbacks to the original film and Jamie Lee Curtis. What was bad about this film? Pretty much everything else.
The biggest problem was that it wasn’t scary. “Halloween” is supposed to be a horror movie, but instead of giving the audience a good scare, the jump scares were laughable. Each Michael Myers (Nick Castle) appearance was completely predictable, with two standard fake-outs and then a scare. The bad acting from most of the cast made the movie even more laughable, and the screams sounded like a badly-recorded sound effect.
Curtis was the only convincing actress in the film, but unfortunately, her performance was diminished since she was surrounded by bad acting. She seemed to be the only one putting her heart into the role.
There is something about Myers’ mask that seems to take the menacing factor away from the film. Myers is a real person — he’s not some creature. He is a human being capable of killing not just one, but multiple people without remorse. The character would be more threatening if the audience was able to look into his soul, or if there was a moment where the audience realizes that he looks just like all of us, except he’s a serial killer. The first movie had this beat, but this one failed to include it.
Apparently, it’s impossible to kill Myers. It was pretty clear that he was shot a few times throughout the movie, but still remained standing. (Spoiler: He was trapped in Laurie Strode’s basement), the only survivor of the original 1978 murders. Myers manages to escape the trap she built for him, even though there seemed to be no way for him to escape. Myers isn’t magical, so how did that happen?
It’s been 40 years — you’d think Myers would have moved on and forgotten about the one who got away, but no, he’s thought about this kill for four decades and sets out to kill the woman that escaped his clutches the first time around. But why should he care if she got away? Why should the audience care about this film? Those are questions the movie fails to answer, and that’s why it’s not any good.
