A review of the latest Halloween movie

Created by John Carpenter, the Halloween movies have been terrifying audiences since 1978. Michael Myers, the films’ signature supernatural serial killer, has established himself among the horror villain greats. Including 12 released films, the series has seen new movies released as recently as this month. 

Halloween Kills is the continued story of protagonist Laurie Strode and her lifelong fight for life against Michael Myers. In Halloween 2018, she was able to trap Michael in her burning basement with the help of her daughter and granddaughter, where she thought she had finally got rid of him for good. Halloween Kills picks up right where Halloween 2018 left off. As Laurie makes her way to the hospital to recover from her injuries, firefighters head to the scene of her home and extinguish the fire, unwittingly unleashing Michael back upon the town of Haddonfield, Illinois.

After slaying all of the firefighters, he makes his way into the more populated part of town, doing no favors to townspeople along the way. From there, the film breaks into two storylines. Laurie watches from inside the hospital as townspeople hunt the wrong person, mistaking him for Michael. Meanwhile, the real Michael Myers goes on a raging killing spree against a few who survived encounters with him before. The movie ends with Michael back in his childhood home, presumably surrounded by first responders, though this is not made entirely clear.

The movie starts out strong, with the classic feel of a Halloween slasher. The firefighter scene is both gruesome and terrifying. However, as the story progresses, it seems to deviate from the feel of the other Halloween movies, and not for the better. The film spends far too much time away from Laurie and Michael, instead focusing on the townspeople as they hunt the wrong man. This subplot is not relevant to the main storyline enough to make up the bulk of an entire entry to the series. To put it simply, the series would have lost nothing if this movie did not exist. The majority of relevant characters introduced in this film were dead before the halfway mark, and it felt as if nothing happened at all during the entire second half.

This film is not the final taste of Myers for viewers, as suggested by the ending. Halloween Ends is set to release in October 2022. Fans of Halloween can hope that this next film will be much more enjoyable and plot-focused than this years’ movie.