Review of Halloween (2018) by Ricky R — 19 Oct 2018

Tonally, Halloween is all over the place, seemingly determined to be a well-blended mix of slasher-fare, humor, and teenage drama/camp. Even if this may seem like a negative, it actually works well for the film, keeping the audience on its toes between all the carnage.

Jamie Lee Curtis delivers a strong performance, conveying the ptsd attributed to her surviving all those years prior convincingly. And yet, when she had to throw down with demon from her past, she did just that and then some.

One of the more effective aspects of the film is how Michael relentlessly stalks and kills his randomly picked victims. Unlike the sequels after Carpenter's original, Michael doesn't seem to be after anyone in particular.

He just wants, or maybe even needs to kill. Halloween packs a mean punch and nobody is safe from Michaels swath of bloodshed. As for acting, Judy Greer is spectacular as Laurie's resentful and distant daughter.

As the movie progressed, she transforms from emotionally hurt duckling to a likeable daughter/mother. Andi Matichak turns in a decent performance, bringing an emotional depth to her character that isn't ever fully developed.

The male actors suffer the most in this film. Will Patton is the only male character that seems decent and even his way of handling Laurie is a bit red-flaggish. The high school guys all come off like jerks and they aren't developed to any point where it matters if they meet the blade or not.

The pod cast crew is annoying and deliberately inappropriate, serving well the transition from the original film to the present one. All in all, a great film, even with a minor misstep that seems present solely to deliberately move the plot forward.