Does the ‘Kills’ in the title of this film work as a verb or a noun? If we consider the former, then Halloween Kills many people. Over the course of 43 years, Michael Myers, AKA The Shape, has stabbed, strangled, sliced and slaughtered his way through all manner of victims (and some others did in Halloween III: Season of the Witch). Halloween Kills probably more than any previous instalment: from an opening massacre involving firefighters and their various tools – axe, hosepipe, buzzsaw – to later victims of lighting tubes, broken windows, walls, bannisters, misfired bullets and the trusty old kitchen knife, this film kills, kills and kills again.
Killing isn’t the only thing that gets repeated, as this sequel to 2018’s re-launch of the Halloween saga restages, reinterprets and revises aspects of John Carpenter’s 1978 original as well as the first sequel, Halloween II from 1981. Characters who previously appeared briefly get to return; characters that we thought deceased turn out to have survived; the motivation of Michael Myers (beyond being EVIL) gets a makeover (or possibly makeinner, which isn’t a word). Repetition also informs the style, as director David Gordon Green seems to channel his inner Zack Snyder (which every filmmaker wants to do, right?). Various moments are captured in slo-mo that highlight the gravitas of the, well, killing. And if the slowed-down action isn’t enough, characters remind the viewer time and time again that ‘EVIL DIES TONIGHT’.
Despite the repetition, Halloween Kills is messy and unfocused. Following on directly after the events of the 2018 film, one narrative thread stays with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), getting hospital treatment after her most recent encounter with Michael. Another thread follows Michael (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) himself as he cuts a swathe through Haddonfield. And a third follows a vigilante mob who decide that the police have failed them, and therefore they must ensure that ‘EVIL DIES TONIGHT’. Thus, the film swerves, slews and slides between these three strands, with a certain amount of monologing about past regrets, what we should have done, who we miss, what we’ve seen. This robs the film of much forward momentum, and questions over mob justice, Trump-era individualism and (possibly?) misplaced faith in guns are not explored in sufficient depth to be satisfying, despite the number of people killed by their own guns.
And this brings us to the other possible meaning of the title, Halloween Kills, i.e., the deaths of the film. As mentioned, there are likely more kills here than in earlier Halloween films, kills that are the hallmark of the slasher genre. There’s plenty here for the gore hound, with all manner of body parts being ruined and plenty of pain and suffering on display. An occasional kill is shocking, but they are always nasty, leaving us in no doubt that Michael is very evil, and EVIL DIES TONIGHT (although there is Halloween Ends still to come). This does serve to make him a consistent Bogeyman, rather than being in any way sympathetic, engaging or charismatic. Therefore, although Halloween Kills is disparate and confused, hamstrung by slo-mo style and burdened by excessive lore, it does at least deliver what it says on the (bloody) tin.
Killing isn’t the only thing that gets repeated, as this sequel to 2018’s re-launch of the Halloween saga restages, reinterprets and revises aspects of John Carpenter’s 1978 original as well as the first sequel, Halloween II from 1981. Characters who previously appeared briefly get to return; characters that we thought deceased turn out to have survived; the motivation of Michael Myers (beyond being EVIL) gets a makeover (or possibly makeinner, which isn’t a word). Repetition also informs the style, as director David Gordon Green seems to channel his inner Zack Snyder (which every filmmaker wants to do, right?). Various moments are captured in slo-mo that highlight the gravitas of the, well, killing. And if the slowed-down action isn’t enough, characters remind the viewer time and time again that ‘EVIL DIES TONIGHT’.
Despite the repetition, Halloween Kills is messy and unfocused. Following on directly after the events of the 2018 film, one narrative thread stays with Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), getting hospital treatment after her most recent encounter with Michael. Another thread follows Michael (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) himself as he cuts a swathe through Haddonfield. And a third follows a vigilante mob who decide that the police have failed them, and therefore they must ensure that ‘EVIL DIES TONIGHT’. Thus, the film swerves, slews and slides between these three strands, with a certain amount of monologing about past regrets, what we should have done, who we miss, what we’ve seen. This robs the film of much forward momentum, and questions over mob justice, Trump-era individualism and (possibly?) misplaced faith in guns are not explored in sufficient depth to be satisfying, despite the number of people killed by their own guns.
And this brings us to the other possible meaning of the title, Halloween Kills, i.e., the deaths of the film. As mentioned, there are likely more kills here than in earlier Halloween films, kills that are the hallmark of the slasher genre. There’s plenty here for the gore hound, with all manner of body parts being ruined and plenty of pain and suffering on display. An occasional kill is shocking, but they are always nasty, leaving us in no doubt that Michael is very evil, and EVIL DIES TONIGHT (although there is Halloween Ends still to come). This does serve to make him a consistent Bogeyman, rather than being in any way sympathetic, engaging or charismatic. Therefore, although Halloween Kills is disparate and confused, hamstrung by slo-mo style and burdened by excessive lore, it does at least deliver what it says on the (bloody) tin.