Movie Review: Time’s Up for Michael Myers This "Halloween"

Halloween has never been timelier, and no, not just because it’s October.

The idea of a bogeyman has changed a lot since John Carpenter’s Halloween came out in 1978, and even over the last 12 months. In 2018, the truly frighting monsters don’t wear masks. They wear bathrobes.

The latest version of Halloween, directed and co-written by David Gordon Green, finds a way to fit the hulking, be-masked 'babysitter killer' Michael Myers (no, not 'Mike' Myers) and his lone survivor, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), into the #MeToo movement. It was filmed earlier in the year, in the shadow of the voluminous assault allegations against studio boss Harvey Weinstein (who once owned the rights to the franchise under his now-sold Miramax label), and it shows.

This new one—co-written, unexpectedly, by Danny McBride—retcons the canon, suggesting the previous sequels and spin-offs never really happened (which is a bit of a shame, because Halloween II slaps, though the Rob Zombie reboots can be condemned to hell).

So, consider it the first "real" sequel, and the first to really grapple with Laurie Strode as an assault survivor. It really works too, with Michael Myers a perfect stand-in for the recent wave of exposed abusers: like them, he hides in plain sight, arrogantly attacks victims in public, blocks the exits, and keeps on coming back for more.

"Okay, but is it scary?" Yeah, I should have clarified: Totally. The main reason we’re watching Halloween again in 2018 is because it still provides filmmakers with a fool-proof method for messing with audiences. Green and cinematographer Michael Simmonds honour their predecessors by using the camera to stalk their prey, just like Michael Myers, culminating in a single-take shot that follows him as he wreaks havoc among costumed trick-or-treaters. It also sits back patiently, just like Michael too, and the stillness is terrifying. And just like the original, that first-person POV leaves viewers questioning their complicity. But, yes, potent subtext aside, this is a rollicking horror flick that's funner than a haunted hayride.

Halloween ’18 begins with Michael Myers behind bars in a mental institution, where he’s spent the past four decades following his quintuple-murder on the evening of 31 October 1978. The only teen girl who outwitted and outlasted him, Laurie, has spent those years preparing for his return, simultaneously hardening herself—booby-trapping her house and training for another violent encounter—and turning emotionally fragile, wracked by trauma.

Myers eventually breaks-out (because of course) on Halloween (because of course), deadset on finding Laurie (because of course). However, Laurie’s not waiting around. She grabs a gun—or four—and goes hunting. (Weird trend alert: Halloween is now the second major horror film of 2018 in which doomsday preppers are vindicated in their obsessive end-of-days preparation.) Meanwhile, Laurie's adult daughter Karen (Judy Greer) is in a panic, because her own teen, Allyson (Andi Matichak), is missing and won’t pick up her phone. Allyson had plans to hang out with her babysitter friend Vicky (Virginia Gardner), on this, the babysitter-murderiest of nights. Because of course.

There’s a multigenerational feminist streak to Halloween—despite the dude-heavy writer-director weighting—building to a cathartic reunion of the three Strode women, who have been reckoning with the lingering, passed-down trauma of Michael’s original assault. Michael, for his part, is basically painted as an incel, either obsessed with girls like the sister he lusted over and murdered as a child, or simply fixated on hurting women; especially those who get away. Halloween is as much an indictment of toxic masculinity and entitlement as McBride’s Eastbound and Down or Observe and Report. Only, finally, from the female point of view. It’s funny too, with idiosyncratic comic flourishes to boot.

If there’s one shame about this excellent new entry, it's that the Halloween saga has suddenly turned respectable. We should be grateful that we can now expect legitimately good films when we go to watch scary movies in the cinema. Still, I do miss the hammy acting, cheesy special effects and rough-around-the-edges editing of those nastier flicks of the 1980s. Here, we have a compelling and moving lead performance from the underappreciated Curtis, plus sterling supporting work by Greer, Matichak and even Gardner (as a more fully-rounded victim than usual for this series). At least Carpenter’s original synth score remains, with minor upgrades, harkening back to grimier DIY days

It may sound like a strange thing to feel nostalgic for, but I was especially grateful for the scene of Michael stomping on a dude’s head, splattering it across the road. Now, that’s Halloween to me.

4/5

In Australian cinemas 25 October. Rated MA15+ for strong horror themes and violence.

Header Image: Universal Pictures