Halloween Kills Suffers From Middle Movie Syndrome

Every time I see Blumhouse Productions’ title screen before a movie I clench my teeth. Sure, they’ve created some truly stellar horror films but their splattershot is so wide and varied I do not feel it is a name we can trust. Halloween Kills, the second outing in the sequel/soft reboot of Halloween (1978) feels somewhat splattered itself.

Warning, below I have to spoil the end of the previous film in the series, Halloween (2018), to talk about the first problem I had with the new movie. And there are minor spoilers for Halloween Kills below as well.

This film picks up mere moments after Halloween (2018) ends. Laurie’s compound is on fire, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and her granddaughter Allison (Andi Matichak) have safely gotten away from Michael. In fact, he’s burning with the whole compound. Allison’s cheating boyfriend, Cameron (Dylan Arnold), is still wearing his Bonnie (of “…and Clyde” fame) Halloween costume and seems to still be walking home from the dance when he comes across Officer Hawkins (Will Patton), who was stabbed in the last film. 

This is where I began to wonder, what time is it? I thought the idea of Michael Myers was that he only came out on Halloween. What time did this dance end? Did  Halloween (2018) end before 10 p.m.? Are we ignoring the rules in the name of carnage? In a movie that averages a new body every three minutes and change, I shouldn’t have time to wonder about this. 

The plot of this film is where it shines. Not only does it center on the Strode women and their shock and grief but how an event like this would ripple throughout a small town like Haddonfield. One of the main characters of this film is Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), the little boy who Laurie was babysitting in 1978, who becomes more restless and violent as the night goes on, finding Laurie in her hospital room to tell her “You protected me once, now let me protect you.” He then leads a mob against the wrong man, but hey, points for sincerity. 

Returning director David Gordon Green brings character moments to almost every body in this film (pun intended), which makes Haddonfield feel vibrant. The Season of the Witch masks are cheery references in an otherwise serious movie. The Myers’ home has been remodeled to be beautiful shades of dark green and creates a lush color palette, especially in contrast to the red of fire and blood and the sterile whites and greys of the hospital. 

Where this movie starts to feel saddled, unfortunately, is Michael. I can’t recommend this movie for those who are remotely squeamish. Everything is an escalation on the previous film. There are, by my somewhat scientific count, 32 new bodies in this movie and the violence is thoroughly desensitizing. It drags. Usually I quite enjoy films that decide more is more but Halloween Kills takes itself so seriously that it was hard to enjoy.  

The fact that a third sequel (Halloween Ends, 2022) has already been announced made it near impossible to feel like there were stakes. This movie doesn’t end. It stops. Despite some interesting plotting and character choices Halloween Kills feels more like dead weight. 

I give Halloween Kills (Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions; R; 1hr 46mins) a 2.5 out of 5.