My quick rating - 6.3/10. Forty years after the night that changed horror forever, Halloween (2018) promised to be the definitive reckoning between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), now a traumatized survivor turned hardened recluse, has spent decades preparing for Michael’s inevitable return. When he escapes during a transfer from Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, her lifelong paranoia proves justified. But as The Shape (Nick Castle) resumes his silent, relentless killing spree, the real question becomes whether Laurie’s obsession with the Boogeyman has consumed her more than the evil she fears.
I went into this with high expectations—waiting until I was back in Australia in 2019 to finally give it a watch—and unfortunately, it wasn’t worth the wait. It’s not a bad movie, especially by slasher standards, but it’s far too monotonous. The pacing plods along, draining much of the tension that made the 1978 original such a nerve-shredder. The setup of Michael being kept alive and transferred feels rushed, glossed over to get to the meat of the story. Laurie’s decades-long trauma and her obsessive preparation for a showdown that, on paper, should’ve been cathartic.
Curtis gives it her all, and her portrayal of Laurie as a woman scarred but unbroken is compelling. The problem lies in how the movie treats the horror. The kills are surprisingly restrained, which could’ve worked if the tension compensated—but it doesn’t. Instead, long stretches of characters slowly poking around dark hallways replace any real suspense. A full third of the movie feels like one endless search sequence that halts the momentum entirely.
Visually, though, Halloween nails the autumnal atmosphere. The orange-hued leaves, suburban streets, and eerie lighting evoke the spirit of Carpenter’s original. There’s craft here, especially in how the cinematography mirrors the first film’s voyeuristic framing. But the movie itself is rarely scary. Too many scenes show Michael casually strolling into homes and killing strangers without buildup or payoff. The result feels more mechanical than menacing. Michael becomes less a force of evil and more of a bored factory worker clocking in for another night shift of murder.
For what it’s worth, it serves as a passable 40-year-later wrap-up (though we all know it didn’t really end there). It looks great, Curtis delivers, and the respect for the original’s tone is clear. But Halloween just doesn’t pack the punch it should’ve. It’s eerie but dull and lifeless—a flick that, much like its masked villain, refuses to die but doesn’t quite know why it’s still walking. We shall see if Michael gets his bearings in Halloween Kills.
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