My quick rating - 6.4/10. David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills picks up immediately where the 2018 Halloween left off, and the continuity here deserves real credit. The transition feels seamless. It’s almost as if the previous film’s credits roll right into this one. Given how that finale unfolded, bringing the story forward in such a plausible way is a feat in itself. And let’s be honest, after the restrained carnage of the last entry, every fan (myself included) was calling for a higher body count. Green and his writing crew clearly heard the cries from the burning Strode house and answered them.
The result? Michael Myers — still credited as “The Shape” and once again inhabited by Nick Castle — is mad as hell, and it shows. The film doesn’t rely on gratuitous gore, but it definitely delivers on numbers. The kills are varied, brutal, and carry that satisfying rhythm you expect from a slasher who’s had decades to perfect his craft. The atmosphere throughout is appropriately grim, aided by moody lighting and camera work that constantly keeps your eyes scanning every dark corner of the frame, waiting for him to appear.
While Halloween Kills dives straight into the chaos, it also gives a quick refresher course for anyone who somehow missed the last forty years of mayhem. Back in Haddonfield, a group of survivors from previous encounters gather to remember the victims — a nice touch that reintroduces legacy characters. Of course, nostalgia only goes so far before The Shape shows up to remind them what they’re remembering.
Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode, though this time she spends more of the runtime sidelined due to her injuries from the previous film. Still, her presence looms large. What’s more interesting is the film’s attempt to expand the psychological and even philosophical questions around Myers — why does he kill? Why Laurie? The script flirts with the idea of deeper motives, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were teasing some throwback to the old Thorn cult lore, though it’s never made explicit.
Not everything hits perfectly. The film gets bogged down during a long, drawn-out mob sequence meant to showcase how fear and chaos infect small-town America. The idea works thematically, but the execution overstays its welcome, much like a party guest who doesn’t realize the music’s been turned off. I had a similar complaint about pacing in the 2018 installment, and it creeps up again here.
Still, Halloween Kills succeeds in making Michael Myers terrifying once more. It’s meaner, bloodier, and closer to what long-time fans expect when the Boogeyman returns home. As a mid-trilogy entry, it’s both satisfying and clearly sets the stage for the grand finale, Halloween Ends. For #Shocktober viewing, it’s a solid entry in the franchise and one that reminds us that evil doesn’t die tonight, but it sure makes a mess trying.
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