*contains spoilers

★★★

The return of many of the original cast gave a great vibe for Halloween fans, but the movie had the series take a step back. Full of lackluster and disappointing scares and common cliches, Halloween Kills did not build off 2018’s Halloween.

I was expecting more terror and a movie that would scare the audience, but it didn’t deliver. The movie starts with a flashback dating back to 1978 rather than picking up from the ending of Halloween. Although it was meant to be a direct flashback, another character not originally there is added to add another adult at the scene.

The flashback transitions to a scene at a bar (in the present) where many of the original cast are. During this scene and throughout the move, they reference what happened 40 years ago too many times to say the least. One of the characters, Tommy (Anthony Michael Hall), gathers the city and as many people as he can to plan the killing of Michael Myers, which gives off a different vibe that I enjoyed. 

The film depicts humans as quickly turning into evil beings as they go after an innocent man thinking it’s Myers. The film did a great job with horror fans as pretty much all the kills were gruesome and clear. Although the kills were great and at times exciting, including one of the open scenes (after the flashback) when Myers attacks firefighters responding to a fire where he murders them all without trouble. The story doesn’t feel as if it progresses with these killings and excitement though.

 The film carries a new pair of casting with Big John (Scott McArthur) and Little John (Michael McDonald), two men together who are full of comedy and hate the kids that come trick or treating. This takes away any tension or horror at the moment created by the previous scene of Myers’ killing spree. They repeat information they already know, which is that Michael Myers becomes stronger with the more he kills and he won’t stop. Every character is already aware of that and has already faced him and seen what he’s done. The ending was by far the most disappointing. It seemed rushed and felt like it left a void for the viewers, including myself.

The city uses the element of surprise which is normally Myers’ specialty and beats him to the point that a normal human would’ve been dead. They gang up on him and beat him with no mercy for a good amount of time. And to no avail, or surprise, he gets right back up and fights them one by one killing them all. Michael appears back at his old house  in the room he killed his sister in dating back to the start of the series and murders anyone in the way, in an effort to see his own reflection. The characters seem to contradict themselves knowing he doesn’t go down easy and isn’t human, yet they let up and gave him enough time to get back up and kill them all.