In Retrospect: Halloween Ends

This might get long.

Sooo what do we think of Halloween Ends one year later? Well if you go back and read my opening day review, I certainly didn't hate it, was vague on certain aspects, and I had notes to expand on. Watching it again has consolidated my opinion on it. You couldn't dream or ask for a more divisive horror film in the modern era and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if people were still split today, but that's kinda Halloween Ends. It is a mixed bag of different stuff so it's totally okay if you have mixed opinions on it. But I know exactly what people have grievances on, the lack of Michael Myers and the character of Corey which in and of itself is connected. Yes, Michael Myers is barely in it. It takes 40 minutes, a third of the film roughly for him to even show up, and he has about 4 scenes. I get it! I really get it, that seems bait and switchy as shit for fans of this series, you see a Halloween movie for Michael. There is so much to unpack I genuinely don't know where to begin here. Like it or not, Corey is our main character. Now Laurie has a place in the story, they don't sideline her like in Halloween Kills, and Jamie is great in this last bow. You may recall in my initial review I alluded to Halloween 5, specifically a pre-production idea that got scrapped where little Jamie Lloyd was going to be the killer after the cliffhanger of part 4, no Michael present it was just her offing people. Well they did it, just with Corey instead of Jamie. I'm mixed on this idea. I was one of the few people who liked what Kills did with the story and the mentality of Haddonfield, and they do push further into that territory. It's different, it's unique, and not half badly executed. You can see both the landscape of Haddonfield and the mental state of this young man in either a supernatural lens where the evil has infected and plagued the town and leaped or perhaps transferred from Michael to Corey, or you can just see it through a psychological lens where a lot of bad shit has happened to this town and this man and through so much trauma it starts festering and being destructive. That is interesting stuff that I've never heard of in film or real life where killings have happened and you examine the shockwave of it. Yet the question inevitably comes up of, but did it have to be told this way? Did we need Corey to be this surrogate serial killer? Couldn't we have just had Michael do his thing? My main question is, what was the intent? Cause with this movie, whatever details of the story and characters come up I can understand it...but only about half of it. There is a fair bit I do not get what they were thinking or trying to get across. Now I must repeat, I don't fundamentally hate the idea that Corey becomes a killer whether through psychological abuse or re-run of Jamie getting the evil rubbed off on her, but it has eventual hitches. I was scared shitless there was going to be barely any Michael Myers in this movie, but then the ending happened and I was content. But again, did it need to be like that? There is no black and white with this picture, there is no clear good or bad aspects because it's such an almost masterfully concocted mix of both! Every point I comment on has an addendum. What's funny is the movie almost is meta on it's commentary because it states at several points people either embrace hate or learn to move on, that evil can be an external or internal force a lá John Carpenter's tribe story, that evil never dies it just changes shape. Now some people could interpret all that as the movie trying to be pretentious, overly clever, and "deep", and others would see it as simple facts of this world that we see Laurie live in. Which do you stand on? I'm...in the middle. I don't like certain aspects and have questions on why they did what they did, but I also like a fair bit too and am happy they ended it. Oh yeah, let's talk the ending. Holy shit! Michael Myers is dead as shit, a brutal killing by Laurie followed by almost literal funeral procession, culminating in his body getting eviscerated by metal grinders. You don't get more dead than that! Beautiful! Perfect! They fucking finally ended it conclusively. You get a lot of points for that movie! And if nothing else people can be shall we say selective of movie series, it ends at Halloween 2, it ends at 20 Years Later, oh Halloween 3 isn't a part of the series, etc. etc. So who says it can't happen here? Yeah Michael burned in the house in the 2018 Halloween, there! No further explanation needed. Head canon is neat huh. So take from it what you will. I still have respect for the filmmakers in going this direction even if not everything worked perfectly, they wanted to inject some intelligence and some new life into a very tired, broken down, formulaic horror series. There is nothing. Absolutely nothing. Wrong with that. It was not what people wanted for the big finale, but I can live with that. This is however going to be the first time ever that an In Retrospect has actually decreased the score, the new rating is now 2 stars, 6/10. You really can't have other people make the opinion for you on this movie, you just gotta see it again and make your own. Rob Zombie movie next time.

Halloween Ends

Alright! We made it.

You might be surprised when I say this but I went into this movie with less than zero expectations. Not at all that I thought the movie would suck, but I literally don't think I even saw a trailer or piece of footage for this movie, and with the internet being the internet I heard some super brief non-spoiler reactions and people said it was the most polarizing and divisive entry in the series and it would take multiple viewings to settle on a score, stuff I haven't heard since The Last Jedi. But the film starts innocently enough with glowing blue titles like in Halloween 3 so you bet I was a pretty happy camper, but the film at a certain point did have me extremely worried. No spilled spoilers from this mouth, but the film takes what was more the undercurrent of Halloween Kills and leans in deeeep with a more introspective almost dissection of the impact of the killings and how the characters are processing it all. I know, I know, not exactly what people would want but man I applaud the movie for pushing that envelope and fully embracing it, trying to go below the surface rather than the blade's tip of depth. We see Laurie actually in a positive state of mind, getting a new house and living with Allison, being social, accepting and moving past the tragedies of her life, and I just love seeing Laurie happy. Some people might argue it goes against her character especially with the death of Karen last film, but guys are you really going to tell me you hate seeing Laurie happy and living her life? Allison meets up with a young man who had a pretty horrific accident happen to him and they start building a bit of a relationship but I can't delve deeper into that. And Michael, okay. Everybody, come in, sit down. There isn't a great deal of Michael Myers in this movie, it almost goes into Season Of The Witch territory and I almost want to say this is his lowest kill count of the series but I will leave that to more professional hands. And there is certain things I would like to say but it's treading so close to spoilers it might as well be slipping into the deep end of that pool so I'll give the slightest hint. If you are fairly informed about how the production ideas for Halloween 5 were developed and very quickly dropped....just saying. Hence my immense worry and possible razing of this film to the ground. But it's okay. It did what I hoped and the ending didn't disappoint. I feel the acting from all parties was spot on and fully commited, bless Jamie and long may her scream queen rule reign, newcomer Rohan Campbell (what a brilliant name) has a lot of screentime and attention but he pulls through and does good work, the chemistry between him and Andi did feel a notch rushed but for her final performamce in this trilogy (Quadrilogy perhaps?) she went out on a good note. James Jude Courtney still has that imposing presence and honestly seeing Michael move fast if even just for a few seconds kinda freaked me out, but as I said because he doesn't have much time it does affect the score, though not by his physical acting he stays tried and true to the last two movies easily. Now, can I indeed see where people might disconnect and divide into their respective camps over this movie? A little bit. My wishlist was fulfilled, I respect the hell out of the movie for going into uncharted territory, I did like it. However. The question now comes into my mind, how will the film hold up on repeat viewings in the future? I just don't know. It could drop, it could stay relatively the same in terms of score. So please take it with a grain of salt, just hang tight before commiting to a positive or negative viewpoint of it until all is said and done and you can form everything you want to say. It's not for everyone, but that doesn't discount or discredit it either. I give it 2.5 stars, 7/10, at the bare bones of it all the movie has my respect for commitment to the end. And that good friends is the last Halloween movie, we got them all done. It took 7 years but we got there. Next week will be easier, mostly.

In Retrospect: Halloween Kills

This I think is the in retrospect most sorely deserved.

Because I kinda had a love/hate thing going on with Halloween Kills, I thought the story needed to focus it's attention more, I thought there was a ton of fan stuff thrown in for no good reason, and like most sequels didn't reach the same heights as the previous installment. On second viewing, a lot of that has been mended for me and I better understand the point of the movie. After all this is the middle chapter of a trilogy, it would be kind of redundant to see Laurie go toe to toe with Michael and come up short yet again so I completely understand why the filmmakers did what they did. I mean really think about this, Haddonfield has been the setting for the majority of these movies but you never really get a firm grasp on what the town's mentality is around Halloween, how do the residents feel when Michael has struck again, we genuinely don't know much about this famous fictional town and this movie if nothing else gives the setting some depth. You see more of the neighborhoods, you see a ton of people both survivors of past attacks and people who just live there. I very much complained the movie went on tangents with all these different folks and didn't give any time to the Strode family, now I think that was entirely the point. And I was foolish to think that because this series has spent a fair bit of runtime on side characters who just end up dying later on, hello Tina, hello John's friends from 20 Years Later, and so on. Slasher movies do that. It wasn't even because it was boring or badly acted, it isn't and I know a fair few people gave this movie good grief and I even agreed with them until I watched it again. Many people pointed to how does everyone mistake the other escaped patient from the last movie for Michael? I firmly agreed with them until they show two photos on TV in the bar, umbrella guy and Michael, they do not make any distinction as to who is who and when an angry, illogical, irrational lynch mob forms with the resounding chant of "evil dies tonight" starts jumping at shadows and chasing the wrong guy it's easy to see where such an audience reaction would come about. And there is no doubt some big message in that scene where something along the lines of, a hateful, irrational, and quickly growing mob will chase anyone and anything even if they are told it is wrong and through their blind anger and witch hunting, innocent lives will be lost. Okay, I get it. Humans are bastards and idiotic bastards at that. Fear is an insurmountably potent weapon. I know. Really that was the only thing that did not improve on second viewing, I still hated it just as much as I did the first go around. Everything else, I'm down for. Production was good though made on a relatively small budget of 20 million, music was still excellent throughout, the cast God bless them for coming back even if just to be a corpse so well done to every single one of them, the kills are still just as disturbing and gruelling as I remembered I mean this guy when he kills people is a hateful motherf***er and it is wonderful, the story worked better mostly and even though I watched the extended cut with the different ending I didn't notice that much new stuff and I dare say I like the alternate ending better. It's decent, it's not a dumpster fire, it's not a modern horror classic, it's good. I bump it up to 3 stars, 7.5/10, and we will see how it ends this October. If it somehow gets bloodier, I shall approve.

Halloween Kills

You know, I might need to see it again.

Not at all that I thought it was bad, I had a grand time with it but I certainly have notes that will take multiple viewings to solidify my opinion on things. So basic plot, we pick up right after the first movie as Michael survives the fire and starts making a trek to the OG Myers house as Laurie and her family deal with the fallout while an angry mob forms as is common in horror films with the sole purpose of killing evil. And I really have so many things to commend the movie on. It takes the time to deal with the fallout of the first film, the deaths of side characters, the mental and physical scars of the Strode family, how they are trying to deal with seemingly winning and yet learning Michael lives. And this movie shockingly doesn't focus on Jamie much, this is way more the film for Judy and Andi they are the main stars here and still perform incredibly well. But booooy does this movie bring back a lot of characters, and we are not talking just the 2018 film here, I literally was just missing a Danielle Harris cameo and it would have been complete, it is fan wank to the max in this film. Something I am not fully onboard here is this movie goes on tangents, it's like they try to give every side character their own setup, characterization, and multiple scenes, that's all fine and well but we spend a bit too much time on them and not the Strode family or Michael, now if the intention was to focus more on the town of Haddonfield in the wake of Michael's return, fine. Not really what I was expecting or even really wanting, but it's interesting stuff with this bloodthirsty mob willing to go apeshit on anything if someone says it's Michael. Yeah, there is a lot of stuff to unpack there, subtext pushing so hard into text territory, metaphors, allegory, bit f***ing obvious stuff mind you but brownie points for commiting I guess. Plus side though, the kills are spectacular with a lot of practical implements that just gross you out man like daaaamn! I was severely impressed with the work here. Soundtrack is still real good, production is good, cast does great, it's genuinely an okay movie, I don't like it as much as the previous entry but time could change that, and it was far from sucking. It's good decent stuff, 2.5 stars, 7.5/10. More modern horror next week, and sweet lord Dune is nearly here and I got a lot to read still. Give me strength. Until next week!

In Retrospect: Halloween (2018)

Like man I have no idea now how to squeeze in all 4 Halloween movies on October 31st.

Now you might say well just dump Halloween 2 and stick to the original, this one, and Season Of The Witch and that makes sense. In terms of production, acting, and overall quality this Halloween movie runs circles around Halloween 2, no nonsense sibling justification, no drugged out Laurie who doesn't do really anything, and I gotta say the soundtrack for Halloween 2 besides the main theme sucks, this music that John Carpenter created is made for the piano and not synthisizers it sounds like absolute ass. But it had Donald Pleasance, memorable kills, a nice atmosphere, Dick Warlock is awesome, and a setting that is not usually taken in the horror genre so it has good points but come on. It's shall we say outclassed now that we have this movie, with incredibly likeable and even if they're not likeable you can understand them characters, and the production is very well done and takes advantage of various locations. They got a ready and able Laurie Strode to kick ass but has deeper character than that, and her family relationship is what really impressed me. Her daughter is estranged and distrusting of Laurie but she has a strong love and understanding in her grandaughter who really quickly comes into her own as a enjoyable and relatable girl, Andi Matichak really stole the show for me when she was on screen! But what's a Halloween movie without Michael Myers, besides being underrated and actually pretty good? And they did goooood with Michael, he may be up there in his years but the guy is still a juggernaut and still holds fear in many people's hearts. One point I severely screwed up with was the complete lack of praise for the score, like how the french toast did I forget that? The score is damn good, with John Carpenter back composing with his son and making some good tracks, hands down the best being The Shape Hunts Allyson, it has that It Follows catchy but creepy vibe to it and this is how you do synthesizers right Halloween 2! It's just hit after hit in every department, I didn't even mind the humor in this one cause it never went too far and it wasn't really there, I think I can count on one hand how many times the movie actually wanted you to laugh. And thank God they got teenagers right again! No slutty cheerleaders, or geeky dudes, just kids who are good friends with each other. That is something we need to see more of! I honestly hope they leave it be after this, cause we got our ending you know, like maybe there was a possibility for another movie but I'm happy with it being the end. If this was the last Halloween movie for 10+ years, we went out on a mighty fine note I gotta say. So come next Halloween day, you got at least one double feature to cap the day off with perfectly. Though Season Of The Witch is a chilling way to really end the night.

So tomorrow, we got a new movie and somehow I missed this in theaters so join me for Bad Times At The El Royale.

Halloween (2018)

Now there's only one question: Did this film succeed as the new Halloween II?

I have ever so slight gripes about this movie, personally for my first Halloween film in theaters, it was really good. Not an outstanding film, but a very good if not great movie. It pretty much did what I thought it was gonna do, show some events prior to Michael escaping, set up some very likable and good characters, drop the hammer, let the bodies hit the floor, cap off the series, and throw in some easter eggs for the fans. And it did all that great. I only have two issues with the movie but one was impossible not to change, they half retconned the ending of Halloween so instead of Loomis not finding his body they add in some side cop who they claimed stopped Loomis from finishing off Michael and taking him into custody. Fine, that had to have been done because Halloween 2 ended things pretty definitively, so did this movie do a better job at ending it than Halloween 2? Kind...of? I guess it depends on your point of view of the ending. I still sense there may be something more after this. So story and characters are done well, some people could have gripes with more trivial matters, like for me we actually hear Michael breathe ragged and make sounds when he is injured and I just didn't like that. Little things like that, but the pros outway the cons. It's great seeing Jamie Lee Curtis back, she has outstanding chemistry with Andi Matichak who plays her grandaughter, and she legitimately puts up a fight. I think fans will appreciate and enjoy the movie, I know I did. Several nods to mainly the first and second movie, it wasn't distracting because it happens more at the beginning and as the plot wheels gain momentum you're invested in the story. And it does have moments of comedy but I laugh sometimes when I'm nervous, and there is a lot of suspense in this movie. Though, and I somehow forgot to bring this up in the last movie, but if I took a shot for every false scare or jumpscare I would have had to been dragged out of that theater. Like seriously, it gets old quick in both movies but when shit happens you feel that fear. I have absolutely no doubt I will see it again on Halloween night to cap off the year's festivities. Go see it if you haven't already, you only need to contend with one, maybe two movies before it and one of them is a shining example of greatness in the horror genre, so you got nothing to lose. Thankfully ending on a high note after that patchy middle of the week, so I'm a happy camper, and I will see you next week for some more classic and loved horror movies.