Halloween

A typically painful sequel or the expected flush down the toilet. The new Halloween may be good in terms of craftsmanship, but by the most part is a characterless homage to the original that coldly copies Carpenter’s style, and every attempt at a signature of its own and to subjectivise the titular evil in potentially climactic scenes is paradoxically buried by Michael Myers’s legendary ghostly aura. The intro is a modern spasm that has nothing to do with the darkness of the first one, there’s one key twist that suddenly develops dementia and there are moments when it feels like a Wes Craven flick (the wisecracking black kid). At least the rest is an above-average, lively and at times inventive slasher, the kind we get in cinemas every now and again, but as a direct sequel to a horror legend, unfortunately, it’s not worth much. 55% (10/18/2018)

A predator does not want to die until it kills its prey. But the same goes for the prey. David Gordon Green has carved out and carefully shone a dignified tribute on the unbeatable original, with an amazing soundtrack proving that, like Michael, John's tunes from the 1980s do not age. The atmosphere is dense, the homage is elegant, the camera rides are smooth. The jump scares are not completely inventive, but the atmosphere is sharp ... I see no reason not to get sliced up again. (10/16/2018)

Michael Myers doesn’t like to be forced into a conversation. The new Halloween is a conventional (it couldn’t have been otherwise), yet beautifully filmed sequel which, above all, compliments the original – it faithfully copies the environment and selected scenes from the initial picture, playfully adjusting or expanding some of them. Besides, there’s a noteworthy work on nostalgia (when Michael put on his iconic mask, the packed cinema exploded with euphoria). I would divide the film into two imaginary parts. The first one depicts a generous dose of murderous rampage across Haddonfield City, where Michael destroys a whole bunch of more or less shallow characters that the viewer won’t emotionally cling to. Therefore, that part will delight the fans of gory slashers, with throttling, stabbing and neck breaking galore. Then, about halfway through, the behaviour of one character takes a very debatable U-turn – a crutch to push ahead with the story. Finally, for the second half, we’re moving into a house where the chase after the main heroines begins and the viewer starts to feel concerned about them. From there, the flick intensifies into a proper heart-wrenching horror full of tension. David Gordon Green made a brilliant contribution to the horror series. And it’s worth noticing that quality Halloween films only come every twenty years (1978, 1998, 2018). [Sitges 2018] (10/13/2018)

I only saw the first Halloween, and now this sequel. It’s a great sequel. The creators (very surprising to me) have preserved Carpenter's uncompromising vibe without me feeling like they're just copying it, and everything is in its place, everything has (within the genre of course) logic, justification, reason... call it what you want. And Jamie Lee Curtis is admirable. She managed what Linda Hamilton failed to do in the last Terminator, namely to bring back an iconic female character to the game and not simply rely on her being an iconic female character. Having given a full rating to the original film, I don't see a single reason not to give it this time as well. (11/23/2020)

The opening scene is spectacular, though it appears too modern in the contest of the rest of the movie. Also, I would prefer for the ending to be more psychologically intimate and dark. Still, it turned out to be the best it could be. Because it absolutely pays tribute to the original and succeeded in the most important thing – using the same camera shots and music – it brought me back to the same streets, backyards, hallways and rooms, to the same place with the unique atmosphere that once defined my weakness for this amazing film subgenre. And that was a hell of a delight! (10/14/2018)