Halloween

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)

David Gordon Green, director of the great comedies Pineapple Express and Your Highness, pays homage to and follows up the classic Halloween from 1978, and I don't think John Carpenter can be offended. While I should point out that the original Halloween is not one of my favourite films and more or less only became a cult thing because it was the first at the time and therefore shocking to people, due to the lack of blood and the few murders it doesn’t stand out with me as a slasher, but I'm exceedingly pleased with the 2018 version. Michael Myers rages more than ever and his work is definitely enjoyable to watch. Quite a few victims fall, blood is not spared and there are some very nice explicit scenes, but again, it's nothing the average viewer won't digest. The nostalgia is nicely buzzed by the original soundtrack and I really liked the new one, they complement each other perfectly. The atmosphere is great, especially the finale in the building is built up so that I couldn't breathe at times and the silence in the hall with the cinema packed was unbelievable. The acting is also very decent, led by Jamie Lee Curtis, who is quite physically fit for her old age and is quite good with guns. The role of the young black man is also great, as he lightens the dark atmosphere with humour for a few minutes. The downside for me was the slower pacing (before Michael escapes from the asylum it's a bit uninspiring), and also the absence of boobs, which were abundant in the original. All in all, I'm satisfied and definitely the best Halloween (sorry Rob Zombie and Carpenter) and of course another golden hit this year next to Hereditary and A Quiet Place. 80% (10/19/2018)

The sequel that the original Halloween deserved. If we assume that making a sequel four decades later is a good idea, I can’t imagine how it could have been done better. On the other hand, I also have no idea what would have to happen for a thoroughbred slasher to truly excite me in 2018. In an era when prime horror films are not only scary and superbly crafted, but also try to go a bit further, the simple slasher movie is inevitably a step lower. Proof that Halloween, and the sub-genre as a whole, is a relic from the past can be seen when the creators, in a surprising twist, attempt to deviate a little and address the unhealthy obsession of the public with horror icons, which in a slasher movie is a bit too much. Though it does make sense conceptually and fits into the logic of the plot, I cringed at the screen because I was watching something that had no business doing in a slasher flick. Other than that, it’s really brilliant. A masked killing machine immune to psychological analysis, American suburbia and scared teenagers. The moment when Alysson sees her friend skewered on the fence and runs hysterically down the street is the closest to the sheer terror of the original film. (10/20/2018)

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)

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)