Halloween

Mad killer Michael Myers is free and goes after Laurie Strode, who escaped him on his first spree. She's a mental wreck, but she's been preparing for this confrontation for 40 years. Only one can survive, but anyone can die... The new Halloween follows in the footsteps of the original one, refusing to conform to new trends and contemporary styles. It's old-school, unafraid to build tension for long, knows how to get under the skin and refuses cheap violence. Instead of gratuitous brutality, it relies on uncomfortable chills, excellent actors and the most traditional "Halloween" scares in the style of the classic first film. If you want modern horror, look elsewhere. But if you're a fan of Carpenter's film, you couldn't possibly get anything better in the cinema. (10/17/2018)

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)

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)

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)

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)