Halloween

I was actually a bit excited for HALLOWEEN, the latest entry in a franchise that dates back forty years.  The trailers suggested that director David Gordon Green delivered on his promise to get the series back on track after numerous dismal sequels and remakes.  Honestly, the only worthwhile entry is John Carpenter's 1978 original, a film so perfectly designed for atmosphere and thrills that it became a worldwide sensation.  It also launched thousands of imitators.  HALLOWEEN II wasn't bad.  HALLOWEEN III was an attempt to do something different and was execrable.  Jamie Lee Curtis returned for the twentieth anniversary HALLOWEEN H20 (not bad) and HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (ugh).  Rob Zombie remade the original and even Part 2!  Don't bother.  The rest.......

So the fortieth anniversary is.....another disappointment.  A big one.  Crushing.  I knew from the opening scenes that Green had blown it.  Michael Meyers, the mute killer whose only motivation for killing seems to be, killing, is standing on what appears to be a giant chessboard with other inmates at his psych hospital.  Two journalists from the U.K. try to interview him.  One even pulls out that old mask.  The camera stalks.  The music forbodes.  And then? Cut! Nothing! Michael ain't talking.

Is this Green and his co-screenwriters'  idea of a great opener? An attempt at a more psychological thriller?  The latter is what I was hoping for.  There is some serious psychology between Meyers (aka "The Shape") and Laurie Strode (Curtis) who has spent the last four decades arming herself (and her remote domecile) in preparation for that inevitable day when the murderer escapes and comes to finish the job.  Along the way, Laurie divorced twice and became estranged from a daughter and granddaughter.  Her obsession with Meyers has ruled her life, and perhaps he completes her in some fashion.  You know, like that sicko relationship between Batman and the Joker or something.  Laurie's daughter Karen (Judy Greer) accuses her mother of wanting this psychopath to "come home".

The movie only hints at the interesting dynamic between stalker and potential prey.  Instead, it goes for gory kills and tracking shots.  OK, then.  Problem is, the movie isn't scary at all.  No real suspense is built.  It doesn't even work as a low grade slasher!  Some of the murders are quite brutal and creative, though one is spoiled by its obvious cgi. Gordon seems more interested in trying to evoke the spirit of Carpenter's film, even recreating certain moments (though sometimes in different contexts).  He's intermittently successful with that, but it's not enough to make this any more than another (watchable) time waster.  Daniel Davies' reworking of Carpenter's great original score is also a let down.

Green enjoys all the slasher film cliches: vulnerable babysitter (who's also a horny coed), foul mouthed kid, overweight nerd victim, tired lawmen, dumb lawmen.  Here, none of these characters are interesting.  Then there's Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Haluk Bilginer), Michael's current psychiatrist, who succeeded Samuel Loomis (a sorely missed Donald Pleasance).  His character is such an unremitting boob that I was getting angry at the movie.

But Curtis is in good form.  She's believable and effective, though her mano a mano with Meyers at the end wasn't the expected knockout.  Green even botches a chance to reverse the famous scene in the 1978 film where Laurie was cornered in a closet.   Here, she approaches one with a shotgun and flashlight only to find it empty.  How great would've it been to have Michael ambushed behind the lattice?

HALLOWEEN is finally just another forgettable thriller.  A slash fest with unfortunate elements of Dawson's Creek and other teen melodramas.  A failure as an homage or nostalgia.  If the film had just been between the woman and the man who kept her down (how #MeToo, eh?) for so long we may have had something.  But a DEATH AND THE MAIDEN type flick wouldn't be pulling in the millions this one is.  Yep, I smell sequel.

That final shot does show some promise for future Meyers entries, though.