Thursday 21 October 2021

What (Not) To Watch: Halloween Kills

Halloween Kills is another rubbish entry in the Halloween franchise. David Gordon Green has somehow managed to outdo himself by making a film that's worse than his previous effort

The comedy movie director does not know how to create suspense and is not cut-out to make a horror movie. 


ABOUT HALLOWEEN KILLS:

Halloween Kills is a 2021 American slasher film directed by David Gordon Green and written by Green, Danny McBride, and Scott Teems. The film is a direct sequel to 2018's Halloween and the twelfth installment in the Halloween franchise. The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis and James Jude Courtney, who reprise their roles as Laurie Strode and Michael MyersJudy GreerAndi Matichak, and Will Patton also reprise their roles from the previous film, with Anthony Michael Hall and Thomas Mann joining the cast. The film, which begins precisely where the previous film ended, sees Strode and her family continuing to fend off Myers, this time with the help of the Haddonfield community.

Jason Blum serves as a producer on the film through his Blumhouse Productions banner, alongside Malek Akkad and Bill Block. Before the release of the 2018 film, McBride in June 2018 confirmed that he and Green were originally intending to pitch two films that would be shot back-to-back, and then decided against it, waiting to see the reaction to the first film. Following the critical and commercial success of the 2018 film, development on the sequel promptly began as early as October 2018. By February 2019, Teems was hired to co-write the script. The film's title was officially announced in July 2019, along with its sequel. Principal photography commenced in September 2019 in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Following a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemicHalloween Kills had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 8, 2021, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 15, 2021, by Universal Pictures. It will also stream on paid tiers of Peacock for 60 days. The film has grossed $60.4 million worldwide and received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the creative kills and the performances of the cast, but criticized its screenplay and lack of innovation.

A direct sequel, Halloween Ends, is scheduled to be released on October 14, 2022.


What's it about?


On October 31, 2018, after being stabbed and left to die by Dr. Ranbir Sartain, Deputy Frank Hawkins is found by Cameron Elam. Hawkins awakens and remembers the events of 40 years earlier during the search for Michael Myers following his escape after being shot. In 1978, Hawkins accidentally killed his partner trying to save him from Michael in the Myers house before preventing Michael's original psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis from killing his patient outside, resolving to kill him in the present.

Meanwhile, Tommy Doyle is at a local bar celebrating the 40th anniversary of Michael’s arrest and imprisonment, and to commemorate the memory of his victims, along with fellow survivors Marion Chambers, Lindsey Wallace, and Cameron’s father, Lonnie Elam, who briefly encountered Michael in 1978, before toasting Laurie Strode. A group of firefighters respond to Laurie's burning house and unwittingly free Michael who massacres them with their own equipment. Laurie, her daughter Karen, and her granddaughter Allyson arrive at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital where Laurie undergoes emergency surgery. Michael murders Laurie's neighbors Sondra and Phil before making his way deeper into Haddonfield. An emergency newscast of the killings alerts Tommy, Marion, Lindsey, and Lonnie of Michael’s escape before bar patron Vanessa supposedly encounters Michael in the backseat of her car. Tommy and a group of people head outside to confront him as the car drives away and crashes; the driver, whom they falsely believe to be Michael, escapes unnoticed. While Lonnie heads off to pick up Cameron, Tommy forms a mob of vengeful Haddonfield citizens to hunt down and kill Michael before he can kill anyone else.

The police inform Karen and Allyson that Michael escaped and is still alive. Karen decides to withhold the information from Laurie to allow her to recover while Allyson reconciles with Cameron and joins him along with his father and the others to hunt down Michael and avenge her own father’s death. Laurie and Hawkins, now sharing a hospital room, both awaken and reminisce about their former relationship. Lindsey, Marion, Vanessa, and her husband Marcus are ambushed by Michael in the park after warning Haddonfield residents to stay inside; all of them are killed except for Lindsey who escapes and hides. Allyson, Cameron, Tommy, and Lonnie arrive at the scene discovering the bodies of the others on a playground. They find Lindsey traumatized and injured but alive.

While Tommy takes Lindsey to the hospital, Lonnie, Cameron, and Allyson map out the path Michael is taking. Based on where his victims are located, they deduce that he is heading towards his childhood home. Tommy reunites with former Haddonfield sheriff Leigh Brackett, whose daughter Annie was killed by Michael in 1978, and then informs Laurie of Michael’s survival. Across town, Michael murders Big John and Little John, a couple who live in his childhood home, as Laurie prepares to leave the hospital to have her final confrontation with him. The driver of Vanessa's car; Lance Tovoli, who is a fellow patient at Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital alongside Michael and escaped when the bus crashed, arrives at the hospital. Tommy and his mob mistake Lance for Michael and pursue him through the hospital. Karen manages to reach Lance and realizes he isn't Michael. Despite Karen's attempts to calm the mob and help Lance, he jumps out of a window to his death. Brackett grows concerned that the mob is turning into monsters from their fear and panic, while Laurie, who was injured during the chase, urges Karen to work with Tommy and hunt down Michael.

Back at the Myers house, Lonnie arms himself and heads in alone until Allyson and Cameron hear gunshots and rush inside to help him. They discover the bodies of Big John, Little John, and Lonnie before being attacked by Michael. In the ensuing fight, Michael breaks Allyson's legs by shoving her down the stairs and brutally beats Cameron before snapping his neck. As Michael prepares to kill Allyson, Karen stabs him in the back with a pitchfork, steals his mask, and taunts him to follow her. Karen lures Michael into the path of Tommy's mob. Michael recovers his mask before being attacked and seemingly killed by the mob. As Karen leaves to reunite with Allyson, Brackett prepares to shoot Michael in the head. Michael recovers and manages to slaughter the entire mob, including Brackett and Tommy. Back at the Myers's house as Allyson receives medical attention, Karen sees a young Michael looking out the bedroom window and investigates. Michael appears and stabs her to death. Laurie stares out of her hospital room window while Michael stares out his window.


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