Halloween Kills is the second installment of the Halloween reboot saga directed by David Gordon Green. Looking back, in 2018, Green successfully revived the Halloween franchise, after the production house Blumhouse became the new owner of the IP copyright after the previous owner Dimension Films lost their rights due to failing to follow up on the Halloween saga (Rob Zombie timeline -ed).
With the direct involvement of John Carpenter who actually disliked Rob Zombie’s portrayal of Michael Myers, Green and his team produced an installment that served as a direct sequel to the original film. This installment is more terrifying than ever before as it removes all the existing forked timeline clutter. As we know, the effort was a success and the planning for a new trilogy of Halloween saga was carried out, with the creation of this Halloween Kills, which will be followed by Halloween Ends, as the closing chapter.
Returning to Halloween Kills, this second act is a direct continuation of the events of the previous film. It is told that Laurie Strode with her daughter and granddaughter managed to escape after trapping Myers to burn to death in her house. Unfortunately, the firefighters tasked with putting out the fire instead set Myers free and continued their hunt for Laurie, adding to the number of deaths along the way.
Injured and taken to hospital, Laurie struggles through the pain as she inspires the residents of Haddonfield, Illinois, to rise up against Myers. Trying to take matters into their own hands, the women of Strode and other survivors form a vigilante group to hunt down Michael and end his acts of terror once and for all.
Halloween Kills is actually a fan service for fans of the original film. Almost every actor who played someone who was still alive at the end of the 1978 film appeared, even with a few easter eggs from the previous chapters. Green also includes a few additional flashback scenes from 1978 that serve as filler in the new timeline for this reboot saga with the old film.
In terms of script, once again, for the umpteenth time, Halloween Kills can be said to be like a repetition of the follow-up installations of the previous Halloween franchise. Although in fact there is a plot that is put forward here, namely how the residents of Haddonfield react to the information that the horror they are facing is still continuing, Green’s filmmakers do not make that their main selling point.
So the place to fulfill his old dream of his ideal slasher film image, in Halloween Kills, the filmmaker really exploits the level of violence that exists here. As a result, in terms of storytelling and story movement, it must be admitted that it is quite stagnant, although unfortunately when referring to the interview session of the filmmaker, it was intentional. So, what can I say, it feels like there is no need to bother to make a fuss about the substantial plot here, because it is useless.
Now, the deciding factor lies in the audience itself. Do you feel that Green’s direction here is a betrayal or is it a high respect for the franchise’s roots or not? The author himself admits that he is not a fan of this saga even though he has watched many installments of this franchise. And, it took a very hard struggle to watch the scenes, which when referring to the filmmaker’s statement about the goal he wanted to achieve in Kills, namely promoting “violence became a character”, he succeeded. In closing, with a barometer of personal endurance in watching the levels of gore in films, Halloween Kills seems to be included in the heavyweight category of gore slasher offerings from many films with the same sales that were present this year.
Halloween Kills can be seen in Indonesian cinemas starting October 20, 2021
