Major spoiler alert! If you haven’t seen Halloween Kills or Halloween (2018) yet and want to, do not read this article yet!
This past Friday, October 15th, the 12th film in the Halloween franchise was released: Halloween Kills. The Halloween franchise started in 1978 when John Carpenter’s Halloween was released. It quickly became one of the most profitable horror films of all time, grossing $47 million in the box-office with a budget of only $320,000. John Carpenter’s Halloween opened the door to what would be one of the most popular horror franchises with one of the most recognizable horror villains: Michael Myers.
In 2018, Halloween, the 11th film in the franchise, was released. Halloween (2018) became one of the highest grossing horror films of all time, earning a whopping $159.3 million in the box-office. Halloween Kills was released this past Friday as the sequel to Halloween (2018). Halloween (2018) follows a very similar storyline to John Carpenter’s Halloween. Michael Myers escapes the institution he is in, gets his iconic mask, and immediately goes off on a killing spree. In Halloween (2018), Michael Myers goes after his original victim, Laurie, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. In the new Halloween (2018), she is well prepared for him in her booby-trapped house. Halloween (2018) ends with Michael Myers getting securely trapped in Laurie’s basement while the house is set on fire, and Laurie gets away. This would have been the perfect end to the Halloween franchise, but Hollywood can never earn enough money, even at the cost of a good ending.
Halloween Kills earned over $50 million in box-office during opening weekend, taking the top spot. Despite its high earnings and top spot in the box-office, the film was a massive let-down. It was 1 hour and 45 minutes of rising action with no climax, and then it ended. There were some gruesome kills, classic characters, a well-done mask, and a font tribute to the original Halloween (1978), but aside from that, it was nothing shy of disappointing. Michael Myers surviving the house fire that Halloween (2018) ended with is beyond far-fetched. The gun closet that he comes out of in Halloween Kills could not have fit a small person, let alone Michael Myers, when it was shown in Halloween (2018). This was the first indicator to me that this film was strictly a Hollywood money grab.
The entirety of the film presents an entire town riot that starts with a bar fight scene led by angry, balding men, which is very cliche American and not very Halloween. All of Haddonfield bands together to find, fight, and kill Michael Myers. This completely takes away from the horror aspect that Halloween is built upon, resulting in the overall mood of Halloween Kills being aggressive instead of eerie. The entire film lacks moments of suspense due to the pure male testosterone radiating from the majority of the run time.
Roughly ⅓ of the film is spent chasing after another escaped inmate from the facility, with Haddonfield attempting to kill him. The man is clearly scared, appears to have some type of cognitive disability, and is mistaken for Michael Myers as he had escaped from the same facility. When Laurie tries telling everyone that that is not Michael Myers, no one listens and they go after him anyway. This 30-minute chase scene ends with the other inmate taking his own life, and no one trying to stop him from jumping, catch him as he falls, or tend to his body afterward. None of the characters take the blame for their actions, nor is the man or his death even discussed at any other point in the film. It took up a massive chunk of the movie and added nothing to the storyline and was not pertinent to the plot of Halloween Kills. It was just a too-long filler scene.
Halloween Kills ends with Michael Myers taking multiple bullets, getting stabbed, and getting severely beaten by the people of Haddonfield. After he is, what appears to be, dead and down for the count, he mysteriously gets up and begins murdering again. He appears completely uninjured, is not bleeding profusely, and is moving in a manner indicative of nothing happening to him. There is no explanation behind how or why Michael Myers would be able to survive this, and nothing to indicate that he is some kind of superhuman. This also takes away from the horror aspect of Michael Myers and turns it more into an annoying mystery that you begin to not care if you ever know the answer as to why. This ending scene further proves that the film was a Hollywood money grab, as it is completely inconsistent with other Halloween films.
While Halloween Kills might be killing it in the box-office, it killed off a little bit of my love for the Halloween franchise. Halloween Kills did not need to be made as it was simply a money grab by Hollywood. The Halloween franchise should have ended with Halloween (2018), but now we have to wait and see the “true” ending in 2022 with Halloween Ends. Maybe 13 will be a lucky number for the Halloween franchise.