With October ending, many new horror movies have captured the attention of Halloween fans and movie lovers alike. “Halloween Kills”, a reboot of the classic movie “Halloween” directed by John Carpenter starring Michael Myers, was released this year and surprised many longtime fans of the series. Although the original movie, released in 1978, was a mastery of suspense, cinematography, and overall character development, the reboot in comparison is seen as a messy attempt at depicting mob mentality. The sequel aimed at referencing events from the original, but loosely developed main characters such as Laurie Strode and Tommy Doyle. 

The 2021 film introduces many characters from the 1978 version including Tommy Doyle, Marion Chambers, Lonnie Elam, and Laurie Strode, who were survivors from the original movie. In the new version, these characters come together to celebrate surviving four decades following the most traumatic night of their lives, which foreshadows them becoming future victims: a horror cliche.

The movie picks up from the end of the first sequel “Halloween”, which was directed by David Green and released in 2018. The story kicks off with Cameron discovering the bleeding body of Deputy Hawkins, who is trying to explain that Myers must die. Hawkins is rushed to the hospital and ends up sharing a room with Laurie Strode who is also recovering from an attack from Myers. As the two reminisce about their experiences, Myers escapes from the burning house shown in the end of the first film. This marks the beginning of a horrendous bloody rampage covered in the film in grimacing detail.

The 2021 film is seen as far more gruesome in comparison to the previous films with equally exaggerated plot lines that mimic the classic horror trope of characters running towards danger. However, the recent version fails to maintain focus on a given subject or idea for more than five to six minutes, which leads the writers to incorporate cliche dialogues to maintain a comfortable pace.    

My overall review on “Halloween Kills” is that it fails to capture the same chilling energy of the original movie and develop the characters in a realistic manner. There are far too many horror cliches that muddled the plot, which made the movie almost unwatchable. However, I would recommend this movie to anyone who is trying to watch a casual horror movie without focusing on a deeper plot.