The horror genre has been in an exciting renaissance for the past few years. Plenty of unique projects hit theaters, paired with the return of beloved horror franchises. Chief among the was 2018's Halloween, which served as a direct sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 original. Two more movies are coming, starting with Halloween Kills. The slasher was originally supposed to hit theaters hits past October, but was delayed a full year. And now we know exactly why Halloween Kills was officially Rated R.
MPAA ratings within the horror genre can differ depending on the project. While PG-13 movies are more accessible for audiences, a hard R will allow for more deadly violence and scares. Halloween movies are typically rated R, and 2018's sequel allowed Michael Myers to be especially deadly as he rampaged through Haddonfield. Halloween Kills' rating was recently confirmed, which is:
Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language and some drug use.
Strong bloody violence throughout? Sign me up. Michael Myers is expected to rake up an impressive bodycount throughout Halloween Kills, so it's no wonder that it also ended up being rated R. This should presumably allow David Gordon Green and Danny McBride the freedom to include as much violence and language as they'd like to throughout its mysterious runtime.
Halloween Kills' rating should be no surprise, but the promise of consistent violent images seems to tease that it's going to be even more brutal than its 2018 predecessor. The delayed movie will pick immediately after the events of the first film, and will follow the town of Haddonfield as it reacts to Michael's return. Plenty of survivors from The Shape's 1978 attack will have roles, and the first footage showed them all arming up to take on the masked villain of their nightmares.
The last Halloween movie was solely focused on Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode and how her trauma affected her family. But Halloween Kills will seemingly be more of an ensemble project, including some familiar faces from John Carpenter's original. And it'll be interesting to see how these other survivors have coped in the 40 years that have passed since Michael Myers came knocking.
The reference in Halloween Kills' rating to drug use is also note-worthy, and something tells me that some of Haddonfield have been self-medicating as a result of trauma. We found out in the last movie that Laurie Strode had largely stopped drinking, but was shown having a small relapse upon seeing Michael being transported. We'll just have to see which characters are turning to the bottle or another vice when Halloween Kills arrives in October of 2021.
The working title for Halloween Kills was "Mob Rules", and the limited footage for the movie certainly teased that Haddonfield was becoming an angry mob of sorts. Every single character was armed in one way or another, as they seemingly united to take down Michael together. Judy Greer also teased that Laurie's granddaughter Allyson would be particularly blood thirsty after her first encounter with The Shape. After all, he did kill her father.
Halloween Kills is currently expected to hit theaters on October 15th, 2021. In the meantime, check out our 2021 release list to plan your trips to the movies next year.
