Can you hear the cold air rustling through the trees yet? Halloween season is finally upon us, and this year that means another visit from Michael Myers to follow up the story told in 2018’s Halloween. Its upcoming sequel from David Gordon Green, Halloween Kills, once again stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and picks up right where the final girl left off, in hopes of taking down her stalker once in for all. The Halloween sequel just had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and with that, its first reviews have hit the internet.
Stay tuned for CinemaBlend’s review of the film ahead of its mid-October release. Until then, let’s look at the first few reviews of Halloween Kills. Marshall Shaffer had great things to say about it for Slashfilm, calling the movie a “compelling” entry into the series that shows off its filmmakers' ability to bring more to Michael Myers over 40 years later. In his words:
After proving they could relaunch Halloween, they depart a bit from the formula to exciting and energizing effect. It's a worthy series entry that manages that tricky balance of providing enough of what long-time fans expect while also bringing a unique reflection and perspective to the well-known property.
The Wrap’s Asher Luberto also left the Venice Film Festival screening with positive things to say about Halloween Kills. The critic called it an effective sequel and highlighted the movie for reaching for themes that go past your average slasher:
But Halloween Kills is no mere gore-fest — it’s about the generational trauma bestowed upon Haddonfield. The action sequences are more than just action sequences; in Green’s social allegory, they are a way for citizens to confront their trauma, their rage, their oppression, and to reclaim their power and agency through revenge.
However, not everyone loved Halloween Kills. David Rooney shared his heavy criticism for the new horror movie, calling it “shapeless” in his review for The Hollywood Reporter:
Green has made exactly the kind of witless, worthless sequel that bled the franchise dry in the 1980s and ’90s… What’s most disappointing is that after reimagining Curtis’ Laurie as a fierce warrior grandmother, hardened by PTSD into a tough customer at considerable cost to her personal relationships, here she’s basically sidelined in post-surgery recovery.
Now here’s something to keep in mind. While Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode very much made her comeback to the franchise for the 2018 movie, it looks like she will be sidelined in Halloween Kills, maybe to save some big moments for Halloween Ends. Indiewire’s Ben Croll was also on the negative side, feeling like Halloween Kills was more than a bridge to the final installment to the trilogy coming next year. As he said:
Green has money to burn and time to kill, and the town of Haddonfield is right there waiting. And if this bloody entr’acte, whose title addition works as both noun and verb, has little to offer but a jacked up body count on a bed of fan service, it serves both with panache, charging forward as an almost elemental slasher outing unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.
It sounds like Halloween Kills suffers from some sequel pitfalls, which the franchise has certainly dealt with before, this one being the twelfth Halloween title in a legacy that started back in 1978 and helped popularize the slasher film genre. IGN’s Rafael Motamayor will close us out for now with some words from his review:
Most of the problems with Halloween Kills come from it being the second chapter in a trilogy that was announced prior to its release. Some characters sit out most of the action for seemingly no reason, while several themes and reveals are introduced and then dropped rather quickly, including some allusions to The Curse of Michael Myers that are sure to spark plenty of conversations among fans. Much of Halloween Kills is just table setting for the final confrontation, including an abrupt cliffhanger ending that makes this feel like half of a movie.
Overall, the first impressions for Halloween Kills are mixed. You can decide what you think about the movie yourself when the movie hits theaters on October 15. And check out what other horror movies are on their way in the near future here on CinemaBlend.
