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Surgeons of Horror

~ Dissecting horror films

Surgeons of Horror

Tag Archives: laurie strode

Movie review: Halloween Ends (2022)

13 Thursday Oct 2022

Posted by surgeons of horror in Movie review

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Tags

andi matichak, danny mcbride, david gordon green, Halloween, halloween ends, Halloween franchise, james jude courtney, Jamie Lee Curtis, kyle richards, laurie strode, michael myers, Nick Castle, rohan campbell, will patton

Back in 2018, the writing team of Jeff Fradley, Danny McBride & David Gordon Green did the unthinkable and brought Michael Myers back to life and stalked the big screens once again.

With a strong focus on the long lasting effects that trauma has on us all and who better to champion this cause than ultimate survivor, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis – who turned out a phenomenal performance in that role).

Movie review: Halloween (2018)

Fans both old and new alike were lapping up this brutal the on a 40 year old franchise, so it was inevitable that  further two movies would arise. However…

People (myself included) felt let down by the directorial path that was chosen. Halloween Kills felt like a fluff piece, a filler if you will to bring about the conclusion and along with it the end to the franchise??

Despite this, there were some faithful to the resurrection (ooh, bad choice of word. I’m still having my own trauma counselling over that movie :p) and were keen to see how the trilogy would play out. Again I would include myself in those who waited with anticipation.

Movie review: Halloween Kills (2021)

But before we get to my thoughts on this, let’s view the trilogy through the trauma lens and the five stages of grief, as I personally find that this ties in with the central theme and our understanding of the creative mindset.

Halloween (2018) would set up the premise of trauma and its unshakeable hold on the victims with stage 1 – Denial. Most of the characters are in a state of denial, with the exception of Laurie, who is so immersed in the state that she is on a deeper level and knows that the shape of evil will always be there as long as Michael is alive. This is her mantra and never waivers across the three movies.

Moving into Halloween Kills (2021) and we traverse through stage 2 – Anger with our rising vigilantes and stage 3 – bargaining as those who try to lure Michael to his death end up bargaining with their own.

So, now we come to Halloween Ends (2022) which must then face the final two stages: Depression and Acceptance. The former of the two does not bode well to focus on for the feature but go there it does. 

The feature picks up with two of our central survivors Laurie and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and the remnants of Haddonfield. Among the residents is Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) a boy who accidentally kills the kid he is babysitting and is forever tarnished among his community. It is here that he is quickly thrust into comparison with Michael, and the new face of evil. As much as Corey struggles to reassert himself, he is further quashed and forced to ask whether he should just concede to his fate. 

David Gordon Green continually likes to dabble with the whole nature vs nurture idea and with it starts to lose the kernel of a Halloween franchise movie; namely Myers on a killing rampage. By shifting the core perspective to Corey and away from Myers, the more we question the true heart of the movie. In fact, Myers has been left residing in an abandoned sewer beneath the Haddonfield streets to lick his wounds, like a paltry Pennywise wannabe,

The silver lining of hope comes with Allyson who develops a romantic interest with Corey; a moth to the flame of violence. The other kindled romance is between Laurie and Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton); is there still a chance of happiness for Laurie?

As we build to the films’ climax, the characters must ultimately face acceptance. Do they acknowledge their past, shake off the shackles of accusations and character assassinations, or let trauma (Myers and his myth) win?

The Prognosis:

You play with fire and you’re gonna get burned.

David Gordon Green and Danny McBride struck gold when they first brought Myers back to our screens and the subject of trauma.

But by continually going back into the frey, the strength of their initial premise wanes. By sidelining Myers in their quest to scrutinise the impact of grief and trauma, they lose the essence of Halloween, With it they have inadvertently killed off the franchise, perhaps forever. Those devoted to Halloween must now go through their own 5 steps of grief but it’s debatable if we will ever reach acceptance.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Halloween Kills (2021)

03 Wednesday Nov 2021

Posted by surgeons of horror in Halloween franchise, Movie review

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

andi matichal, anthony michael hall, Halloween, Halloween franchise, halloween kills, Jamie Lee Curtis, judy greer, laurie strode, michael myers, Nick Castle

It seems an age ago when David Gordon Green and Danny McBride did the impossible and reignited a struggling franchise, bringing a much more brutal Michael Myers to the screen in Halloween. 

The main question posed to the creative team here though is, could they repeat the success of its predecessor?

To answer this, I draw on the Surgeons 6 rules to making a good sequel.

1. ​​Identify the ideas, themes & executional elements that make the first film great.  Or at least good.  Or at least worthy of being sequelised.

Part of its appeal alongside the sheer force of The Shape carving his way through Haddonfield once again, juxtaposed by the fragility and strength of Laurie Strode, magnificently portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis, was how the film played to the damaging effects that trauma has on humanity, and how some condition themselves to the impact that this has had on their lives.

Where Halloween 2018 leaned into early stages of trauma through the eyes of the Strode family, who are in complete denial, numbed to the exposure that Laurie’s turmoil has taken, or through the taking on the pain and guilt of surviving such an ordeal, the latest outing needs to take this to the next level, Anger and Bargaining. The only problem with these emotions is that there isn’t a lot on the dial to play with. Each character that embodies these emotions invariably meet their grisly end as a result. Not that this completely squashes the narrative however, as the re-introduced character of Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall) who leads a vigilante group on a mission to end evil and kill Myers for good. It certainly shines a light on the consequences that a mob mentality can have when confronting trauma. Brute force against brute force will always lead to ruin where there are no winners.

It’s biggest strength is in its central antagonist, Michael, who never holds back, continuing the theme from the 2018 feature. As it should be. He is and will always be the draw card to the franchise, and I’m glad to say that he never disappoints, arguably his portrayal here is one of the finest in the franchise.

It’s other strength from 2018, is with Jamie Lee Curtis.. Every moment she is on screen, you are willing for her to bring the same exhaustive performance. However, she is subjected to a more minor role, still an important one, as between her and the wounded Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) provide hope through acceptance, through what will be the final step in moving through a traumatic event.


2. Pay homage and do not violate/ignore said ideas and themes and elements                                                  

Here, Green still pays homage to the franchise as a whole, using elements that have played key roles or images that have been instilled from previous films, such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch, with the skeleton, pumpkin, and the witch. The creative team have proven before that they are lovers of the franchise and here is no exception to that rule. So, for this, they continue to immerse the viewer and expand on that sense of nostalgia without causing damage at all.

3. Introduce new/expanded themes, ideas and elements that will NATURALLY ALIGN to your first ideas, themes & elements.
As mentioned, the new elements introduced in this movie expand on the themes of trauma, most notably anger. This feels like a natural cause of action following the 2018 feature. The second part of this trajectory is through bargaining, a trait that is mostly seen through Karen (Judy Greer), in many ways the heart of the movie, pleading with her mother Laurie to listen to reason, desperately trying to save the life of the prison inmate, wrongly identified as Michael. This only makes her actions bittersweet in the face of the movie’s climax, a step that needed to be taken in order for the survivors, whoever they may be, to heal.

4. DO NOT rehash the first film and just give people “more of the same”.

This is where the movie starts to fall down a little.
While it tries to push the story arc along, it fails to resonate a beat and quicken the pulse at all. It is happy to play with the same kind of energy, but in doing so falls flat and starts to feel like it is a filler movie between Halloween and what will ultimately be Halloween Ends.It struggles to shift outside of this and doesn’t deliver as a result.

5. DO NOT-NOT rehash the first film by giving more of the same…. BUT “BIGGER”.

It could be argued here too that they’ve tried to go bigger, and who could blame them, and in part Michael falls into this category. I would counter this though by saying in the very action of attempting to go bigger, they lose sight of the integral components, and the raw energy captured before. It feels a little flat in its execution and disconnects from the viewer.

6. Be a good enough stand-alone film by itself.

And for its final hurdle in our 6 rules for a great sequel, Halloween Kills stumbles.
It fails to be viewed as a stand alone movie as it relies too greatly on its predecessors. It is these movies that allow the feature to stand tall, but take away these crutches, there isn’t a lot left on show.

The Diagnosis:

So, where does that leave things with Halloween Kills?
Well, it manages to execute 3 out of 6 rules successfully, which falls in line with my gut reaction.
I marked it as a little over average and falls short of the previous movie.

Yes, it’s a filler and it might feel more satisfying once Halloween Ends completes that cycle.
Until then, we’re left with a vaguely entertaining movie that tries to satisfy the core fans, some of whom will be content, but others will note the lack of impact that came in 2018.

  • Saul Muerte

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