Halloween 2018
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, and more...

Laurie Strode confronts her long-time foe Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.

I've said here before that I'm a huge fan of the horror genre. When I heard that the Halloween franchise was going to get another film, I was hugely excited. When I heard that David Gordon Green and Danny McBride were at the helm, it was even better. And then as we got closer to the release of the film, we're told that the film would be acting as if none of the other sequels made to the original movie, including Halloween 2 never existed, I was... curious.

The end result was a highly enjoyable film that followed the rules of horror films, had a touch of the humor we enjoy in anything crafted by the Green/McBride team, and got a few surprise twists thrown at us in the process.

A nice young couple of British podcasters come to cover the Michael Myers case. They visited Myers in the institution where, according to this film, he's been for the last 40 years. They even show him the mask he wore to commit the murders in 1978. They don't seem to get a reaction. They pay Laurie Strode a visit, in this movie she's not a relative of Myers, and they find her belligernt and uncooperative, particularly since they try to antagonise her by pointing out how her obsession with Myers destroyed her family. It doesn't take her long to show them the door.

We find out that what they'd heard was close to the truth. Laurie is estranged from her daughter and her granddaughter pities her. Laurie has prepared every day for the scenario where Michael returns for her and this time, she will kill him. Be careful what you wish for. Of course, the bus that's transporting Myers and several other mental patients crashes, he gets out, and he indeed returns to Haddonfield with some rather gruesome results.

Halloween 2018 is smartly-written and directed. Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode is a strong, fierce survivor who sees only the protection of her family, even when they cast her aside for it. The acting is strong, the female leads, three of them, are phenomenal, and the story was reasonably good.

At an hour and 46 minutes, the movie is a good length and is filled with jump scares and horrible scenes that are both nods to previous Halloween films and very well executed. It's rated R for good reason. Still, it's a horror film you're probably okay letting your teens see. Gore but no teens having sex here.

I highly recommend the film. I would even if I hadn't worked on the set. I worked as an extra at a crime scene in the film, the image above was used in the promotion of the film but alas in the movie, ended up on the cutting room floor. A wonderful set and this reviewer sincerely hopes that the duo of Green and McBride get the sequel or do another horror film. They seem to have a gift for it.

Isy