Halloween Kills 🎃🔪

Death has come to your little town, sheriff...

Oct 21, 2021

Welcome to Pop ‘n’ Pizza, a weekly newsletter highlighting what’s new in pop culture and pulp fiction. This week, I’m talking about David Gordon Green’s HALLOWEEN KILLS. 🍕🥤

Halloween Kills

Genre: Horror
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rated: R

Behind the Scenes

Directed by David Gordon Green
Written by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green
Cinematography by Michael Simmonds
Music by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, Daniel Davies
Studio: Universal Pictures

In Front of the Camera

Jamie Lee Curtis (HALLOWEEN, TRUE LIES)
Judy Greer (HALLOWEEN, ANT-MAN)
Andi Matichak (HALLOWEEN, SON)
Will Patton (MINARI, ARMAGEDDON)
Anthony Michael Hall (THE DARK KNIGHT, FOXCATCHER)

How Did We Get Here?

John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN (1978) is, without question, one of the most influential films within the horror genre; the STAR WARS of slashers. The independent, low-budget movie about a masked killer who stalks babysitters on Halloween night was responsible for popularizing slasher flicks in the ‘80s. Sure, there are movies with slasher elements that predate Carpenter’s film, like SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT (1972), THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974), and BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) — not to mention 1960’s PEEPING TOM and PSYCHO — but HALLOWEEN popularized many of the tropes and themes that have since become synonymous with the genre, including “the final girl.”

That final girl is Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), a shy, book-smart high school student whose substance-abusing, sexually promiscuous friends are murdered one by one by Michael Myers, an escaped mental patient with a penchant for Halloween masks and chef’s knives. With this dynamic — the knife-wielding boogeyman and the resilient young woman who confronts and ultimately defeats them — HALLOWEEN became the blueprint for the ‘80s horror new wave, influencing films like MANIAC (1980), FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980), MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981), and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984).

Not only was HALLOWEEN influential, but it was also a huge commercial success, grossing $70 million on a $325,000 budget and spawning a media franchise of films, novels, comics, and merchandise that is still going strong 43 years later. Over the years, however, the continuity of the series — and Laurie Strode’s journey as Michael’s ultimate undoing — has been, well, complicated to say the least and a complete fucking shitshow to be more accurate.

After appearing in HALLOWEEN and 1981’s HALLOWEEN II (where it’s revealed that Laurie and Michael are siblings), Laurie unceremoniously dies in a car accident off-screen before HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988). HALLOWEEN 4, HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989), and 1995’s HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS focus on Laurie’s niece Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris); CURSE also features Paul Rudd as Tommy Doyle, the little boy Laurie babysits in the ‘78 film, all grown up.

Then, in 1998’s HALLOWEEN H20: TWENTY YEARS LATER, which ignores the continuity established by 4, 5, and 6, Laurie returns and beheads Michael Myers… until 2002’s HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION retcons Michael’s demise and has him throw Laurie off a rooftop to her death. Yikes.

In Rob Zombie’s 2007 reboot, Laurie is reborn, portrayed by Scout Taylor-Compton (who also stars in FERAL, a movie I co-wrote). HALLOWEEN II (2009) sees Laurie killing Michael but ultimately losing her mind in the process, ending up in a psychiatric ward. Crazy runs in the family, you see.

Nearly a decade later, Jamie Lee Curtis returned to the iconic role in David Gordon Green’s HALLOWEEN (2018) — a new branch of the HALLOWEEN CINEMATIC MULTIVERSE™ that ignores every film in the franchise except the original. Laurie is no longer Michael Myers’ sister, and Myers has been institutionalized at Smith's Grove Psychiatric Hospital for 40 years until, of course, he escapes on Halloween night and starts killing again.

Read my review of the 2018 film

Enter HALLOWEEN KILLS, the second act in Green’s HALLOWEEN trilogy and perhaps one of the most polarizing entries yet in this wildly inconsistent franchise.

What’s It About?

“Minutes after Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie's basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie's trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster.” — Universal Pictures.

Why You Should See It

Written by Scott Teems, Danny McBride, and David Gordon Green, HALLOWEEN KILLS is exactly what I like to see from a HALLOWEEN sequel. It takes some big swings — literally, thanks to a baseball bat-wielding Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall) — and isn’t afraid to get wet ‘n’ wild with the mythology or our notions of what a HALLOWEEN movie should be. It’s funny, gory, surprisingly poignant, and even offers up a little social commentary while it’s at it.

It’s got whacky characters, like Diva Tyler and Lenny Clarke as Sondra and Phil, an eccentric couple who delight in flying remote control drones through their house before Sondra notes, “There’s a big guy in our bathroom, and he’s wearing a monster mask.” Speaking of big guys, there’s Big John and Little John (Scott MacArthur and Michael McDonald), a gay couple who have moved into the old Myers home and enjoy listening to spooky records and scaring trick-or-treaters. And then there’s the aforementioned Tommy Doyle who leads a torch-bearing mob of Haddonfield’s best and brightest on a manhunt to kill Michael Myers, chanting “Evil dies tonight!” as they march through the streets.

It’s got a blistering score by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter, and Daniel Davies and some absolutely brutal kills thanks to make-up and VFX artist Christopher Nelson. What’s most surprising about HALLOWEEN KILLS, however, is the thoughtful exploration of how trauma has affected the residents of Haddonfield, from the children who survived the Babysitter Murders of 1978, like Tommy Doyle, Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), and Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet of THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE and MIDNIGHT MASS) to the Strode family, to the police who couldn’t stop Myers, like Hawkins (Will Patton) and retired sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers), whose daughter Annie died by Michael’s hands all those years ago.

We’re dealing with generations of trauma — old wounds ripped open by the return of an evil that transcends our understanding, an unstoppable force that turns those around him into monsters. Myers isn’t just an escaped mental patient in KILLS; he’s a black hole from which no light — no empathy, no goodness — can escape. It's always darkest just before dawn, and this being the middle chapter in Green’s trilogy, we see a town plunged into darkness and despair. But there is hope — the dawn is coming, and so are the Strode women. HALLOWEEN ENDS in 2022, and we’ll see the sunrise in Haddonfield once again.

Look, your mileage may vary with HALLOWEEN KILLS — everyone has their own idea of what these movies should be — but for me, it was a blast. It’s the perfect Pop ‘n’ Pizza movie; exceedingly and unabashedly weird, with some gnarly practical effects and a surprising amount of substance. As I type this, I want to order a pizza, crack open a Mr. Pibb, and watch it again.

HALLOWEEN KILLS is now in theaters and streaming on Peacock.

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