Halloween was an interesting watch for me. I have a lot of respect for the 1978 original as it created the modern slasher film. I thought Michael Myers was an interesting character but I was never scared of him. Hence my expectations of this new film may’ve been unfair as I was hoping the film would modernize Michael Myers and make him absolutely terrifying. While the film does adapt Myers to the 21^st century, its horror mostly consists of the traditional slow-moving atmosphere and suspense used in the original, which didn’t really scare me. That’s not a bad thing however as I enjoyed Halloween as a solid thriller with well written characters and a decent mix of horror and comedy.

Taking place 40 years after the original, Michael Myers is set free when the bus transferring him to another institution crashes. When Laurie Strode learns of this, she’s terrified but she’s also prepared.

The Characters

Laurie Strode is the emotional core of the film and is the best written character in my opinion. In the first act we learn gradually how the Halloween of 78 affected her. Laurie is paranoid and obsessed with security. This has had devastating consequences for her relationships. She’s had two failed marriages and has alienated her family, particularly her daughter Karen. Her interactions with them are painfully awkward. The film does a brilliant job of making you empathize with her.

The other characters, while not as empathetic, are still engaging. A good example is Karen. We see that she has built a normal family life for herself with a husband and daughter. Her upbringing has given her plenty of knowledge about self-defence but no love. She doesn’t believe in her mother’s view of the world and tries to keep her at a distance. Her scenes with Laurie are very compelling as not only are they in conflict but so are their views of the world.

Allyson, Karen’s daughter and Laurie’s granddaughter, stands in the middle ground. She sympathizes with Laurie more than Karen but at the same time understands her mother’s dislike of her. In terms of characterization Allyson is mostly your typical American teenage girl. However, since you feel so much empathy for Laurie, you immediately like Allyson as she seems to be the only person who believes in her. In a way she’s a supporting character as she mostly assists Laurie in her quest to kill Michael.

The Horror

Halloween was an interesting watch as a horror film since, as I stated before, Michael Myers never scared me. So did Halloween 2018 scare me? No. Did it convince me that Michael Myers was menacing and powerful? Absolutely. It takes a while for Myers to actually escape and put his mask back on as most of the first act builds up his reputation.

The film modernizes the mythical ‘Boogeyman’ stature attributed to him in the original. Halloween simply presents him as a psychopathic killing machine with no motives. The character of Doctor Sartain is mostly used for this purpose as we learn that he was a student of Doctor Loomis. His descriptions of Michael’s psychology suggest his monstrous nature, giving you a vague idea of what he’s like and what little is known about him. So while I wasn’t scared of Michael Myers, I appreciated him as a strong antagonist.

The Comedy

The comedy in Halloween is very much of the same humour as most modern comedies, which I’ve never been a fan of (check out my review of 2016’s Ghostbusters for more on that topic). I do appreciate comedy when it’s implemented into a sci-fi, superhero or horror film as films in those genres tend to have serious tones. Moments of comedy can provide some interesting contrast, hence I appreciated the comedy in The Predator.

I  appreciated the comedy in Halloween too, especially in Allyson’s scenes with her friends. Her teenage peers have some amusing banter with each other, which I really liked since most teenage characters in horror films are either boring or extremely annoying. The comedy makes their scenes a lot more compelling than they would be without it. One of the funniest characters in the film is Julian, a kid one of Allyson’s friends babysits. He comes out with some incredibly sassy comments, which I think most people will find hilarious.

However, at some points the comedy didn’t mix well with the horror. Scenes that are clearly supposed to be intense or creepy are ruined with a swearword or sassy remark. This especially damages the presentation of Michael Myers. The film spends so much time telling us why we should be absolutely terrified of him yet in some of his scenes humorous lines are heard, absorbing the tension and menace.

Overall, despite the occasional imbalance in comedy and my personal fearlessness of Michael Myers, I like Halloween as a good horror thriller. Laurie Strode is a fantastically well written character, Michael Myers is a pretty good antagonist and the comedy, when it’s good, adds some relief and contrast to the overall dark tone.

I give Halloween a good 7 out of 10.