Kidzworld reviews the ultimate sequel to the original 1978 Halloween film. Does Michael Myers’ babysitter target succeed in defeating him forty years later? Is the film truly scary?
It’s Halloween season and evil incarnate killer Michael Myers (Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney) has been locked up in a mental institution for forty years. He is being transferred to another one but, oops, the bus he’s on crashes and he is on the loose. Knowing this, two reporters are hot on the trail hoping to set up a meet and greet with him and his 1978 intended babysitter victim Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). Laurie has other ideas. She’s been waiting for Michael to come her way and…boy is she ready for him this time! (Warning: Halloween (2018) is rated "R" for horror violence and bloody images so make your filmgoing choice with this in mind).
Laurie is ready for Michael this timeCourtesy of Universal Pictures
Reporters in Hell
It’s forty years after the Haddonfield babysitter murders in 1978 and two reporters Aaron Korey (Jefferson Hall) and Dana Haines (Rhian Rees) are at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium hoping to get a word out of Michael Myers. His new shrink Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) tells them Myers can speak but chooses not to. The duo is unable to get a response from Myers even after showing him his famous mask and asking about his intended victim Laurie Strode.
Michael Myers on the loose again!Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Laurie’s Fortress
The reporters head for Laurie’s place hoping to get her to talk to Michael and get some words out of him before he is transferred. They offer her $3,000 for an interview. She lets them into her isolated home, really a fortress. Laurie has spent the forty years dealing with post-traumatic stress, coping with failed marriages and losing custody of her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) at age 12. She kicks them out but takes the money telling them they think they are dealing with a regular serial killer but he’s the pure evil boogeyman!
Michael is the true boogeymanCourtesy of Universal Pictures
The Family
Laurie’s daughter Karen, granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and quirky dad Ray (Toby Huss) prepare to welcome Allyson’s boyfriend Cameron (Dylan Arnold) to meet them for the first time at a dinner. Mom says she invited Laurie but she’s an agoraphobic and can’t come. Allyson knows she never really asked her. Her friends don’t think a serial killer is a big deal in our scary modern times. Allyson looks out the window at school and there stands Laurie who later gives her the $3,000 and tells her to go do something really fun with it. Laurie knows she prepared Karen for fighting Michael. Allyson tells her to just let it go. She lets her friends know about the stress that Laurie’s experience has caused the whole family but Laurie is NOT Myers’ sister as rumored. He killed his sister Judith forty years ago. As the transfer bus leaves the prison, Laurie sits in her truck watching, drinking and screaming!
Laurie loves daughter KarenCourtesy of Universal Pictures
Dinner and The Transfer
Laurie actually shows up at the family dinner but drinks and ends up crying, saying she saw Michael. She leaves and Allyson comforts her. Karen reminds family that Laurie taught her to shoot and fight before she was taken away. Hubby Ray tells her she can’t save her mom. Meanwhile, the transfer bus has crashed on the road. Guards were killed and inmates roam around when a teen son and his dad approach and try to help but Michael kills them. In town, Sheriff’s Officer Hawkins (Will Patton) gets the call about the bus and officers down. He was there in 1978 and knows an escaped Myers will return to Haddonfield.
Karen knows mom's house is a fortressCourtesy of Universal Pictures
Halloween Day
Reporters Aaron and Dana tour the grave of Michael’s sister Judith and learn how, as a six-year-old child, he repeatedly stabbed her to death. They stop at a gas station where the attendants have already been killed. Both reporters are killed by Michael who finds his old mask in the trunk of their car and puts it on. Laurie hears Michael is on the way and loads her shotguns. We see she has a sort of safe room under her kitchen floor. She breaks into daughter Karen’s home to warn the family to get ready. We see that Michael is already roaming the streets on Halloween evening, killing one random woman with a hammer and another with a butcher knife.
Journalist Aaron sees Judith Myers' graveCourtesy of Universal Pictures
The Party and a Kill
Allyson and Cameron are at a Halloween party dressed as Bonnie and Clyde but she’s Clyde and he’s Bonnie. Friend Vicky (Virginia Gardner) has to babysit (uh oh) and invites Cameron and Allyson to come over to party. Laurie phones Allyson to tell her Michael is loose and to go home but, arguing, Cameron throws her phone into a punch bowl so she never gets the call. Young Julian (Jibrail Nantambu) whom Vicky babysits, tells her he saw a masked guy in the doorway but Vicky blows it off as the boy’s imagination. Of course Michael is there and kills her while Julian escapes. Hawkins, with gun-toting Laurie following, find Vicky dead. Laurie sees Michael and shoots but it’s only his mirror reflection.
Allyson sees Cameron kiss another girlCourtesy of Universal Pictures
Walking Home
Mad at Cameron for kissing another girl, Allyson ditches him at the party and allows her friend Oscar (Drew Scheid) to walk her home. He tries to kiss her and she rebuffs and moves on leaving him alone…..to be killed by Michael who is following. Allyson sees this and runs. At Laurie’s where it is deemed to be safer, Karen and Ray are waiting for Allyson to arrive. Laurie indicates that people think she lives in her own cage but her house is much more than that. Will Allyson arrive safely? Will Michael, Laurie and her family have the big confrontation that has been forty years in the making?
He's here!Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Wrapping Up
Although the Halloween 2018 story plays a little slowly up until the last act, the film succeeds on a lot of levels. It’s cool that the original Carpenter film theme is used but final, tense confrontation battles are without music, just breathing and this works really well. There are many little references or tributes to scenes in the original film and it is a good choice that you see Myers’ gray hair and can tell that he has aged forty years but you never see his face.
Laurie wants to confront MichaelCourtesy of Universal Pictures
Jamie Lee does an admirable job of embodying Laurie Strode’s forty years of post-traumatic stress and family sorrow but also enacting the strong Laurie who never falters in her plan to erase the horrors of her youth and destroy the monster who ruined her life. Other cast members give very fitting performances and there are teens you can identify with but a real show stealer is Jibrail Nantambu as young Julian whose brief dialogue and delivery are a hoot and a welcomed comic break.
Kill the babysitterCourtesy of Universal Pictures
There is more here than just a run-of-the-mill vengeance slasher rampage. Laurie’s experience has negatively affected three generations of women in her family but has still managed to ignite the same strong determination in all of them. You GO girls! We go four stars.
Halloween Movie Rating: 
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
See Halloween in theaters now!
What Do You Think?
Have you seen the original Halloween film? Are you ready for the story to continue forty years later? Are you afraid of the white-masked Michael Myers character or do you just think his “look” is scary/cool? Talk all things Halloween below with your comment or share your own review on your Kidzworld profile page!
