Halloween Kills: Bloody Masterpiece or Plot Disaster?

Synopsis

Halloween Kills tries to pick up where Halloween left off in 2018. Michael is trapped in Laurie Strode’s burning home. Laurie and her family are recovering in the hospital. Michael’s tale is already becoming nothing but bar stories and memories.

Of course, not even fire can trap Michael.…

As the house collapses, he slashes his way through the first responders to freedom and begins another bloody rampage. This time, the Strode family are not the only ones who rise up against him. The entire town remembers those bar stories and memories. They decide to fight back, for better or for worse…

The Good

The best part of this film was the kills and the accompanying gore. 2021 Michael seems to view killing as a lark. Whether he is using creative weapons like fluorescent light bulbs or turning someone into a human knife block, the blood sprays, and he just keeps going. There were even a couple of scenes where Michael seemed to think “You still aren’t dead yet?” before finishing off a kill. Am I messed up for laughing at that?

Even the kills that were not done by Michael himself had dripping blood and exposed brain matter galore. Beautiful.

The second best part was the reaction of some of the victims. Whether Michael posed them or they posed themselves, the ending of the super cute gay couple would make any romantic smile. And the “I will not back down” reaction of some of the townspeople was definitely refreshing compared to the normal run and scream of most horror victims.

The Bad

It seemed a bit like the writers were trying to enhance the plot with flashbacks and reveals, but they were doing too much. I couldn’t tell whether they were attempting to write one story or ten. Some of their reveals did not enhance the story, and a couple of them did not make much sense at all.

Even when they had Jamie Lee Curtis monologue-splain it at one point, it did not help. After the movie, the Dragon and I could not agree what the point was she had been trying to make. I’m not sure whether this would be improved by simplification or just a bit of cutting, but something needed to be done with the mess of a plotline.

Overall

This movie definitely is a fun popcorn-fueled gore fest! While you might learn a few new things about Michael, you will definitely enjoy the film more if you do not try to read too much into the plot. Just lay back and enjoy the merry-go-round of gore!