Set at the same Halloween night this sequel generates even more gruesome deaths, brutal violence and a town infected by mass hysteria. 

• Scare factor: ★★★★☆
• Gruesome violent factor: ★★★★★
• Gory bloody factor: ★★★★★
• Slasher factor: ★★★★★

Halloween Kills starts where we left off at the end of Halloween (2018). It takes place in the same night where Michael is still alive and restarts his killing spree through Haddonfield. With Laurie mostly incapacitated, a group of vigilantes takes it upon themselves to find and finish off Michael, among which some familiar faces. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Anid Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall, Will Patton, Robert Longstreet, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens. Directed by David Gordon Green. Written by John Carpenter, Debra Hill, Scott Teems. 

Duration: 1h 45m

If you want to watch more horror films set at Halloween, you can take a look at my List of Halloween Horror Films. From slashers to comedy, for adults and for teens and kids, there’s something for everyone.

Plot

Laurie is severely injured and she is brought to the hospital by her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson, assuming they have successfully killed Michael Myers. As they are driving in the back of a pickup truck they see upcoming firetrucks heading towards Laurie’s home that is on fire. 

Unbeknownst to them Michael has secured himself in the armor cabinet and waits until the firemen come so he can kill them all. He has survived again and is heading back towards Haddonfield to continue his killing spree. 

Meanwhile most of the town is unaware of what is going on all night. In a bar a group of four survivors from 40 years ago, celebrates Halloween and commemorate those who died at Halloween back then and those who survived. Those four are Tommy the boy babysat by Laurie that day and Lindsey who was babysat by Annie who was killed by Michael. Marion Chambers the nurse who was stabbed by Michael in the car and Lonnie who was a kid when he encountered Michael but was left alone. He is Cameron’s father, Allyson’s boyfriend. Then they hear the news on tv about the crash of the bus, the escaped mental patients and the kills. 

When couple Vanessa and Marcus leave the bar they find someone in their car. They assume it’s Michael and run back into the bar for help. Tommy gets his baseball bat and with some others they attack the car but it drives away. That moment Tommy decides that Evil Must Die Tonight and rallies up people to hunt down Michael. Among them Marion, Lindsey and Lonnie.

In the hospital Laurie gets surgery and Karen and Allyson are told that Michael is still alive. Allyson joins the vigilantes on the hunt for Michael. When finally Laurie finds out, she is certain he will come to the hospital. That brings Tommy to the hospital as well, as the other mental patient who drove away with the car. Certain that he is Michael a full packed hospital turns into chaos and panic and an angry mob adamant to kill him. Evil has spread through the whole town mobilizing them for revenge and justice. 

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Short Review

The film immediately starts where we left off in the 2018 film. Now the focus is more on the town getting mobilized initiated by Tommy and led by him. Unaware that he is creating chaos, turning fear into hate and anger and the lust for blood. While Michael is doing his own thing, roaming around town, invading people’s homes, killing them before finally returning home, everyone is looking in the wrong direction. 

Michael and Laurie: a myth 

It’s interesting that the whole fact that Michael has an obsession with Laurie that was initiated in the second Halloween film in 1981, is now turned into a myth. In the second Halloween film Laurie also went to the hospital for her injuries and Michael followed her there. It’s fun to assume that he will do it “again” because in this universe the 1981 never happened, but instead something else happens. Laurie herself assumes that he is coming for her. 

But as injured officer Frank Hawkins who is also brought in and stays in the same room as Laurie tells her, it was all Sartain. Sartain brought Michael to Laurie’s house. Sartain wanted a confrontation between Michael and Laurie, the killer and the Final Girl. It was never Michael’s intention to come after Laurie. Laurie was never his obsession. It was never about Laurie at all. All those years she has made herself too important because of fear. 

Guilt of the past

It’s a smart move to debunk that whole idea of an obsession between a killer and a final girl. Like Sam Loomis always said Michael is pure evil and he must be destroyed. Laurie always felt guilty for being the one Michael was after and thus bringing danger to Haddonfield. 

The same way Frank feels guilty for letting Michael live. He and his partner were the ones who found Michael in his own old home, after Loomis shot him and he vanished. When his partner was strangled by Michael Frank took a shot and killed his partner accidentally and was so shocked Michael just walked out. Where a whole police force awaited him outside. Just as Loomis wanted to shoot Michael through the head, Frank stopped him. It’s a fun new scene where we also see Loomis. Fun fact is that the actor was a constructor at the set who already looked like him and did even more so after make up and prosthetics.The voice is from a voice actor. A very old school way to bring Loomis back to life. 

Pure evil 

It is established that Michael is pure evil and in a way Tommy is right. He has to die to keep everyone save. But an angry mob out of control only acting out of fear and anger and with no mind of their own is very dangerous. It leads to a devastating death, after which they realize what they have done. Still the hunt isn’t over. Laurie even says that the more Michael kills the less human he becomes and the more impossible it becomes to destroy him. She is proven right when an angry mob gets him on his knees, but only wounds him which makes him even more angry and a killing machine. 

Brutal kills

This sequel has even more kills. They are brutal, gruesome, bloody and violent. It’s not a slasher for the faint of heart and although it’s very fun to see old familiar faces, they do not all last very long. They are not the only shocking deaths. When you thought it is finally over, Michael surfaces again for one more devastating kill. 

And the body count is just huge. It’s 31 to 43 kills depending on which film version you watch and how you count mob versus individual kills. Whereas the body count in the 2018 film was already big, namely 17 or 18 kills. Now he really has the hang of it. His need to kill grows and becomes vital. But in doing so he creates fear and that creates an angry town. The violence spreads like an infection through town. 

Evil as a reflection 

It’s an interesting thought that Frank says that Michael used to stare outside the window of his sister’s bedroom, but that maybe he wasn’t looking out, but looking inside into his own reflection. It explains why we see him so many times as a reflection instead of pointing the camera straight at him. Maybe it’s a reflection of ourselves, the evil that is buried inside all of us. It only needs the right trigger, the right fear or anger to bring it out. Well, that interesting point is discussed in the third film and final part of this story. 

Connecting the past

Of course there are a lot of fun nods and references to the other films. Halloween II (1981) that was set at the hospital is now repeated but totally turned upside down and used in a very smart way to hold the mirror up to ourselves. 

The three annoying kids wear the masks from Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) the witch, the skeleton and the pumpkin. They are later draped over the three victims. 

Of course the return of Tommy, Lonnie, Marion and Lindsey. While Tommy is played by a different actor than little boy Tommy, Lindsey is played by the same actress as is Marion and even Lonnie. 

Michael’s return to his old house. The new flashback to really connect this story to the 1978 original about Frank and Loomis and how they caught Michael back then really returned to the seventies vibe and was a very smart choice to really create a new Halloween universe. This film connects the past with the present in a fun familiar way while it also subverts old concepts and turns it into a new fresh story with adherence to the original. 

Halloween Kills is a brutal slasher that kills off many familiar characters, but it also holds up a mirror. It’s a smart slasher that isn’t just there for the kills but has more to communicate. Pure evil never dies. Or does it? 

Read more reviews about the Halloween franchise:

• Halloween (1978) movie review
• Halloween II (1981) movie review
• Halloween III: Season of the Witch movie review
• Halloween (2018) movie review