The latest entry in the franchise goes in a direction that few would have predicted… and sidelines Laurie Strode.
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Online Editor
Perhaps the most surprising thing about “Halloween Kills” is that Laurie Strode is basically a non-factor. Jamie Lee Curtis essentially does absolutely nothing but spend time in a hospital room for the entire film; mostly isolated from the events going on around the town. She doesn’t even interact with Michael Myers once. It’s certainly a surprising choice, and I’m not sure it was the right one.
The film picks up at the exact moment that 2018’s “Halloween” left off, and adds a plethora of new characters to the mix. Michael escapes Laurie’s burning home after firefighters stupidly try to put the blaze out. They’re just doing their job, but since there is a supernatural serial killer that was purposely trapped in the basement at this particular residence, maybe they should have looked the other way and let it burn.
With Laurie recuperating, the rest of the town is progressively riled up by the “survivors of Michael Myers” to form a vigilante mob and take down “The Shape” once and for all. This is the crux that the movie is built on, and while it’s certainly a sight to see, it’s disappointing to see just how little of a factor that Jamie Lee Curtis is in a movie that she has top billing in.
Of course, the mob’s efforts are all in vain; Michael kills them all anyway and gets away once again. Jamie Lee Curtis once said that Michael Myers legally could not die in the films (the weirdest thing to put in a legal document), and that may still be the case. But seeing Michael just mow down everyone was quite the sight.
He even returns to his childhood home and kills Laurie’s only daughter, Karen (Judy Greer) at the film’s end, which was a bummer to see but is a good setup for the next film “Halloween Ends” which will jump forward four years in time and will hopefully see Curtis return to action in a big way.
Filled with callbacks to the original film and delightful portrayals of both old and new characters (Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle is quite the treat), “Halloween Kills” is a satisfying palate cleanser of a film. But it’s held back by sidelining its main star, and thus feels like filler as a result.
