Halloween - "Re-calibrated"

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Leisher
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Halloween -

Post by Leisher »

Why they dumped the brother-sister dynamic.

Interesting. I don't love the move as someone who loves being true to the source material, but it makes perfect sense.
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Leisher
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Halloween -

Post by Leisher »

Dude snuck a camcorder into the theater in 1979.


I don't love the move as someone who loves being true to the source material, but it makes perfect sense.
Apparently, the brother-sister dynamic came about in the sequel, and wasn't a part of the original Halloween. Shit you think you know, but you don't...
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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Halloween -

Post by Leisher »

Saw it. I'll post a full review later when I'm not crazy busy.

In the meantime, here's the short version:
As a horror film, it's fine.
As an attempt to recapture the magic of the original, it fails.

First half was decent. Second half was a clown show.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
Leisher
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Halloween -

Post by Leisher »

Michael Meyers (Both, the original, Nick Castle and James Jude Courtney, who I assume does all the heavy lifting.) has been locked up for 40 years, not saying a word. A couple of podcasters (Jefferson Hall and Rhian Rees) come to visit him to try and get some answers. Meanwhile, the prison/asylum plans to transfer Michael to another facility. The day they choose to do that? October 30th.

Over in Haddonfield, Laurie Stode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has gone a bit mental prepping for Michael's return. She has alienated her daughter (Judy Greer), yet maintains a relationship with her granddaughter (Andi Matichak). The town's sheriff (Will Patton) doesn't question the danger this time, like the sheriff in the original. Dr. Sartain (Haluk Bilginer) is his traveling companion during the night, ala the original sheriff and Dr. Loomis.

Special shout out to Virginia Gardner (who I might have a crush on) and Jibrail Nantambu as the babysitter and kid respectively. Their back and forth is cute and helped the audience develop actual feelings for them.

The filmmakers, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride (yes, him), set out to make a film that was faithful to the tone of the original. In ways I believe they succeeded, but overall, they failed. Not that the movie sucks. Had this been an original film with a new killer, I would have loved it despite the flaws in the story. However, as a Halloween film with Michael Meyers, it doesn't fully work.

The original Halloween succeeded without blood, creative kills, and a high body count. Why? Well, because it was the first of its kind, because of an urban legend/parenting tactic, and because of the psychology behind it.

Nobody had ever made a movie like Halloween before. Sure, there were horror films, but they didn't take place in the suburbs and the victims weren't random. Plus, the killers weren't wearing horrifying masks and existing in the shadows.

"The Bogeyman" was something parents told their children about to get them to behave. Lots of those kids were adults in the theaters when Jamie Lee asked Dr. Loomis if that was "The Bogeyman". It resonated with them in ways they didn't even understand.

The podcast "Halloween Unmasked" has some shrinks on discussing the psychology behind Halloween, and how the factors above, combined with how the movie was shot, and the ways Michael acted, were such perfect keys into the imaginations of audiences.

I, personally, LOVE this sort of thing. I love thinking about how horror movies affect us, and why movies like the original Halloween are so effective, while others aren't. So I could sit down with Danny Gordon Green and Danny McBride, who also love this stuff, and talk about it all day. It's also why I refuse to bash them for the movie. They tried, and they didn't try for cash, they tried out of love and respect. They were doing their best to stay true to the source material. I can't be mad at them for trying with the correct intent. (Learn something from this Rian Johnson...)

They got a lot right:
-There is a tracking shot of Meyers that was fantastic and fun. It's a nod to the opening scene of the original, and it evoked reactions from the audience.
-Watch the background. Like the original film, Meyers is back there doing shit and it's not acknowledged unless you see it yourself.
-Michael traversing the town in the shadows is another nod to the original film.
-Bringing Carpenter on to approve their work (more on that in a bit), and do the score was perfect.
-The tone of the first half of the film is great. It felt like a Halloween film. I legit had a physical feeling within my chest as the film started out. It wasn't anxiety like I would get watching The Shield, but more of an enjoyable feeling.
-I cannot say enough about the teeth. That shit was so creepy.
-Judy Greer had a great moment that was perfectly set up.
-Eliminating the brother-sister dynamic makes so much sense in making Michael a wild card who could strike at any time. Think about it. To be killed by Jason you need to be a Camp Crystal Lake. To be killed by Freddy, you need to be a teenager, on Elm Street, and asleep. But Michael kills outside of Haddonfield. And Haddonfield itself is a symbolic "Anywhere, U.S." Michael could be anywhere. He could be behind you as you read this... You feel that? You won't look because you're a grown up who can separate fact from fiction, but there's a small part of you that allows such a possibility to enter your brain.
-Some killing happens off screen. That's good. Let the audience use their imaginations.
-The trailer was proof that they understood Halloween to its core.

But in execution, it failed:
-The aged mask makes sense and has a cool look, but in the film it didn't play as well as the old, pristine mask. It didn't work for the lighting tricks, and somehow was less terrifying.
-Andi Matichak was great, and is adorable, but why was she in the movie? Her character was pretty pointless except to be a link between characters. However, that made the subplots around her all the more boring and pointless.
-There's a scene of Andi running late in the film that was so poorly thought out that it completely ripped me out of any immersion I had in the movie.
-The phrase "Get Woke Go Broke" entered my head at one point, and that's not good. It probably isn't fair, but it happened.
-The pacing is off. One of the biggest parts of Michael's movements and kills is that he's methodical. There are moments here where he's practically frantic. I didn't necessarily hate parts of it, but it really felt off. I think they spent too much time boosting the body count, and not establishing the proper tone.
-The ending was less horror, and more thriller. That can be fine, but when my wife is pointing out the flaws, you've got problems. That's not a shot at her, but rather exposing that she typically doesn't mind the details of a film. So when she's focusing on them, you're not properly getting your audience's attention where you want it.
-The absolute biggest sin in the movie is a twist that occurs probably at the start of the home stretch of the film. I cannot find the words to express the stupidity of it. The character involved tries to explain it, and the more they talk, the dumber the twist sounds. I mean, it is really, really, exceptionally bad.

There's more in both columns, but I don't want to continue on and potentially leak a spoiler.

Overall, Halloween (2018) is a love letter to John Carpenter and the original Halloween. It's just not well written.

Very entertaining, but ultimately very flawed. The longer the film goes on, the more it moves from being an homage to the original to being more like Halloween 4 and 5.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
Leisher
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Halloween -

Post by Leisher »

Sequel on the way.

They should let "this" Michael and Laurie be done with their stories.

Reboot the franchise. Go back to someone younger.

60 year old Michael Meyers doesn't work like undead Jason and living nightmare Freddie.
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
Leisher
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Halloween -

Post by Leisher »

It's apparently a trilogy now...
“Every record been destroyed or falsified, books rewritten, pictures repainted, statues, street building renamed, every date altered. The process is continuing day by day. History stops. Nothing exists except endless present in which the Party is right.”
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