If you’ve seen the original eight movies telling the story of Laurie and Michael’s ongoing battle, then you need to forget everything that happened in the last seven, as this new Halloween film creates a whole new timeline where Laurie is still alive.
Set 40 years on from the 1970’s original, Michael Myres has been captured and locked up in an institution. With the planned facility transfer, Michael without a surprise escapes, heading down towards his old hometown Haddonfield to look for Laurie Strode played by the ultimate scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis (only second to her mother, Janet Leigh who was in classic 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film, Psycho).
Laurie who has remained emotionally scarred from her near death encounter with Michael many years ago, has prepared her house into a battleground for the day that Michael gets out. Once news breaks that Michael is on the loose, Laurie reaches out to her daughter Karen played Judy Greer, advising her to protect herself and her grand daughter Allyson played by Andi Matichak. Karen treats her mum as an overly paranoid nutter and brushes the apparent encounter off until Michael begins his killing spree and police advise Karen to go with her mother. As much as Laurie has waited and prepared for this day, Laurie must also protect her family, tackle her fears head on and bring Michael down once and for all.
Being a fan of the Halloween universe, I was a little unsure at first with having to erase my memory of the seven previous films (apart from the original film). However, they made it work and paid plenty of respect to the original with many little familiar scenes. The only change I felt they added from the original was the humour. While I found myself having a laugh, I believe it still would’ve been good without.
Curtis without a doubt is phenomenal as Laurie Strode and delivered a solid performance pleasing old and new fans of the franchise. It’s so impressive that at the age of 59, Jamie-Lee Curtis has still got it and remains a fan favourite. We’ve seen so many classic serial killer movies get remade, but they never seem to be as good as they used to be. Bringing back an original cast member like Curtis helps makes that connection between her character Laurie and villain Michael so much more intriguing to watch. It’s no surprise that the film is doing so well internationally because of her return to the genre and franchise.
John Carpenter who directed the original Halloween, put his creepy touch into the score alongside his son Cody and godson Daniel Davies. They create a remastered version of the theme song along with many chilling tunes creating a tense and frightening experience.
If you’re a fan of the Halloween series, you’ll love this movie. I also went with a friend who despite not seeing any of the previous films in the franchise, still found themselves easily following and enjoying the film. The evolution of Jamie-Lee Curtis’ character across the franchise has been brilliant to watch. The close encounters Laurie has with Michael throughout the film are some of the most nail biting scenes that had me on the edge of my seat. Even though I was jumping scared at times, I spent the duration of Halloween cheering her on.