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Halloween (2018) |OT| The Night He Came Home. Again.

AllThingsPurple

AllThingsPurple

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Oct 26, 2017
12,541
UK
Saw this at a midnight screening last night after a screening of the otiginal.. I really liked it. Its impossible to recreate the magic of the original but for me its easily the second best halloween movie made.

Michael himself is damn brutal in a way we've never seen before. He is a literal killing machine. But in a way that feels scarily real unlike Jason.

I agree that there are too many characters to really allow any to grow but I think the writing was strong enough that they did a lot with the brief scenes each character had.

The ending wasn't a surprise really, they were never going to out and out end it definitively.
 
sleepnaught

sleepnaught

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
4,538
Hated it. Too predictable. Zero tension until the final scene. Far too many cliche` callbacks to earlier films. And the first hour of the film felt so aimless. Too many quick gore kills and no time to build tension and suspense leading up to any of them. Just went house to house quickly deposing of random nobodies. The scene with the twist was the last straw, just a terrible choice there. Followed by head exploding foot stomp, it was all pretty ridiculous. Not to mention the incredibly weak characters.

Then there's the premise to start with. Instead of the creepy, mysterious Michael Myers possessed by pure evil, we got a bald geriatric who is nothing more than just another lunatic.
 
Solo

Solo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
15,744
Damn, cant read any of the last 100 or so posts. It's too risky. See you guys in 15 hours or so once I can revel in spoiler laden discussion.
 
ShutterMunster

ShutterMunster

Art Manager
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
2,449
Incredible. It was everything I was hoping for. Well shot, well paced, funny when it needed to be, just brutal enough for the modern age, and JLC was so bad ass.

Really proud of what those guys accomplished. I think it's easily the best sequel the series has had. It's a very good film.

EDIT: People hating on that kid are nuts. He was hilarious and horror and comedy are close cousins. His response to the situation is some real life shit. He's the smartest person in the movie.
 
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Metallix87

Metallix87

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Nov 1, 2017
10,533
I legit thought it was the best Halloween film since the original, and possibly surpassed it. Great build up of tension, great soundtrack, great characters with actors delivering rock solid performances. I was stunned by how good it was.
 
Fancy Clown

Fancy Clown

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,407
This would have been way better served by shrinking the teenage cast of characters. It spread itself too thin and spent too much time with uninteresting characters rather than playing up the family drama. The babysitters and the kid she is babysitting are great, they have a relationship you can buy into and are both really likeable, they should have gotten rid of all the other teen characters (maybe even make her into Laurie's granddaughter?) and spent more time with them instead of having it be yet another mini-plot in an already overstuffed movie.

The last twenty minutes are killer though. If they really wanted to make a simple sequel in the vein of the original, they could have made that section like half the movie it not more and I think they could have made it work.

The movie has a great overall aesthetic and some very good shots (zooms in 2018!!) but I would have preferred it not to be quite so reliant on tight shots with longer lenses. One thing H20 (and the original) did better than this is its sense of geography, with lots of wide angles steadicam work to give a sense of the location which then helps the suspense.
 
More_Badass

More_Badass

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,622
WizardofPeace said:
Jesus, there is almost a complete split. Idk what to think tbh. Can't wait to see it tonight.
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'Tis the nature of horror. It and comedy are the most subjective genres of all. Remember there are people who question if The Witch is a horror movie and there are people who think the The Conjuring movies are some of the best horror movies of the decade
 
Solo

Solo

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
15,744
Someone took actual 1979 audio of audiences watching the original and synced it up with the DVD:



That's awesome. What an experience that would have been.
 
Sweeney Swift

Sweeney Swift

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WizardofPeace said:
Jesus, there is almost a complete split. Idk what to think tbh. Can't wait to see it tonight.
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To this day there's stunningly a debate on if Get Out and The Witch are even horror films, because despite everyone acknowledging they're great, a lot of people think that in and of itself disqualifies it from being horror

For better and for worse the genre inspires controversy, especially when it comes to quality
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

Member
Oct 31, 2017
9,622
I don't really understand the people that are really down on this. This movie is by no means perfect, but I think it's definitely, definitely better than both 1980's Halloween II and 1998's H20. I think this movie basically looks at the original film, looks at those two films, then looks at Terminator 2: Judgement Day and this is the result. The simple presence and framing of Michael is visually stark and scary again, and his mannerisms and actions are even more scary in this versus the original. In this film, it's almost like he was in stasis for 40 years, frozen in time as if he were paused. Now suddenly he's back in motion, and the motion is continuous and unrelenting.

Yeah, some fat probably could have been trimmed from this in some areas to make it better, but I thought it was pretty taut overall and moved at a solid, brisk pace. It's a very good looking movie visually, which also really helps and makes it stand out compared to its sequel peers.

Some of the things that I found most interesting about this were the kind of allusions/symbolism of different things in this movie, especially in regards to modern living.

1.) Narcissists (the podcast "reporters") are the trigger for all of the events that occur.
2.) Michael, much like in the original, can be seen as a representation of predatory men, especially white men. This is further seen in the H.S. boys.
3.) Allison's dad (and Karen to an extent) being a do-less, self-absorbed deluded person living in a bubble of pleasure while atrocities of evil are happening around (and soon to) him.

EDIT - 4) Trauma begets trauma. Laurie becomes a symbolical reflection of Michael.

I'm sure there's more, but I need to rewatch it!

I happened to love the comedy too by the way. The original Halloween is also funny, and I think comedy in horror is important. The movie had the audience laughing one minute then recoiling the next, it was great I think.
 
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ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

Member
Oct 25, 2017
59,509
ShutterMunster said:
Incredible. It was everything I was hoping for. Well shot, well paced, funny when it needed to be, just brutal enough for the modern age, and JLC was so bad ass.

Really proud of what those guys accomplished. I think it's easily the best sequel the series has had. It's a very good film.

EDIT: People hating on that kid are nuts. He was hilarious and horror and comedy are close cousins. His response to the situation is some real life shit. He's the smartest person in the movie.
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I don't remember any comedy in the original halloween. You know what halloween did have comedy like that? Resurrection.

DeliciousSunnyD! said:
I don't really understand the people that are really down on this. This movie is by no means perfect, but I think it's definitely, definitely better than both 1980's Halloween II and 1998's H20. I think this movie basically looks at the original film, looks at those two films, then looks at Terminator 2: Judgement Day and this is the result. The simple presence and framing of Michael is visually stark and scary again, and his mannerisms and actions are even more scary in this versus the original. In this film, it's almost like he was in stasis for 40 years, frozen in time as if he were paused. Now suddenly he's back in motion, and the motion is continuous and unrelenting.

Yeah, some fat probably could have been trimmed from this in some areas to make it better, but I thought it was pretty taut overall and moved at a solid, brisk pace. It's a very good looking movie visually, which also really helps and makes it stand out compared to its sequel peers.

Some of the things that I found most interesting about this were the kind of allusions/symbolism of different things in this movie, especially in regards to modern living.

1.) Narcissists (the podcast "reporters") are the trigger for all of the events that occur.
2.) Michael, much like in the original, can be seen as a representation of predatory men, especially white men. This is further seen in the H.S. boys.
3.) Allison's dad (and Karen to an extent) being a do-less, self-absorbed deluded person living in a bubble of pleasure while atrocities of evil are happening around (and soon to) him.

I'm sure there's more, but I need to rewatch it!

I happened to love the comedy too by the way. The original Halloween is also funny, and I think comedy in horror is important. The movie had the audience laughing one minute then recoiling the next, it was great I think.
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When is the original funny at all? Is this revisionist? I don't remember people cracking up the entire scene when Michael was killing bob and what's her name. That was a tense ass scene.
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Oct 31, 2017
9,622
yuoke said:
I don't remember any comedy in the original halloween. You know what halloween did have comedy like that? Resurrection.


When is the original funny at all? Is this revisionist? I don't remember people cracking up the entire scene when Michael was killing bob and what's her name. That was a tense ass scene.
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You should rewatch the original, all of the Haddonfield characters are pretty funny, even if its subtle today. I mean, Laurie and Annie go driving around getting stoned while Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays on the radio, that's pretty funny. The kids are pretty funny. There's definitely humor in the original.

Dr. Loomis is both starkly serious as well as darkly humorous. He gets scared by the Sheriff, that's also pretty funny. There's plenty of funny moments in the original movie, but they aren't the same kind of comedy as today, of course. I thought this movie did a good job of capturing the "relatable, realistic humor" of the original.
 
Chaotic-Strike

Chaotic-Strike

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,089
yuoke said:
I don't remember any comedy in the original halloween. You know what halloween did have comedy like that? Resurrection.


When is the original funny at all? Is this revisionist? I don't remember people cracking up the entire scene when Michael was killing bob and what's her name. That was a tense ass scene.
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Laurie's friends in the original are literally walking attempts at comedy relief. It should have been a tip off when "totally" becomes one of their catch phrases.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

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Oct 25, 2017
59,509
DeliciousSunnyD! said:
You should rewatch the original, all of the Haddonfield characters are pretty funny, even if its subtle today. I mean, Laurie and Annie go driving around getting stoned while Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear the Reaper" plays on the radio, that's pretty funny. The kids are pretty funny. There's definitely humor in the original.
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I've watched the original like close to 10 times. Laurie and annie going around listening to music isn't the same as snl type of humor where it's funny because a kid is swearing. Like people where literally cracking up that entire scene, including when she trips and falls. It was like a parody. No one laughed during any kill scenes in the original. Plus those cops talking about sandwiches reminded me of halloween 5 and the clown cops.
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Oct 31, 2017
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yuoke said:
I've watched the original like close to 10 times. Laurie and annie going around listening to music isn't the same as snl type of humor where it's funny because a kid is swearing. Like people where literally cracking up that entire scene, including when she trips and falls. It was like a parody. No one laughed during any kill scenes in the original. Plus those cops talking about sandwiches reminded me of halloween 5 and the clown cops.
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I thought the interpersonal levity was very similar to the original. Comedy presented in a natural, human contextual situation. The comedy of the original kind of lines up with the cultural atmosphere of that period, the same as this movie does. I thought the comedy was earnest and genuine in this movie, and that it felt relatable, like real people unaware that they are in really fucked up circumstances. I also think that is a larger theme of the movie overall.

One of the only characters that is straightly NOT funny is Laurie, and that's because she's not delusional and understands the gravity of the situation.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

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Oct 25, 2017
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DeliciousSunnyD! said:
I thought the interpersonal levity was very similar to the original. Comedy presented in a natural, human contextual situation. The comedy of the original kind of lines up with the cultural atmosphere of that period, the same as this movie does. I thought the comedy was earnest and genuine in this movie, and that it felt relatable, like real people unaware that they are in really fucked up circumstances. I also think that is a larger theme of the movie overall.
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Resurrection had the same type of comedy, yet is criticized and made fun of for it.
 
Sweeney Swift

Sweeney Swift

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yuoke said:
I don't remember any comedy in the original halloween. You know what halloween did have comedy like that? Resurrection.


When is the original funny at all? Is this revisionist? I don't remember people cracking up the entire scene when Michael was killing bob and what's her name. That was a tense ass scene.
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Laurie's friends were essentially comedic relief. Loomis also has some moments. The comedy certainly wasn't anywhere near as vast as it was here, but it wasn't nonexistent entirely either
 
scitek

scitek

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Oct 27, 2017
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yuoke said:
I don't remember any comedy in the original halloween.
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michael-myers-sheet.jpg


I always found him putting the glasses on over the sheet hilarious.
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Oct 31, 2017
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yuoke said:
Resurrection had the same type of comedy, yet is criticized and made fun of for it.
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I honestly haven't seen Resurrection in years, so I can't comment on that too much. But I don't think it's so much the comedy, but rather, the diffusion of threat from Michael. In this movie, there's comedy, but never in regard to Michael's physical presence/action taking.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

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Oct 25, 2017
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Sweeney Swift said:
Laurie's friends were essentially comedic relief. Loomis also has some moments. The comedy certainly wasn't anywhere near as vast as it was here, but it wasn't nonexistent entirely either
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Not during any of the kill scenes though. Like people were straight up laughing their ass off that whole scene and that was so offputting to me in a scene about someone murdering people.
 
scitek

scitek

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ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

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DeliciousSunnyD! said:
Yes and that's funny because it's so obviously not Bob to the viewer, but to her she's totally clueless. Then, she's even killed in a manner that's received as a joke by Laurie.
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Idk, I found it more tense since it was just waiting for him to kill her. Yea laurie thinks it's then pranking her, but that also makes it creepier in a way to me since she is unknowingly listening to her best friend being killed.

In this scene in the new one, there was comedy in this whole scene with back and forth, the kid swearing and making jokes, the other one with the motorcycle, and then she trips and falls.
 
Fancy Clown

Fancy Clown

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Oct 25, 2017
5,407
scitek said:
Well no shit lol

I just always thought it showed Michael had a really fucked up sense of humor/playfulness about him since he could've just waited for Lynda to inevitably get up to check on Bob, but decided to mess with her instead.
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Well damn dude, you made it seem like you were confused why the glasses were there at all lol.

But yeah for sure, it absolutely shows Michael's particular brand of Halloween tricks.
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Oct 31, 2017
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yuoke said:
Idk, I found it more tense since it was just waiting for him to kill her. Yea laurie thinks it's then pranking her, but that also makes it creepier in a way to me since she is unknowingly listening to her best friend being killed.

In this scene in the new one, there was comedy in this whole scene with back and forth, the kid swearing and making jokes, the other one with the motorcycle, and then she trips and falls.
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Yeah, that sequence was the most humor in the whole movie, but I actually thought it worked out okay. It was good to laugh, because personally, I thought the movie was good and visceral otherwise.
 
ClickyCal'

ClickyCal'

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Oct 25, 2017
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DeliciousSunnyD! said:
Yeah, that sequence was the most humor in the whole movie, but I actually thought it worked out okay. It was good to laugh, because personally, I thought the movie was good and visceral otherwise.
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Well, agree to disagree. The comedy was just offputting to me. Just my opinion though, which I already know I'll be in the minority on.
 
Chaotic-Strike

Chaotic-Strike

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yuoke said:
Not during any of the kill scenes though. Like people were straight up laughing their ass off that whole scene and that was so offputting to me in a scene about someone murdering people.
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The ghost sheet scene literally starts with Linda cracking a joke at Michael. "Can I get your ghost, Bob". Not to mention to the see anything you like scene. The whole film has one liners and the most 70's zingers ever. "Shit", "I have a place for that". When Michael isn't on screen the characters are goofing off and cracking jokes at each other because they're supposed to be teenagers.
 
Bestlaidplans

Bestlaidplans

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Oct 28, 2017
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Love horror films and I have never seen any Halloween films before.

Really enjoyed this one. It felt like a classic horror like Nightmare on Elm Street. I generally find that older 80s horrors are a bit better with the music side of things whereas modern films barely use music at all. This used music perfectly. Thought it was cliché to the max with slasher teen feelings but felt like a modern spin on 1980s horrors.
It was tense and creepy and maaaaan does Michael Myers give me the creeps. I hate masks.

One thing I didn't understand though, what made it an 18? Part of me is glad so we didnt get stupid teenage kids in the screening. But nothing in this felt over the top in terms of making me squirm like a Saw movie does but the
part where he stepped on the doctor's head was the only part that felt graphic, but so much so it was completely over the top and felt more taratino esque than anything else

Enjoyed it though. Don't see why people don't like it!
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Oct 31, 2017
9,622
yuoke said:
Well, agree to disagree. The comedy was just offputting to me. Just my opinion though, which I already know I'll be in the minority on.
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I can understand. I felt that way about The Last Jedi's comedy, and I can see how someone might think that about this movie. For me, it worked though! As was previously mentioned, both horror and comedy are highly subjective things that everyone has their own preference and what works best for them.
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Oct 31, 2017
9,622
Yeah the ghost scene in the original is funny because he's conning his next victim and takes the time to do the sheet and grab the glasses, but just his whole presence, atmosphere, and personality signals that he's not Bob, even through his disguise. That's what makes it funny. He does the effort to misdirect, which actually works, but it's impossible for him to really "be someone else".
 
DeliciousSunnyD!

DeliciousSunnyD!

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Chaotic-Strike said:
I remember reading this article a while back when the 35th Halloween Blu-ray hit, where they had a lot of college kids watch the first Halloween for the first time. Tell me if it doesn't sound familiar. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment...een-still-scary-35-years-later-172850535.html
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^Something I noticed when I rewatched the original last week that some of the people in that article mention about the "stupidity" of Annie and Laurie. Well, they are both stoned, and being paranoid and 'out of it' is definitely part of the movie and an explanation for why they are the way they are that evening.
 
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