DVD: Halloween
Runtime: 135 minutes
Age restriction: 18DHLV
Special Features: Deleted/extended scenes; Back in Haddonfield: Making Halloween; The original Scream Queen; The sound of fear; Journey of the mask; The legacy of Halloween.
Review made possible by: Empire Entertainment
“I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up, because I realised that what was living behind that boy’s eyes was purely and simply… evil.”
Diehard fans all remember Dr Sam Loomis’ (Donald Pleasence) chilling line from John Carpenter’s iconic 1978 horror/slasher film, Halloween. In the realm of cinema horror, it probably ranks high up on the list of memorable quotes, along with “It’s alive” (Frankenstein – 1931), “They’re coming to get you, Barbara” (Night of the Living Dead – 1968) and “He has his father’s eyes” (Rosemary’s Baby – 1968).
Well, horror aficionados, it’s time to bolt the doors, set the alarm, check the closet (twice), look under the bed and, whatever you do, don’t say, “There’s nobody there.” The bogeyman, aka The Shape, aka Michael Myers, is back! And he is taking no prisoners as he embarks on a fresh killing spree in the slasher film Halloween.
On Halloween night, October 31, 1978, Michael Myers terrorised the residents of Haddonfield when he butchered several high school students and attempted to kill Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). However, he was shot by his psychiatrist, Dr Loomis, and fell over a balcony onto the ground below. And that was where the original film left off – with Dr Loomis looking over the edge of the balcony and discovering that Michael was gone (cue the Halloween theme song here).
In Halloween (2018), which is a direct sequel to the original film, it is 40 years later and Michael is safely locked up in Warren County Smith’s Grove Sanitarium. As for Laurie (with Curtis reprising her role as the brave heroine), she still lives in Haddonfield, in a heavily fortified house. She is twice divorced, estranged from her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak), and has spent the last four decades building up an arsenal of weapons and preparing herself for the worst.
Still haunted by the past, Laurie’s worst fears come true when Michael escapes and embarks on another killing spree.
As the body count begins to rise in spectacularly gruesome fashion, Laurie retreats to her fortress and waits for Michael to come after her, again. Only this time she is ready to confront the bogeyman.
Directed by David Gordon Green, Halloween also stars Will Patton, Jefferson Hall and Haluk Bilginer (as Dr Ranbir Sartain, Michael’s psychiatrist).
Halloween is the 11th instalment in the Halloween franchise and even though it lacks the scare factor of the original film, it is indeed a worthy sequel.
Forget about demon possessions, hauntings and other supernatural thrillers – Halloween is a straightforward slasher film. Michael Myers is as brutal as ever and has proven once again why he, like Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street), Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) and Chucky (Child’s Play) will always be a classic horror icon.
Halloween is now available on DVD.
