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After the ominous and rather ambiguous ending to the fifth Halloween movie, now finally we have the sixth, which came a grand six years after its predecessor… Without a doubt, Halloween is certainly the most artisticly-shot of the Halloween movies. There is a great use of shadows – both over faces and in the general surroundings – that lends the picture a very eerie look, and it seems that great attention was paid to the setting as well as the beautiful people who have to stand in it. The houses themselves are very unusual looking, and there are some nice montage effects which ooze style. The entire film has a feel much like the first Halloween.
It was a nice thouch to bring back the Strode family – who we never really knew anything about other than they adopted Laurie Myers at a young age – as well as Tommy Doyle (the kid from the first film). It is a touch which gives the entire franchise a much tighter feel, and gives the impression that the writers/producers do actually know what they’re doing. Marianne Hagen made a great heroine, and it was nice to see that horror movies can actually have leading ladies that are post-twenty. Alongside her, Paul Rudd impressed me with his portrayal of an obssessed and slightly-insane Tommy Doyle who is intent on finding the man that so terrorized him as a child and had killed so many people in his home town. His character was actually surprisingly smart, and the interaction between him and Hagen made for an interesting hour. It was a shame that Danielle Harris couldn’t reprise her role as Jamie Lloyd for one last time, but I guess that the amount she asked for just couldn’t be met by the company.
The introduction of the Thorn theory was one that was disappointing and ridiculous – one of the factors that makes this movie harder to enjoy. If you’re going to have one of the most notorious and genuinely scary film serial killers have an actual driving force, don’t have it linked to some mundane star patterns! Also, the idea that he is being controlled by the Man in Black (I won’t reveal his identity here, but it’s a fitting twist for a franchise that seems almost incapable of creating them) makes him seem far more docile and unthreatening, but a chilling climactic scene within the mental hospital when Michael single-handedly massacres an entire staff of doctors is enough to put the fear of God in anyone daring to defy Mr. Myers. Michael does, however, look far bulkier in this movie, and many times I found myself wondering if the oaf would ever realise that if he just ran a little every once in a while he could get the job done so much quicker.
The musical score is something of an odd comodity. It is unlike anything I have ever come across in film, but I liked its fresh and original take on the ‘Halloween Theme’. Although at times when it is mixed with a squealing electric guitar it tends to sound rather Eighties, it’s a refreshing change to the typical score we have come to know. There are also some nice sound effects used which make a change to the now annoying ‘stinger’ sound.
For a nineties movie, there is excessive gore to be found for once, which is a surprise considering how lacking in gore so many horrors are these days thanks to the MPAA. I am not a huge gore fan, but it was a nice change to actually see blood for once, instead of hearing a stab sound and then seeing a body on the floor.
#OVERALL SUMMARY
Halloween can at times tend towards the ridiculous with some terrible scenes and equally cringe-worthy dialogue, but mixed in with them are some great moments that are genuinely sinister and filled with tension – in particular scenes where Kara Strode is being stalked through her house, and the final moments in the mental institute. Although this is a fresh sequel that can be surprisingly original, the formula (Michael + relative = slaughter everywhere) seems to be getting old, and perhaps they should just leave the franchise where it is…
