(Content Warning: This film is rated R, and as such contains violence, blood, gore, and adult language, as well as many more mature themes. If you are sensitive about any of this stuff, I would highly advise against watching this film yourself. You can still read the review, but this is just a heads up.)

 Well, hello there person who may have randomly stumbled upon this section of the newspaper, whoever you may be. I hope you’re doing well! Myles here today to start a brand-new series in the Lincoln newspaper that will focus on discussing any movie that piques interest, old or new! No spoilers so don’t worry about that! At the end, I will rate the movie in question on a scale of 1 to 5 lynxes. One last thing, this is purely my opinion, feel free to disagree on your own account. If you have any movies you want reviews of, contact me at [email protected]. 

But no more stalling, let’s start this review!

HALLOWEEN ENDS

 Ah, October has arrived! The spookiest time of the year. Ghouls are arising once again, monsters of all kinds are coming out of hiding, and another installment in one of the most famous horror movie franchises of all time is released. I’m of course talking about the Halloween franchise, featuring one the most iconic final girls in horror movie history, Laurie Strode, being played once again by the fantastic Jamie Lee Curtis. Everyone’s favorite masked murderer Michael Myers, also known as The Shape, is also starring in this film. This movie presents itself as the finale to the latest trilogy of the franchise, which started with its first movie “Halloween” (2018) and continued a couple years later with its second installment “Halloween Kills” (2021). But this is Hollywood! As we all know by now, a couple of years from now they’ll just do another reboot of the franchise, because they refuse to let go of old franchises and remake them until the money stops coming in. But hey, we’re not here to comment on the state of Hollywood for the last couple of years, we’re here to talk about this movie, so let’s start, shall we?

What’s this movie about?

This movie takes place a couple of years after the events of the previous film, “Halloween Kills”, in which the town of Haddonfield, Illinois was once again the victim of Michael Myers, who made a brutal and murderous return to the scene in the year 2018, claiming many lives in the process. Eventually, after Laurie and the town tried and failed to end him, he seemingly vanished from the place completely. However, his presence never actually left. Some people of the town still dread his eventual return, with many unable to take it anymore, resulting in many tragic reports of suicides not caused directly by Michael yet still because of his actions.

 Laurie, having sadly lost her daughter to Michael during his reign of terror and now watching over her granddaughter Allyson, finally decides to free herself from fear and rage towards Michael and a normal life. However, she runs into a young man named Corey Cunningham, who had been accused of manslaughter when babysitting a young boy named Jeremy. While the whole town had since then treated Corey with nothing but animosity, Laurie sees a human being who feels remorse for his actions and introduces him to Allyson to try and help him. 

However, nothing can stay peaceful forever. When a sudden wave of terror arises in the community of Haddonfield, Laurie is once again forced to confront her biggest fear one last time, The Shape himself. 

What are some of the major characters?

Laurie Strode: A survivor of the original “Halloween” in 1978. Unfortunately, 40 years later, Michael broke out during a prison transfer from Smith’s Grove Psychiatric Hospital and returned to Haddonfield to claim more lives. One of those victims is Laurie’s daughter, leaving Laurie to care for her granddaughter Allyson.

Allyson Nelson: Laurie’s granddaughter, having lived a normal life with her own parents until Michael returned to Haddonfield to sustain his murderous thirst for blood, where she lost many of her friends and both of her parents to the masked menace. Now, Allyson wants to move on from the past and is introduced to Corey Cunningham, whom she sees as misjudged and spends time getting to know better, despite what Laurie or the town may think of him.

Michael Myers/ The Shape: 40 years later after his murderous rampage in Haddonfield, Michael escaped and returned to try and get revenge on Laurie for stopping him all those years ago. This results in a long, horrifying night of murder and terror for Haddonfield, especially for Laurie’s family and Laurie herself. Sadly, only Laurie and Allyson were the surviving members of the family.

 After that night, Michael seemingly dissapeared, rebuilding his strength, waiting to return and finish off the Strode family once and for all. And this time, he’s bound to make sure no one gets in his way.

Overall Review

In my opinion, while this movie has a promising premise, it ultimately falls flat on being a favorable conclusion to this Halloween trilogy. The previous films had a good setup, and while they were a bit clunky, they’re still enticing throughout, but this movie? As much as I hate to say it, it doesn’t really have much going for it to keep you engaged and on your feet. 

The first half of the movie sometimes feels dragged on or unnecessary. Another thing that bothers me is that the main characters feel dumbed down a bit compared to their appearances in the previous films, which can really pull away from the tone of certain scenes in the movie. Not to mention the writing can either feel unrealistic or cheesy, which doesn’t always blend well with the horror genre. Not to say the movie doesn’t have its serious moments, because it does for sure. 

The problem is whatever comes before or after a serious scene can affect how the viewer feels about what they just witnessed happen or what they’re about to witness. But I won’t just focus on the bad stuff, because it’s not all bad. One thing I enjoyed about the movie is the violent, slasher moments that occur at a frequent pace.

Be advised, these parts of the movie do not hold back. The details of the kills are varied throughout the film, through and through. At times, I was shocked at what would happen on-screen out of nowhere. 

Another thing I can give this movie props for is its emotional moments. Sometimes, you can see exactly what the characters are feeling just by looking at their faces, which I think is great attention to detail. One last thing I do like about the movie is the soundtrack, which was worked on by Daniel Davies, John Carpenter and his son, Cody Carpenter. John Carpenter himself composed the soundtrack for the original “Halloween” and, returned for the previous two films. The updated take on his original composition with the help of Daniel and Cody has been proven to be a success. If you haven’t given a listen to his work already, I highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, I still think that the film’s negative aspects far outweigh the good parts. In the end, I was still able to enjoy it, but it hurts knowing this film could’ve been better. This is just my opinion, of course, so I highly recommend watching it yourself to form your own opinion! I’d rate this movie two out of five lynxes.