Halloween Kills- A title taken quite literally
SPOILERS! “Halloween Kills” is the direct sequel to the 2018 movie that is a direct sequel of the original. The previous movie was surprisingly brutal yet faithful to the original 1978 classic. This movie is reminiscent of the 1981 sequel beginning right after the event of the prior movie. The movie is just as violent as the last (more so in other places) and is not a bad addition to the mythos. But, it comes across as more of a bridge between the 2018 movie and next year’s “Halloween Ends”.
Something familiar, yet different
Similar to the 1981 sequel to the original, this movie picks up mere seconds after the end of the last movie. Laurie’s house is in flaming shambles. Michael Myers is trapped in the bunker…or is he? Fire trucks scream to the Strode compound at the behest of the trio of surviving women passing them on the way to the hospital. Rushing in there to be a hero, one of the firemen falls through a hole into the bunker, where Michael Myers was waiting and begins an impressive, and brutal sequence when he takes out every firefighter with everything on fire with the hoses also rating water down. Well done sequence.
One of the strengths of this movie that really is a nice touch is what they did with characters from the 1978 movie. They were able to bring back a few of them to be played by their original actors. Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens, and were brought back to play Lindsay, Marion Chambers, and Leigh Brackett respectively. Also in a nice piece of continuity, some actors who had parts in the 2018 version are back to play the same roles. A nice way for it to be new and still get you invested.
One other major like I had was how they updated the Michael Myers mask. Anything after the second film from 1981were known for their horrible masks. The film in 2018 had a fantastic mask that seemed old and weathered, but still scary. the Michael Myers mask in Halloween Kills actually made it better. It actually showed battle damage after escaping the fire. The severe damage on the left side of the face made him that much more terrifying.
Good and Bad are but opposite sides of the same coin.
Just as there was plenty about this movie I liked, there was some stuff I did not. For instance, Michael nor Laurie were the main characters. One could say that neither Karen nor Allyson was. In my opinion, the main character was Tommy, played by Anthony Michael Hall. Nothing against him, he did well with what was given. A big part of this movie was not only Laurie fighting against Michael after what happened in the prior film, but the residents of Haddonfield were going to rise up. This seemed like a mix of Halloween 2 and 4.
However, they seemed to forget to put Laurie in that equation as she spends the majority of the movie in a hospital bed. But at least she had a roommate. Deputy Hawkins, play by Will Patton, seemingly survived his neck wound from the last movie. They do spend a few scenes together talking about what happened in the past and it was handled well, but it would have been nice to see more of them in the run time.
Another thing that seemed to not come across as well was the mob that became of the town once the movie got started. While Tommy did have good intentions in mind, they quickly outgrew what he could handle and practically shut down the hospital after they all assumed Michael would be there, but caused the death of an innocent man.
So brutal, it even took me aback
One thing I can praise more is the sheer brutality and some of the ingenuity of the kills in this. The first one was able to do this without delving into the grindhouse feel of the two Rob Zombie movies. This one amped up the blood factor and was able to find just this side of the grindhouse. With that said, it seemed as if the body count was padded. Characters were introduced just purely to have them slaughtered and disposed of.
I was pleasantly surprised to see Michael McDonald in this as I am a huge fan of his work in MadTV (I still quote Stuart more than a grown man should). However, when we see that he and his character’s husband/boyfriend/SO(?) was living in the actual Myers House, you knew he was not long for the world. And since the climax of the movie took place as the said house, you would be right.
In fact, this was where one of the deaths surprised me as right at the end of the movie, REDACTED was repeatedly stabbed by Michael, seemingly to death. Now with Deputy Hawkins having survived the last movie, could we see REDACTED come back? Sure. But this movie seemed to be a bridge setting up the inevitable showdown between Laurie and Michael in the next.
Middle of a long road with many paths
Overall, was this a bad movie? Not at all, I rather enjoyed it. Was it as good as the 2018 movie? No, this was lacking in parts. Am I still excited for Halloween Dies next year? Absolutely. Overall, in my personal ranking of the franchise, this falls somewhere in the middle. In fact, I will leave you with my personal ranking of the movies in the franchise. (Note: Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 is not on here as I have not seen it as of this writing)
- Halloween (1978)
- Halloween III: Season of the Witch
- Halloween (2018)
- Halloween H20
- Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
- Halloween Kills
- Rob Zombie’s Halloween
- Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
- Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers
- Halloween:Resurection
Smile 2, a psychological supernatural horror, released in October 2024 just in time for Halloween, sees director Parker Finn (Smile, Laura Hasn’t Slept) return with a sequel starring Naomi Scott (Aladdin) as pop star and recovering addict Skye Riley. While Smile 2 boasts a talented cast, it ultimately falls short of its predecessor, offering a familiar storyline with minor variations and a predictable finale. The film attempts to introduce a new method to combat the parasitic ‘Smile Entity’, but this addition fails to elevate the sequel beyond a pale imitation of its chilling predecessor.
The Plot.
Smile 2 begins shortly after the end of the original; just six days after Rose Cotter’s death. During a short interlude scene, we watch as the now cursed Joel attempts to pass the Smile Entity on by killing one criminal in front of another. The plan backfires spectacularly, inadvertently passing the curse onto an innocent bystander named Lewis Fregoli.
The film then shifts gears, introducing Skye Riley, a singer and performer making a triumphant return to the spotlight with a comeback tour after a tumultuous past. During a candid interview on the Drew Barrymore Show, Skye opens up about her struggles with addiction and the devastating loss of her boyfriend in a car accident. Her sobriety journey, however, faces a severe setback when she seeks pain relief from her old high school friend, the unwitting Lewis Fregoli. In a chilling turn of events, Lewis takes his own life while Skye watches, passing the Smile Entity onto her.
Unaware of her new cursed existence Skye gets on with rehearsing for her tour, but she begins to notice that strange things are happening. People are smiling at her in an unnatural way and she becomes the target of anonymous attacks and aggressions. When text messages begin to arrive from an unknown number, Skye decides to get some answers.
Highlights.
Let’s not beat about the bush. I found Smile 2 difficult to finish and was struggling at about the hour-and-a-half mark to stay awake. That being said it’s worth watching because everyone needs to see the 3-minute scene of the ‘smilers’ chasing Skye through her apartment. This was possibly the creepiest thing I’ve seen on a screen. The buildup, the synchronicity of the movement of the actors and their positioning, the camera work, and the lighting. I have rewatched it several times and it doesn’t get old. If you are only interested in watching this, fast forward to the 123-minute mark and get ready to be impressed.
Drawbacks.
Where do I start?
My primary concern with Smile 2 is its striking resemblance to its predecessor. The narrative follows a familiar pattern: an attractive woman fleeing a supernatural force, grappling with hallucinations, experiencing a mental health decline, and culminating in the revelation someone close to Skye was the Smiling Entity after all. This repetitive structure diminishes the film’s impact.
- Sosie Bacon, Jason T. Usher, Kyle Gallner (Actors)
- Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Last update on 2025-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
While the introduction of a new method for shedding the entity initially offered a glimmer of hope this concept wasn’t fully realized. It just served to add names to the line of people that the entity has infected in the past.
Furthermore, the film’s pacing suffers from excessive focus on Skye’s musical career. Scenes showcasing her stage rehearsals and music videos, while intended to establish her identity as a performer, feel unnecessary and detract from the narrative momentum. Yes, we understand she’s a performer, you told us, you don’t need to prove it. These scenes appear to artificially inflate the film’s runtime, suggesting a lack of confidence in the core story.
The Final Take.
Ultimately, Smile 2 fails to expand upon the established lore of the franchise. The film’s conclusion feels contrived, with a blatant setup for a third installment. Hopefully, if a ‘Smile 3’ is inevitable, the creative team will bring fresh ideas and avoid simply retreading familiar ground.
(2 / 5)
Both Cthulhu’s granted for that one scene.
- Amazon Prime Video (Video on Demand)
- Kyle Gallner, Naomi Scott (Actors)
- Parker Finn (Director) – Parker Finn (Writer) – Parker Finn (Producer)
Last update on 2025-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
We’re back again with Goosebumps The Vanishing, episode two. A story too big for one episode, apparently.
Or, maybe this is just a nod to the fact that Stay Out Of The Basement was a two-part episode in the original 1995 show. Either way, after seeing this episode, we could have kept it to one.
The story
We begin this second episode with Anthony investigating the parasitic plant taking over his body. Rather than, I don’t know, going to the hospital, he’s decided to phone a colleague and send her some samples from the bulb he pulls out of his arm with a handheld garden trowel.
Meanwhile, Devin is having his own worries. He’s haunted by what he saw in the sewers. So, he gets CJ to go with him to investigate. What they find is more of the tendrils of the plant that dragged him down through the manhole last episode.
I sure would have liked to see more about that.
Instead, we see Devin pivot to flirting with a newly single Frankie. Because teenage hormones I guess.
Meanwhile, Trey is having a terrible day. First, his girlfriend leaves him. Then, Anthony breaks his car window.
Needing a way to deal with his frustration, Trey decides to break into the Brewers’ basement. There, he starts wrecking up the place. Until he meets the plant creature and has an unfortunate accident.
What worked
The big difference between this episode and the last is the increased gross-out factor. This episode had some straight-up cringy moments. From the tendrils waiving from Anthony’s arm to the whole goat he brings home to feed his new pet, this episode was skin-crawling gross in the best way possible.
The series is called Goosebumps, after all.
What didn’t work
Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends. This episode, unlike the last, just wasn’t that great.
To start with, there was a lot of unnecessary drama between characters who are not in danger of being eaten by a plant from the inside out.
I especially disliked the focus on the Frankie/Trey/Devin love triangle.
Now, I don’t hate it. This part of the story adds extra emotional depth to the show. We can see why Trey would be especially incensed by his girlfriend falling for the son of the neighbor he’s feuding with. But it would be more enjoyable if it wasn’t so cliche and dramatic.
I hate the way Trey tried to gaslight Frankie. It makes me dislike him when he should be a sympathetic character. I hate how whiny Devin is every time he talks to Frankie. And I hated the impassioned speech Frankie gives after Devin asks her why she was with Trey.
Listen, I understand what we’re going for here. Devin and Cece are not struggling financially. They’re doing alright, and their new friends here in Gravesend are not. We kind of got that without Frankie claiming that her socioeconomic status is why she’s dating a bully and gaslighter. It felt out of place. It felt like pandering. It certainly didn’t feel like something an eighteen-year-old would say. I hated it.
- Howard, Ms. Kate (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 272 Pages – 02/04/2025 (Publication Date) – Scholastic Inc. (Publisher)
Last update on 2025-01-23 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Finally, there was a moment near the end of the episode that irritated me. I don’t want to give too much detail because I wouldn’t dare ruin an R.L. Stine cliffhanger. But, well, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I get that we’re watching a show about a carnivorous plant that is going to wreak havoc on this family and neighborhood. I understand the suspension of disbelief. Some might even say I am a little too generous with it. So I can buy into a teenager being absorbed by a plant and turned into a monstrous version of himself.
I can’t buy into what happens at the end of this episode. It doesn’t make sense with the rules established. It certainly doesn’t make any sort of scientific or logical sense. It is a lazy moment meant to further the storyline but threatens the structural integrity of the season.
All in all, this wasn’t the best episode of Goosebumps. But it’s only the second episode. Honestly, the season has plenty of time to go either way.
(2.5 / 5)
So, this is a convoluted post, not going to lie. Because it’s Thriller Nite. And we have to kick it off with a link to Michael Jackson in homage, because he’s the bomb and Vincent Price is the master… (If the following video doesn’t load properly, you can get there from this link.)
The movie monsters always approach so slowly.
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements
While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream.
It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
Their stiff joints arcing in jerky, erratic movements
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry –
It takes forever for them to catch their victims.
And yet no one ever seems to get away.
As they awkwardly shamble towards their quarry –
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly…
And yet no one ever seems to get away.
Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
Scenes shift, plot thickens, minutes tick by endlessly…
While the camera pans to a wide-eyed scream.
Seriously, how long does it take to make a break for it?
The movie monsters always approach so slowly.
So my father used to enjoy telling the story of Thriller Nite and how he’d scare his little sister, my aunt. One time they were watching the old Universal Studios Monsters version of The Mummy, and he pursued her at a snail’s pace down the hallway in Boris Karloff fashion. Both of them had drastically different versions of this tale, but essentially it was a true Thriller Nite moment. And the inspiration for this poem.
For more fun music video mayhem, check out She Wolf here on Haunted MTL. And feel free to check out more of Jennifer Weigel’s work here on Haunted MTL or here on her website.
David Davis
October 16, 2021 at 1:33 am
I enjoyed it quite a bit, but it most certainly had the feeling of place-setting for the inevitable third film. It was a lot of backstories and contextualizing this new vision of what Michael is, and while I appreciate it, I think it tried to set up too many pieces and ultimately won’t deliver any of them until Halloween Kills.