In 2018, 40 years after the release of John Carpenter’s groundbreaking original slasher, David Gordon Green helmed a reboot of the Halloween franchise that retconned all the previous sequels and saw an older Laurie Strode preparing for the return of Michael Myers. After being disappointed by Rob Zombie’s remake, Halloween fans got excited when Carpenter himself gave the reboot his blessing.
Although 2018’s Halloween was a lot better than Zombie’s movies and many of the previous sequels, it still didn’t come close to scraping the greatness of the original 1978 masterpiece and fell into a lot of the trappings of modern slasher.
Right: Jamie Lee Curtis’ Fierce Performance
While the writing of Laurie Strode in 2018’s Halloween let down the character, it’s redeemed by Jamie Lee Curtis’ suitably badass performance. Returning to the role that made her a star, Curtis brings a newfound edge to Laurie based on four decades of trauma.
The idea of a final girl preparing her family for the return of the killer she escaped is a novel premise for a slasher. The script doesn’t realize the full potential of this premise, but Curtis’ performance plays on all the associated emotions.
Wrong: Laurie’s Inane Plan
In the original movie, Laurie Strode was smart as a whip and extremely resourceful. In the time it took Michael to find her in the closet, she figured out a way to save herself. In the 2018 reboot, in the 40 years since that fateful night, the best plan she could come up with makes no sense at all.
All she did was implement a security system that doesn’t work and fill the house with mannequins. Her plan of action involves nothing more than turning out the lights, wandering around the house with a long-range weapon, and going in and out of a basement hideout that’s really a trap.
Right: Fan Service
For the most part, 2018’s Halloween is an exercise in fan service, going out of its way to make amends with fans who were bitterly disappointed by the endless slew of terrible sequels to John Carpenter’s masterpiece.
Much like Kevin Feige being a real-life Marvel fan, this grew out of the filmmakers themselves — particularly director David Gordon Green and his co-writer Danny McBride — being diehard fans who wanted to do right by the original.
Wrong: On-The-Nose Meta Moments
There’s a meta layer in the Halloween reboot, which would be fun if the self-awareness wasn’t so dreadfully on-the-nose. During a discussion of the events of the 1978 original, a character says, “There’s a lot worse stuff that’s happening today...a couple people getting killed by one guy with a knife is not that big of a deal...I’m just saying, like, by today’s standards...”
The revelation in one of the retconned Halloween sequels that Michael is Laurie’s brother is shrugged off as an old Haddonfield wives’ tale. The meta moments are distractingly obvious.
Right: John Carpenter’s Score
When it came to the music for his Halloween reboot, David Gordon Green didn’t simply hire a composer to copy the eerie work of John Carpenter, the director of the 1978 original movie who also composed its score (and the scores of its first two sequels).
He got Carpenter himself to work on the score. Carpenter worked closely with Green to write a score that maintained the feel of the original’s music, but updated it to suit the new story.
Wrong: Killing Off Victims We Don’t Know
Most of Michael’s killings in Halloween involve characters we barely know as one-note caricatures or characters we don’t even know at all. If Michael just shows up in some random person’s kitchen and grabs a knife, the audience has no reason to care what happens.
In the original movie, Michael made his way through Laurie’s friends before coming after Laurie herself. They’d all been developed as real characters in the first act before being murdered in the second.
Right: Creative Kills
While the audience has no reason to care about most of Michael’s victims in Halloween, the way he kills them is often very creative. If someone is killed off-screen and the audience only hears it, they’re left to fill in the blanks.
The scene with the motion-sensing lights is also a stroke of genius, as the shroud of darkness hangs over Michael’s drunken victim, obscuring the killer’s advance.
Wrong: The Fake-Out Twist
Midway through Halloween, it seems that Michael has been killed and his therapist Dr. Sartain is about to don his mask and assume the faceless evil of “The Shape.” This would’ve been a totally unexpected plot twist that finally kicked the movie into gear.
However, seconds later, it’s revealed to be a fake-out as Dr. Sartain is killed by the real Michael, who then continues his killing spree. At every turn, the 2018 Halloween movie plays it safe.
Right: Making Allyson Smart
Although the driving force behind 2018’s Halloween is the confrontation between Laurie and Michael, most of the movie focuses on Laurie’s granddaughter, Allyson, who is essentially characterized as the new Laurie.
The reboot’s script could’ve easily made Allyson yet another scream queen who relies on chance and the kindness of strangers to get herself out of trouble. Thankfully, the writers avoided this and gave her some of her grandmother’s moxie.
Wrong: Showing Michael’s Face
When Michael tracks down those irritating podcasters and attacks them in a gas station bathroom, we see his face. David Gordon Green keeps cutting between the terrified Dana hiding out in a stall and Michael beating Aaron to death on the other side of the door.
The Shatner mask obscures any trace of emotion, making Michael look completely inhuman. Showing Michael’s face makes him much less frightening.