I am not writing this review to make some statement or try to change hearts and minds. If most people think highly of the original Halloween then I can stand back and see that it just hit more uniquely for me. Love what you love. I’m going to write these thoughts nonetheless.
Very early into the movie, when Michael first escapes, there is one line of dialogue that felt really out of place. I think Loomis yelling, “The Evil has gone!” as Michael drove away was intended to show what Loomis thought of Michael after having worked with him for so long. I think the delivery and how soon it happened made it feel out of place for me. Otherwise, Donald Pleasence is a pleasant feature throughout the movie. I would go as far as to say that the movie would not have worked with an actor at the caliber at the average of the rest of the cast. That is to say, the acting is all over the place and luckily grounded by a few key people. Just look at Annie’s death for an example.
I found it very strange that Loomis, who has spent the most time with Michael, makes no headway convincing people that Michael will go to his old town. I recognize that the movie was inventing things we would later consider tropes of the genre, but to see it at perhaps its origin makes it only more baffling.
Being that I had very little experience with the franchise, I was surprised to see how much Michael drove. Nothing wrong with it, but it just was not what I was expecting. Menacing driving. It had me laughing a couple of times, like when Loomis doesn’t see Michael drive past right behind him. It is scary on foot, but driving just hits differently.
I really appreciated Michael’s playful nature. Like he is a predator who has a specific way he likes to do things. It shows a different side than the later escalations in the semi-reboot series (2018), where Michael starts to just go for it. Both have their merits.
Lots of cheap naked and butt shots were kinda obvious bait for cheap thrills. I wasn’t a fan, and not because I am a prude. I think it was almost so abrupt each time that it felt disconnected from the movie itself. That kinda happened with a lot of things though. Plus there is a really weird comment, I think meant to be edgy, where one character comments that they would rip the clothes off of a very very young girl. What in the world. I also need to watch again to understand the logistics of who’s home belongs to who, as it seemed like two people who didn’t live with Annie were using her home as a place to get it on? Isn’t Annie’s Dad a police officer? Why are they so comfortable drinking, smoking, and doing the freaky in this guys house? All while making creepy comments about kids.
There is also some pace issues during chases where two characters do not share the same frame. Michael at one point is pursuing Laurie and it switches back and forth a few times to the extent that I thought he had given up on following her. That is not a big deal, but it was a little jarring and not in an intentional artistic feeling way.
The closet eye poke, followed by Laurie keeping her back to Myers was another moment I shouldn’t have been laughing but was. Like I had all these ideas of Michael as this intense figure and he collapses after being poked in the eye. In the context of this movie, the reality of it, it makes sense in the moment but then is at odds with getting shot off of a balcony. I did enjoy that the reboot in 2018 respected this, and he maintains his eye wound.
People love this movie and I hope they keep loving it. I just found myself at odds with a bunch of minor gripes, not even all listed, that I had to sit with for too long due to the films slower pace. I wanted to love it, recently I rewatched It Follows and I think that movie takes some obvious inspirations from Halloween and so I respect the hell out of it even though it is not for me.