‘Halloween’ Revival

It’s 1963 and the town of Haddonfield, Illinois, is about to be rocked by its most surreal crime – one that would come back to haunt them 15 years later.

A young Michael Myers, dressed in a clown costume, is found by his parents after having stabbed his sister to death without any provocation, and in one of the most epic opening scenes in horror, an iconic serial killer is born.

The 1978 ‘Halloween’, the first in the franchise, gave rise to pop culture greats including Jamie Lee Curtis’ first film role making her the ‘scream queen’ of her time, Michael Myers’ blood-curdling mask and, of course, the first scene of Jordan Peele’s ‘Get Out’.

‘Halloween’ has seen multiple spin-offs featuring Myers and his obsession with Laurie Strode. While timelines throughout the

movies seemed jumbled and the franchise lost some of its scare appeal, 2018’s ‘Halloween’ revival served as a direct sequel to the first film, although it is 11th in the line-up.

It’s 40 years after Strode was stalked and attacked by Myers. The experience caused her to lose herself in paranoia, ultimately destroying her family, and earns her the reputation of being crazy.

However, her fears prove to be valid when Myers escapes from the Warren County Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, where he’s been locked up for the past four decades, when he’s about to be transferred to a new facility.

Slaughter ensues.

The premise of slasher films remains the same, so nothing unexpected happens during the film.

On that note, the cinematography has returned to the original’s standards with quite a few ‘hold your breath’ moments. John Carpenter, the mind behind the original, consulted on this sequel and his touch is evident.

The film earned US$253,6 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film in the franchise and the highest-grossing slasher film, breaking the record ‘Scream’ previously set.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 329 reviews, with an average rating of 6,9/10. The site’s critical consensus reads: “’Halloween’ largely wipes the slate clean after decades of disappointing sequels, ignoring increasingly elaborate mythology in favour of basic – yet still effective – ingredients”.

‘Halloween’ is certainly a breath of fresh air into the dying franchise, and with a sequel on the horizon, hopefully it will keep up the effort.

‘Halloween’ is now showing on DStv’s Box Office.

– @jonathan_sasha on Twitter; @jonathan.sasha on Instagram

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