The Halloween series is as old as modern horror. Just like the genre itself, though, Michael Myers can’t and won’t die. He’s once again facing off against Laurie Strode who, when last we saw her, was fleeing as a burning house collapsed around the unkillable killer.
Originally set to release in October 2020, Halloween Kills was delayed almost exactly a year to October 15, 2021. The film premiered just last night at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, and reviews of the second film of this new trilogy (and 12th installment in the franchise) are starting to roll out.
Reviews are still early for Halloween Kills, so there’s plenty of time for critical consensus to change. They’re mixed right now, with most of the reviews in the positive-to-middling range.
Here’s what the critics had to say about Halloween Kills.
- Directed By: David Gordon Green
- Written By: Scott Teems, Danny McBride, David Gordon Green
- Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Thomas Mann, Anthony Michael Hall
- Release Date: October 15, 2021
The Hollywood Reporter
“I felt a genuine jolt of excitement as the first gut-churning electronic rumble is heard here over the Universal logo. But as in everything else, restraint has been abandoned. Carpenter’s son Cody and Daniel Davies share composing credit with the master, going big and bombastic, and layering in vocal elements. But instead of getting under your skin, the music hammers you over the head. Call it Halloween Overkills.” — David Rooney [Full Review]
Deadline
“Never was there a film truer to its name. They’re sliced up with kitchen knives, hollowed out with a fluorescent strip light, bisected with a chain saw and impaled on banisters. The body count is phenomenal. We love this stuff. You know we do.” — Stephanie Bunbury [Full Review]
Variety
“The relentless nattering about the past–Michael is evil! And evil can never be killed!–is the sure sign of a desperate, bottom-line-fixated sequel. The other sign is that Michael Myers, stabbing knives and broken light fixtures into people’s faces, may not be scary anymore, but he’s still a charismatic figure of darkness. You’re relieved every time he shows up, and it’s all about that doleful, rubbery-gray, Hamlet-of-psychos mask. After 40 years, that mask is more expressive than any of the actors in Halloween Kills” — Owen Gleiberman [Full Review]
The Wrap
“Green seems less interested in rewriting the Halloween playbook than in giving audiences what they came for, from ghastly scares to a ghoulish score. It’s a strategy that promises to make the series as immortal as Michael Myers himself.” — Asher Luberto [Full Review]
IndieWire
“Halloween Kills inadvertently opens a window into its own screenwriting challenge, forcing you to ask: How do you make characters pop just enough to liven up a scene or two, but not too much that the viewer will feel torn about seeing them impaled on a halogen light bar? How do you weave a tapestry with one hand while tearing it apart with another? The answer would be: somewhat awkwardly.” — Ben Croll [Full Review]
IGN
“Halloween Kills suffers from being the second chapter in a trilogy, but it still delivers gory fun, fantastic performances, and an electrifying score from John Carpenter. There are enough callbacks to the original film to satisfy Carpenter fans while also expanding the mythology around Michael Myers and the town of Haddonfield in meaningful ways.” — Rafael Motamayor [Full Review]
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