Halloween Returns is a 2018 American Psychological Slasher Horror film written by David Gordon Green, Danny McBride and directed by David Gordon Green. The film is a direct sequel to the original 1978 John Carpenter & Debra Hill Psychological Teenage Slasher Horror classic and ignores the proceeding timeline of it's 1981 sequel and every subsequent sequel after that. The film marks the return of leading actress Jamie Lee Curtis despite her character Laurie Strode's death in the 2002 Rick Rosenthal instalment Halloween: Resurrection. John Carpenter returns as an acting producer and the film is distributed by Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions following Dimension Films loss of it's rights, marking the second collaboration between Universal and the franchise following the 1982 Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The film is the eleventh instalment in the franchise overall, principal photography commencing on January 13th, 2018 and closing for theatrical release on October 19, 2018 where it would garner critical and audience acclaim, praising it as the best sequel to the original masterpiece.
The film stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Will Patton, Liv Hewson, Timothée Chalamet, Tyler Posey, Billie Lourd, Justice Smith, Luke Benward, Virginia Gardner, Ashton Sanders, Laura Marano and James Jude Courtney as Michael Myers.
Plot[]
The film begins in Haddonfield, Illinois present day 2018 with the murder of local seventeen year old couple Melanie Severaux and Russell Rhodes, Melanie is on a late night run up local empty streets as her boyfriend Russell follows behind her in his car timing her.
His tyres having been slashed results in him crashing into a tree and ultimately as he calls the police Michael Myers who had been concealed in the backseat out of view the entire duration of this stabs Russell in the back of the neck.
As he begins to bleed profusely and flings himself from his vehicle a horrified Melanie pulls him away and hides them both in a side alley where he quickly bleeds to death. Michael appears and Melanie flees attempting to get the attention of neighbors, Michael's POV becomes the one assumed with the beginning of the first Halloween when he murdered his older sister Judith.
The police sirens are heard as a far off home owners respond to Melanie's desperate bangs for help however Michael arrives also upon their doorstep and after looking down the terrified Melanie he breaks Melanie's arm as she raises a porch rock to him. Michael then proceeds to stab Melanie numerous times and as the homeowners arrive at their doorstep all that is found is blood but no body.
Laurie Strode is now introduced at 59 visiting Haddonfield and her younger sister Karen who has sold their now deceased parents' realty. She is an acting guidance counsellor at Haddonfield high school where only child Alyson who is 17 attends and whom she is overprotective of. Liv is already preparing for college whilst trying to enjoy her high school experience with party girl rich best friend Eliza Morcombe, Eliza's skater boyfriend Patrick and Patrick's former jock best friend Dean Everett whose younger twin sister Vicky is promiscuous and sleeps around whilst experimenting with heavy narcotics, secretly supplied by Patrick.
High school academics Anthony Safton, Parker Dayton and Abe Mitchell trail after the group, as like Dean Anthony bears a secret crush for Alyson.
Local Sheriff Niall Hawkins becomes determined to find the killer of Russell Rhodes and the person responsible for Melanie Severaux's disappearance coming into alignment with Laurie Strode after Parker Dayton is murdered at the local Haddonfield state park as he is thrown over a huge park level railing to his death and a drug induced Vicky is attacked but lives. Her report goes ignored by her brother, the others and the police minus acting Sheriff Hawkins who following this incident is able to convince Laurie to align with him. Laurie tries in vain to convince sister Karen to temporarily evacuate Haddonfield with Alyson.
The day leading up to Patrick's 18th birthday being hosted at Eliza's the group are individually throughout the day ominously followed by Michael, who takes particular interest in Laurie's niece Alyson.
The day also comes to show the personal lives and issues of the main teenage protagonists, Patrick in guilt over Vicky's drug induced episode which may of led her to unintentionally kill Parker. Patrick is shown as having a drunken mother, Eliza as she sets up her party with best friend Alyson is seen secretly struggling with bipolar disorder which is medicated for and hides from everyone with her happy demeanour.
Abe was a childhood friend of Russell Rhodes, Dean is struggling with bisexuality also bearing a strong interest for friend Jeremy Epton. Anthony is a foster child with pressuring perfectionist parents and Alyson has an estranged relationship with mother Karen who admitted in an argument prior to Laurie's arrival that with the sell of her grandparents' estate that she wanted to be a psychologist and being trapped with a child in Haddonfield was not what she wanted.
As sun sets and Sheriff Niall, his trusted Deputy Llewis Peterson and Laurie scout Haddonfield with the proposed curfew they are attacked at the scene which had previously been the site of tow truck driver Phelps' murder in in 1978, who Michael obtained his attire from. Michael murders Deputy Peterson via running him over with the squad car, also hitting Sheriff Hawkins, Hawkins is rendered unconscious and severley injured. Laurie flees Michael and obtains the squad car from him and keys after calling in the scene and sustaining two stab wounds.
The night of the party Patrick does not make it instead avoiding his birthday event by taking a shift at the Haddonfield Cinema. There he leaves a voicemail for Dean confessing his part in Vicky's addiction and is murdered by Michael as he is left by the manager on his own for the night. Pursued throughout the cinema he is thrown through a screen and from wall to wall until he dies of trauma.
At the party the uninvited Anthony and Abe wait outside in Abe's van. Anthony proceeds into the party set against Abe's plan to record the underage provocative occurences and upload it to YouTube. A drunken and high Dean comes across an equally intoxicated Jeremy ignoring his voicemail from Patrick. The two proceed to have sex upstairs as Eliza upset over Patrick's absence takes his friend Brayden upstairs to do the same as Dean and Jeremy, Eliza however after making out with Brayden stops and leaves to go for a walk. Alyson shares a dance with Anthony and a kiss ignoring her mother's calls who is worried as Laurie was meant to meet her for dinner and talk out their issues. Laurie then arrives via squad car injured and takes a frightened Karen with her to where Alyson will be.
After sex Dean is killed by Michael as he finally hears Patrick's voicemail as he is strangled and his neck is broken by downstairs turntable cords in the kitchen, Jeremy proceeds downstairs to see the dead Dean and Michael standing over him who looks up at Jeremy and then abandons the scene.
Abe is then killed as Michael sabotages the fuselage of his van and it explodes.
Laurie and Karen arrive at the party and fail to find Alyson or any of her friends but instead find Dean's body which they are led to by a petrified Jeremy. The party is broken up from there and the flaming wreckage of Abe's van calls out Laurie, Karen and Anthony. Anthony is broken by Abe's demise and Laurie and Karen question him on Alyson's whereabouts.
At the hospital Alyson comes in to see a now conscious and recovering Vicky, she tells her how she shared a kiss with Anthony. Meanwhile a walking and distressing Eliza comes across the street which was the site of Russell Rhodes' murder and notices that across the street is the still dilapidated property of the Myers family and the site of Judith Myers murder in 1963. Concerned Eliza turns on her phone's set up police scanner and hears of the murder of Deputy Peterson, hospitalisation of Sheriff Hawkins and arson and double murder at her place. Patrolling officer and squad partner of Deputy Peterson Deputy Warden comes across Eliza. Michael then appears and on foot pursues Eliza after arriving via Russell's stolen car and killing Warden via a gunshot to the temple.
Eliza is eventually killed by Michael after reaching Alyson and Karen's house via having her head bashed with the front door key rock.
At the hospital Alyson meets with Laurie and Karen outside who try to take her away, Vicky is killed as Michael enters her room and causes her to flatline by gently removing her bandaging causing her to bleed out from her earlier injuries. A bloodied Sheriff Hawkins enters and attempts to with his recovered firearm shoot Michael but is overpowered and killed as Michael with one stroke of the hospital door hits him in the head.
Alyson is attacked and chased by Michael as she returns up to Vicky's room to take her with them and discovers her and Sheriff Hawkins' bodies. She is abducted in the hospital basement as she almost makes it back to Laurie and Karen in the parking lot as police swarm the hospital.
Brought to the Myers house Alyson sees the bodies of Melanie, Patrick and Eliza set up the way Annie Brackett, Bob Simms and Lynda Van Der Klok had been previously displayed in the Wallace house in 1978.
Anthony arrives at the Myers house directing some accompanying officers and Laurie and Karen soon arrive also. Laurie almost dies up in Judith's room getting past the police barricade with Karen to retrieve Alyson. She is stabbed numerous times and her previous wounds along with her new fatal injuries cause her to pass out due to blood loss in front of Judith Myers' broken vanity mirror.
Karen shields Alyson as Michael advances determined to kill them both a butcher's knife he again withdraws from a downstairs kitchen drawer, Alyson and Karen however cripple a distracted Michael who Anthony grabs' attention by discarding he and Abe's smoke bombs into the basement. Laurie with Doctor Loomis gun still loaded and in her possession after the events of 1978 fires off a head shot and as Michael collapses to the ground takes five more shots killing him.
The film ends with a coroner's report shared with Laurie as previous Sheriff Leigh Brackett, still alive and elderly arrives to see the corpse of his daughter Annie's murderer. The report informs Laurie as Karen and Alyson wait outside with Anthony that Michael was suffering from a rare disorder that tightened up all his muscles from early adolescence to early adulthood which explained why Samuel Loomis' initial shooting of the killer in 1978 did not kill him.
Also revealed that this condition worsened and has body excruciating pain which rendered him unable to speak in most situations most likely developed as a child but his parents did not have diagnosed or treated. The condition itself would of inevitably killed him and recovered from the Myers house were medical volumes detailing his condition and how if not treated by the mid-life stage would result in death, most likely explaining his re-emergence after all this time.
The new stand in Sheriff also tells Laurie on the side that the Myers house sweep determined that Michael had been in and out of the residence since the murders of 1978 he perpetrated and children she had once babysat Tommy Doyle, Lindsey Wallace amongst several others who had encountered Michael including Doctor Loomis' nurse Marion Whittington and Loomis himself are all deceased, the result of 40 of his remaining years been spent on pursuing and killing all those who had touched his life.
Laurie then comes out to Karen and Alyson as Alyson bids a brief goodbye to Anthony claiming that the three of them should go for a drive somewhere, when asked as to where, she states that while not sure, she's heard from the years as acting as a motivational speaker that Summer Glen in California is quite nice this time of year.
Cast[]
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
- Judy Greer as Karen Strode
- Will Patton as Sheriff Niall Hawkins
- Liv Hewson as Alyson Strode
- James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle as Michael Myers
- Timothée Chalamet as Anthony Safton
- Tyler Posey as Patrick Verone-Illis
- Billie Lourd as Eliza Morcombe
- Justice Smith as Abe Mitchell
- Luke Benward as Dean Everett
- Virginia Gardner as Vicky Everett
- Ashton Sanders as Russell Rhodes
- Laura Marano as Melanie Severaux
- Ryan Potter as Parker Dayton
- Noah Gray-Cabey as Jeremy Epton
- Ricardo Hoyos as Brayden Dowling
- Ben McKenzie as Deputy Miles Warden
- Kevin Hart as Deputy Llewis Peterson
- John Benjamin Hickey as Terrence Morcombe
- Suzanne Snyder as Deborah Morcombe
- Esai Morales as Donovan Verone-Illis
- Jeff Garlin as Uncle Roger Safton
- Teryl Rothery as Jeanine Everett
- Eric Allan Kramer as Reynard Everett
- Brec Bassinger as Tara Morcombe
- Gage Munroe as Kyle Morcombe
- Win Moriaski as Sebastian 'Seb' Dayton
- Laura Harrier as Evie Mitchell
- Nicholas Lea as Mr. Forrester
- Lee Arenberg as Drunk Divoll
- Kristina Wagner as Principal Abigail Sutherland
- Cynthia Stevenson as Coach Carpenter
- Katie Findlay as Tess Elliot
- Emory Cohen as Ty Watkins
- Sterling Beaumon as Jeremy Hall
Soundtrack[]
- Malambo No. 1- Yma Sumac
- Mr. Sandman- The Chordettes
- Cocoon- Milky Chance
- Snap Out Of It- Arctic Monkeys
- The Less I Know Better- Tame Impala
- Love$ick- Mura Masa feat. A$AP Rocky
- Marvin Gaye- Charlie Puth feat. Meghan Trainor
- Fall Together- The Temper Trap
- High and Low- Empire of the Sun
- I Dare You- The xx
- Mr. Sandman- SYML
Trivia[]
- A direct sequel to the original Halloween of 1978
- Credited by John Carpenter as the last Halloween film
- Body Count: 10
- Tyler Posey had previously starred in the teenage Blumhouse Slasher horror film Truth or Dare, released in the same year in which he portrays a high school student also killed as part of the movie's body count
- Billie Lourd had previously starred in the Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk comedy slasher series Scream Queens, a series which sends up Halloween
- Both Jamie Lee Curtis and Billie Lourd had previously featured as main characters in the series Scream Queens
- The second Halloween instalment to center around Haddonfield high school youths as the targets of Michael Myers
- Ryan Potter's character Parker Dayton was the only character minus the film's opening victims portrayed by Laura Marano and Ashton Sanders to initially not have a character backstory.
- Michael Myers murders in present day 2018 span from the night of October 29th beginning with the opening victims Melanie and Russell to the night of October 30th, in which he kills Parker Dayton and fatally wounds Vicky Everett and then culminating with the murders of Halloween day October 31st and its' night, making Halloween Returns the instalment with longest time period of murders perpetrated by the Shape, spanning three nights.