The most intellectual Halloween

Unfortunately, most slasher fans are mindless sheep who just want a simplistic good versus evil story, and by-the-numbers Halloween film with all the familiar tropes—such as the Laurie/Michael showdown.

Back in my day, we thought about films and what they were saying. We were interested in Michael Myers’ motivations, and why he was doing all this carnage.

Folks nowadays seem to find him interesting only because he’s a superhuman killer. How many times have we heard it that this movie sucked because he was weak, unmotivated, and lacked screen time?

So, a movie comes along 40 years into the series focused on a character (Corey Cunningham) who Michael Myers doesn’t kill and barely fights. He has some connection to him, almost like he sees him as a son or, at least, apprentice. How can that not be an interesting idea when applied to a mysterious horror icon?!

This, and the trilogy as a whole, raises all kinds of thoughtful questions about when Myers began his “evil path” and if, in fact, he was influenced into it at Smith’s Grove by a loon like Dr. Loomis. The parallels with Laurie/Michael and Corey/Allyson relationships were brilliant and illuminating.

I dig this film and the trilogy as a whole. It subverted all kinds of expectations, focused on character, and actually had something interesting to say that elevated the genre.

If you hate it, you’re probably a delinquent neanderthal who’s a member of the marching band gang. Get bent, losers!