Film Review - Halloween Kills (2021)

Halloween Kills is the new Halloween film following on from the 2018 reboot of the franchise and again Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode as Michael Myers has returned to wreak havoc on Haddonfield, Illinois but this time a group of townspeople led by Anthony Michael Hall are ready to kill him.

 

Halloween Kills is not a very good film at all for 3 key reasons:

 

- First is that this script is a mess, lacking any kind of clear focus in terms of its overall storytelling and not putting enough focus on where it should have been and where the 2018 film I felt worked best, the dynamic between the 3 generations of Strode women and how they band together to fight Michael but here their virtually sidelined to very minor roles and the film is worse for it as the newer characters are boring.

 

As for Michael Myers he’s basically The Terminator in this movie, he can’t be bargained with, he can’t be reasoned with, he doesn’t feel pity or remorse or fear and he absolutely will not stop EVER! Until you are dead and the way Anthony Michael Hall’s character is portrayed he’s one stop away from going the full Kyle Reese where he yells at everyone about how they still don’t get it.

 

He’ll find you.

 

THAT’S WHAT HE DOES.

 

THAT’S ALL HE DOES.

 

YOU CAN’T STOP HIM!!!

 

Okay I’ll stop there.

 

- Secondly the kills in this movie are very predictable, right from the beginning I sat there in my seat I started thinking “Okay just get the opening kill over with so we can get to the title music” and it didn’t get much better from there, every time we saw a new character or a group of the old ones walking around the streets at night I thought “Michael’s gonna come from them” and sure enough he did and unlike Malignant which had fantastic horror kills these ones are terrible with no life or sense of joy in them, the Blood must flow but this movie botches that badly.

 

- And lastly the waste of Jamie Lee Curtis in this movie is unforgivable, so much of the promotion of the 2018 film was centred around her coming back as an older Laurie and when it focused on her the film worked for me as well as Laurie’s daughter and granddaughter but here their all sidelined they get little to nothing to do and it highlights for me 2 things.

 

Firstly how important that guiding hand of Debra Hill was on the 1978 original not only as the producer of the film but also co-writing it with John Carpenter and you really felt her hand in the script pages when Laurie and her friends in the original were talking amongst themselves and that is sorely missing here.

 

And also both of these new Halloween films could’ve really benefited from a woman amongst the writing team as David Gordon Green and Danny McBride who are the chief writers on these new films it feels like they haven’t got as good a grip on Laurie and how to use her as a character in the same way that John Carpenter and Debra Hill did on the original film and these new films really fall short in comparison to the Carpenter/Hill original.

 

And so that was Halloween Kills and its terrible, just watch the 1978 original and leave it there don’t bother with this new film, 1 out of 5.

 

Film Review - The Last Duel (2021)

The Last Duel is the new film by Ridley Scott and stars Matt Damon as a French War Hero in 14^th Century France who’s wife (Jodie Comer) is brutally raped by another French knight (Adam Driver) who also happens to have the ear of the local Count (Ben Affleck), to put these accusations to rest a duel to the death is performed between the two knights and only one will triumph.

 

I was kind of keen for this movie as Sir Ridley Scott is one of my 5 favourite filmmakers working today (the others being Edgar Wright, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig and Taika Waititi) and Damon and Affleck are back writing a new script together since their Oscar win for Good Will Hunting and are joined by Nicole Holofcener in the writing team and it has a great cast between Affleck, Damon, Driver and Comer.

 

Alas sadly it was something of a disappointment to me for as always with a Ridley Scott film this is a gorgeous film to look at, there are many scenes of snow falling on landscapes, big battle scenes, huge castles, beautiful medieval costumes and flags and it all looks beautiful on a big cinema screen.

 

But as BBC film critic Mark Kermode noted when he reviewed Alien: Covenant in 2017 “Ridley Scott is only as good as the script that he’s working from” and this script despite a talented writing team feels very dreary and dull to watch for most of the films 2 and a half hour running time and after a while not only did I start to get bored but I began to think back to an early Ridley Scott film called Legend with Tom Cruise, Mia Sara and Tim Curry and that film like this one has beautiful visuals but a dull script.

 

And one of the big reasons it all feels dreary and dull is down to the performances, Matt Damon is someone I can more or less take or leave in movies but here he just stands around or sits down with this constant scowl on his face that I just got sick of looking at after a while, Adam Driver is a terrific actor one of this best working today but even he comes across as a little monotone at times while Jodie Comer who I liked in Free Guy earlier this year gets the best script moments but by the time the films fragmented structure gets around to focusing on her it all feels a little too late as it makes little difference to make this film feel worthwhile despite its beautiful visuals and important subject matter.

 

One exception to this however is Ben Affleck, every time he opened his mouth I started pissing myself laughing in my cinema seat but in a good way as remarkably this works and it feels like this movie comes alive when he’s on screen and in a very strange way I keep thinking of Peter Ustinov when he voiced Prince John in the Disney animated Robin Hood from 1973, I know this all sounds very strange but this is a strange performance that really works.

 

And so that was the Last Duel and this Duel was a disappointment despite Affleck’s committed performance and some nice visuals, 2 out of 5.

 

Film Review - Malignant (2021)

Malignant is the new film by James Wan who directed Furious 7 and Aquaman and concerns a young woman named Madison (Annabelle Wallis) who suffers a violent blow to the head from her partner which cracks her skull but soon after she starts seeing visions of violent murders from a mysterious creature who may or may not have ties to her childhood, a childhood she has long forgotten.

 

Malignant is one of the most fun times I have had in a cinema this year and full credit to that has to go to Wan in the directors chair, he is so assured of his craft and his storytelling abilities here that is a real treat to watch him go full flight with a horror film that has the backing of his home studio Warner Brothers and many of the films gory violent scenes not only justify the films R18+ rating here in Australia but had me beaming from ear to ear.

 

For you see the Blood like the Spice in Dune must flow for the Blood is the life and those bloody moments in this movie made me wish all the more that Wan had directed this years Mortal Kombat movie for I am certain after seeing this movie he would’ve done some amazing, kick ass and properly brutal fight scenes for that film instead of the fucking amateur act that the film we got was.

 

Also seeing this movie in a cinema, in that dark environment of the big screen and a loud sound system really added to the horror moments of this film that have such life and kinetic energy in them that their a real treat to watch and watching it at home would not have been anywhere near as good and I really feel for those who missed out on seeing this on the big screen as it is meant to be seen there.

 

As for the performances I think their okay the standout was Annabelle Wallis who looks a lot like Angelina Jolie with black hair but makes for an effective heroine and I really liked seeing Australian actress Jacqueline McKenzie as Dr. Florence Weaver, the head doctor of a mysterious research centre that lies at the heart of Madison’s struggles and that side of the story is well done for the most part and it had me intrigued.

 

And lastly I am amazed that the VHS tapes in this movie were still in good working order despite being in a dark, damp, basement for 30 years, I’m pretty sure they’d be nigh on unusable due to mould on the tapes.

 

And so that was Malignant and it is easily one of my favourite movies of this year, I had a blast watching this and it is well worth watching if your not squeamish, The Blood Must Flow, 4 and a half out of 5.