Mob Mentality and the Popcorn Nihilism of ‘Halloween Kills’
Only a year after the release of Halloween Kills, it had already seemed to cement its legacy as one of the most divisive entries in the franchise’s long history, until of course it was immediately topped by Halloween Ends. Whereas the 2018 predecessor was largely well-regarded at the time of its release, Kills did not even make it through its opening weekend with mostly positive buzz. People had problems with it, many people, and many problems. And it makes sense. It is not a remotely similar film to the one before it, and the movie that it is, is not told in a remotely tactful way. That’s a stylistic flair that lingers for better or worse across all of the entries in this new trilogy, and the one thing that unifies them: they are heavy on theme, but light on subtext. They wear their themes on their sleeve and characters tend to say exactly what they mean. In many respects, they’re written almost like a Stan Lee-era Marvel comic book. But nonetheless, there is a kind of charm in that, and much more importantly, still a value in the story that is being told at the same time, no matter how bluntly it’s being conveyed.
So I understand the criticisms of Halloween Kills, even some of the harshest ones. And yet, I kind of loved the movie. I had a positive enough reaction seeing it opening night, I liked many things and scratched my head at some others, but the more I’ve seen it, the more I’ve fallen for its absolute lunacy. Though, it should be pointed out that black sheep sequels that take wild swings are kind of my bread and butter — I am, after all, a very vocal fan of Jason Goes to Hell. This is a vibrant and messy movie with a massive body count, more than any major slasher franchise entry before it, but there’s a reason for that, and it ties into the central theme, which is what I really want to talk about.
It’s a meme at this point to say that this new crop of Halloween films are all about trauma. Like I said, they are not subtle. But I think the way Halloween Kills deals with that is very interesting compared to its predecessor. At first glance, it’s about communal trauma, whereas Halloween 2018 was about Laurie’s trauma and how it affected not only her life, but the lives of those closest to her. Kills really takes a turn on that theme, though. Digging into the movie as a whole, it’s not really about trauma, at least not as specifically as the entry before it. It’s about fear and paranoia and the way that can impact, even infect a community and spread like wildfire in a very short amount of time. This is a movie that is very bluntly about the dangers of vigilante mobs.
The mob in Halloween Kills feels like what would happen if you took the mob from Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and based an entire film around it. This mob, more than anything, drives the plot of Halloween Kills. Laurie is sidelined in the hospital, the first film was her story, and now it is up to the entire town to carry out her work and put an end to Michael Myers’ reign of terror. On paper, they’re exactly the same as Earls’ motley crew in Halloween 4. They’re a bunch of drunken rednecks (let’s remind ourselves that, like 4, the mob in Kills was first formed at the bar) who refuse to let what happened years ago happen again, and in their gun-toting search for justice, they get an innocent person killed.
In this case, it’s Smith’s Grove patient, Tovoli. We know from the previous film that Tovoli can be violent, sure, but he is not violent in the way Michael is violent, by any stretch of the imagination. Michael Myers is the shape. This is an actual mentally ill person who does not even know what is happening except that a bunch of people are trying to kill him and he does not know why. He walks into that hospital asking for help and instead causes an absolute bloodthirsty frenzy as people think that he might be Michael Myers, because they recognize him as one of two esaped patients that popped up on the news, and figure they’ve got a 50/50 shot.
The Halloween films are often, perhaps ultimately, about failure and this is something that Halloween Kills embodies more than most. Loomis was the clearest representation of this in the early sequels, returning to Haddonfield to stop Michael each time and never really coming any closer to achieving that goal than he had been when he started. Sometimes it was his own attempts to help that got people killed.
In Halloween II, he chased Ben Tramer into the street, seeing him in a Michael Myers mask, and even waved his gun, prepared to shoot. Tramer was then run down by a cop going a hundred miles an hour on a suburban side street, who still bears the brunt of responsibility for that death. Still, Tramer would not have hurriedly cross the street if not for Loomis’ shouting. That failure is also embodied through Laurie, who spent the last forty years building a trap for Michael only for it not to work. But in this film, it’s truly Tommy who carries the weight of it. Tommy does not just fail to kill Michael, he spreads hysteria throughout the town and winds up getting himself and numerous others killed alongside him.
At first the film’s staunch perspective of rallying a community into protecting their own feels almost dangerously right wing. Especially when taking into account that this movie arrived only months after the January 6th Insurrection, even though it was shot in 2019. The news of a killer in their midst is enough of an excuse for them to take matters into their own hands and deem themselves executioners. They believe their intentions are noble, because they are looking out for their families, they are protecting their community and keeping their streets safe, and if it led to a victory, it would appear at the very least to be an uncomfortable endorsement of this line of thinking. But it does not lead to a victory in any way, shape or form. Their efforts fail to stop Michael Myers and only succeed in getting an innocent man killed. Even if he jumps to his death, it’s because a rabid mob is closing in on him. That is their responsibility.
At the same time, while Halloween Kills is objectively showcasing the failings of the mob and the vigilante mindset, that does not by any stretch mean that it is pro-cop. The sheriff did not take the situation seriously in the previous film, whatsoever. Upon hearing the news that Michael has escaped, he literally laughs it off. He is the one who orders Hawkins to take Sartain with him in his search for Michael, which leads to Sartain stabbing Hawkins in the neck. Even at the beginning of this film, he’s not taking it that much more seriously, save for when he realizes he has to be the one to tell Karen that Michael is still alive. He doesn’t even realize nobody has told her. The Sheriff does not truly get how bad he messed things up until he loses the one thing he had: authority. People stop listening to him, he is helpless to stop the mob, he can’t even shout over them, and they even tell him to shut up and back off while they take over the duty of keeping their town safe. At least in their eyes.
Halloween Kills is a nihilistic movie, but there can be a kind of comfort in that. Nihilistic movies can be fun, this was best proven by Return of the Living Dead. That is one of the most fun, over-the-top, absurd and yet unrelentingly hopeless movies ever made. The concept goes all the way back to Dr. Strangelove, at least, as that is a deeply funny comedy that literally ends in a nuclear holocaust.
Halloween Kills is bleak, and yet it’s like a slasher movie on steroids. It’s like you took two of my favorite sequels, Halloween II and Halloween 4, added a can of Monster Energy and a dash of cocaine, shook it up and threw it on the screen. In other words, it’s a hoot. And it’s impressive to see a major studio slasher that is still willing to be completely hopeless while still being an absolute blast at the same time.
