Halloween Kills Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

1. The Compelling Character Development

Despite the overall thinness of the script, Halloween Kills does just enough to offer up some genuinely intriguing character development amid its more ridiculous plotting.

The idea that Michael Myers himself is completely indifferent to Laurie and kills for another reason entirely is further explored here, yet without writing themselves into a corner by irreversibly committing to a single concrete answer.

Deputy Hawkins gets perhaps the most significant fleshing-out, though, a regret-filled backstory lending considerable weight to his present-day motivations to put Michael down.

His scenes opposite Laurie are also some of the film's most dramatically and emotionally convincing.

It's just a shame these considered moments are so often suffocated underneath the script's more low-effort elements. Hopefully Halloween Ends achieves a more winning balance of meaningful character work and crowd-pleasing brutality.