Halloween Review: 6 Ups & 4 Downs

5. Jamie Lee Curtis' Excellent Performance

As expected, Jamie Lee Curtis steals the show as Laurie Strode, and though it's a shame the movie as a whole isn't more focused on her character, she's by far the most captivating part of the film.

Considering that H20 is the only sequel to really do the character or Curtis much justice - the original Halloween II mostly confined Laurie to a hospital bed, Halloween 4 promptly killed her off and Resurrection killed her for real - it's a relief that the new movie is her most effective franchise appearance in four decades.

Curtis is incredibly convincing as a woman effectively frazzled by 40 years of PTSD, while at the same time re-imagined as a Sarah Connor-esque action hero determined to take Michael down.

After the previous sequels largely undermined the Laurie character, it's wonderful to see this movie scrap everything but the original film and give us a far more enthralling reinvention of its protagonist.