Why Halloween (2018) Is Scarier Than You Think
1. How Ruthless Brutality Became Michael's Defining Trait
There's a striking moment that occurs midway through the new Halloween, where Michael first arrives in Haddonfield. The film has recently wrapped up its terrifying truck stop sequence (what many would consider its scariest moment), and Myers has returned home once again. He walks along the street, until he bumps into a couple of trick-or-treaters, and then slowly turns a corner. He finds a hammer, enters the closest home to him, and brutally murders the only adult occupant inside. Immediately after, he picks up a kitchen knife resting on a table, and moves onto the house next door, repeating the process as a young woman begins to settle down for the evening.
First of all, there are many similarities between this sequence and the opening shot in the Carpenter movie. It's all accomplished in one take, there are two moments where perspective switches to the killer's point of view, and it even mirrors certain sound effects from the original film. It's a textbook homage to Carpenter and Hill's classic (with a brief nod to Halloween II's opening as well), but it also illustrates how cold, brutal, and ruthless Myers is.
Sure, there's an argument to be made that this devolves the film into 'more splatter, less slasher', but it's just as effective. It's also done in a way that retains The Shape's signature spookiness, while at the same time elevating the character to new levels of brutality in a brand new context - one that places the Babysitter Murders, and not the murder of Judith, as Myers' defining event.