Halloween

Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Will Patton, Andi Matichak, Haluk Bilginer, Nick Castle, Rhian Rees, Jefferson Hall

Director: David Gordon Green

Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode for what might be her final confrontation with the masked killer who's been terrifying her (and cinemagoers) since 1978 (it was her debut film).

So it's goodbye to Michael Myers - or is it? This should really be called Halloween X, being the ninth follow-up to the John Carpenter original 40 years ago. Now, after decades of close captivity, Myers (Castle, who created the role in '78) is transferred to another, more rigorous facility, and inevitably escapes to continue his campaign of slice and dice.

We're glad to see the back of investigative journalists Aaron and Dana (Hall, Rees) - 'Aaron and I have made several award-winning exposes' - but naturally, Myers heads straight for Haddonfield, the scene of his original swathe of destruction.

'Michael Myers loose in Haddonfield on Halloween night?' gasps Sheriff Hawkins (Patton). 'We got a circus on our hands.'

What they've also got is Myers' target Laurie (a now wild-haired Curtis), with two failed marriages behind her, a daughter (Greer) and lissome granddaughter (Matichak), who are both caught up in the ensuing mayhem.

Curtis and Co also have to contend with the mad doctor ((Bilginer) who has been studying Myers for decades and rather fancies knowing what it's like to be the man who hasn't spoken since his capture.

This is a well-made, sometimes suspenseful and serviceably thrilling entry to the series, but it has to be added that it's hardly scary at all. Laurie's house of traps is mildly entertaining, but the makers miss the chance to add a little twist by (this being Halloween night) having 'Myers' killed by police, only for them to discover it's an ordinary guy in a Myers mask.

David Quinlan

USA 2018. UK Distributor: Universal. Colour by Company 3.
104 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 18.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 2.

Review date: 15 Oct 2018