Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney) has made his way back onto the movie screens for another scare. “Halloween Kills” is the sequel to the 2018 “Halloween” film and the twelfth installment of the franchise. The movie takes place in Haddonfield, Illinois, the hometown of Michael where he has been killing there ever since 1978. In the beginning, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) finally thinks that she has killed Michael and trapped him in her basement to let him burn to death.

Disclaimer: Spoilers ahead

When the firemen came to put out the fire, they faced their deaths after freeing Michael. In my opinion, this is one of the best scenes in the film. It has some of the most righteous kills when Michael takes out a whole team of firemen with their own weapons of chainsaws, metal spikes, and fire gear.

Past survivors of Michael, such as Tommy Dole, Marion Chambers, Lindsey Wallace, and Cameron’s father, Lonnie Elam, gather at a bar 40 years after they encountered the shape for a Halloween party. When Tommy Dole hears that he is back, he starts recruiting everyone that he is able to get from the Haddonfield community to team up to hunt him down. They do so while chanting throughout their hunt “evil ends tonight,”  to put the town at peace for once and for all. I think the idea of the townspeople taking matters into their own hands is something that you’ve already seen in a lot of films in general, such as “Edward Scissorhands” and “Frankenstein.”

Most horror films follow the same plot, and this one is no exception by any means. The main group of characters all split up into groups and either try to escape or go look for the killer. Eventually, all of the characters are slowly killed off except for the last very few survivors. They sometimes even battle the killer in a final stand. 

Honestly, the movie fails to bring new and original ideas to the table. Most of the kills throughout the film are a knife to the throat, strangleholds, or any other bland way to get rid of a character. The characters make obviously bad decisions and leave me in confusion on why they did that, just like every cookie-cutter horror film such as “Scream” or “Friday the 13th.” I like a film that can surprise me and catch me off guard. If a character in a horror film was actually smart and fairly clever with their thinking, like in the first “Saw” movie, it would grab my attention and make me leave the theatre wanting to buy it on DVD.

The “Halloween” franchise needs to die because it is just not original anymore and it is being stretched. When the first movie came out into theatres it had magic, for it set the standard for a classic horror movie.

After watching the film I didn’t leave satisfied after the first, nor second time seeing it. To me, it is just a “filler film” so the movie studio can make more money off of the franchise. After all, it is the twelfth part of the series, if they aren’t milking the idea then there is no reason for it to be that long. Hopefully next year in the film, “Halloween Ends,” Laurie Strode puts Michael Myers six feet under for good this time.