The newest reboot of the “Halloween” franchise heavily relies on the original source material, and manages to redefine slasher movie sequels.

In this sequel-reboot, Jamie Lee Curtis returns to portray her role of Laurie Strode, 40 years after she first starred in the 1978 original. Unlike the other failed reboots in the franchise (2007’s “Halloween” and 1998’s “Halloween H20: 20 Years Later”), the 2018 edition manages to take what the original did right and add more to the lore.

Perhaps the best aspect of the new film, the 2018 “Halloween” ignores all of the sequels succeeding the original featuring the revelation that Laurie was apparently Michael’s sister. Instead of having a rehashed stereotypical slasher film where the protagonist is somehow directly related to the antagonist, the film features more of an out-of-the-blue approach to the randomness of the Michael Myers character. Michael Myers is an interesting character because he embodies completely random, uncontrolled evil.

This film succeeds in developing an actual compelling and frightening antagonist because Michael acts just as he did in the original by killing random people, and avoiding the connection to some bizarre Myers curse like in 1995’s “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers”

Though the storytelling in this film isn’t particularly innovative, it still manages to keep its connection to the original.. The plot is essentially a copy of the “Halloween H20”.”.

Laurie is now a grandmother who understandably has gone somewhat insane after the horrific events that transpired in 1978. She has become the stereotypical crazy old person that warns characters about the antagonist and is also the character that actively seeks to destroy the antagonist. At this point, the character of Laurie Strode has completed full arc from appearing as the innocent babysitter in the original to the paranoid, homicidal woman in this film.

Kills in the film aren’t as graphic and over-the-top as the Rob Zombie movies in the late 2000s. Michael, as he did in the 1978 original, takes his time to kill his victims, and does so in a very unexpected manner without warning or reason.

The film contains comic moments, but surprisingly, they don’t take away from the tense tone of the film. The inclusion of the funny moments in the film actually make the story a lot more watchable rather than other slasher films from the past.

“Halloween (2018)” is almost the perfect slasher film. It has an actual terrifying villain and with the addition of Laurie’s family, adds stakes to the events in the film. It is definitely a horror film worth watching this All Hallow’s Eve.

Rating: B+