The Emphasis On The Strode Women
We’re used to women heading up the horror genre, but honestly, the genre frequently reduces its female leads to “scream queens,” giving them little else to do than flee from whatever slasher villain’s pursuing them. Laurie’s always been one of the strongest, though, and 2018’s Halloween not only bolsters the character even more but makes it the story of three generations of women who came out on top.
At first, it looks like Laurie’s going to play the mentoring Dr. Loomis role while her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) fills in for her as Michael’s main prey. Judy Greer’s Karen, Laurie’s daughter, seems to be out of the limelight as she’s estranged from her mother and distant from her daughter. However, across the film, all three women come together and find the inner strength to face Michael.
The final scene of the movie encapsulates the smart subversion of the tropes of the genre going on here. In a neat callback to the end of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Laurie, Karen and Allyson hitch a ride on the back of a truck, having defeated Myers. The very last shot lingers on Allyson holding his butcher knife and it shows us that the tables have been turned and the women have united to beat their family’s curse.
Jamie Lee Curtis’ Best Performance
As just discussed, all three female leads of the movie are terrific. Matichak proves herself a name to watch while it’s great to see the brilliant Judy Greer given more to do than her usual “background mom” role (Ant-Man, Jurassic World). However, there’s only one person than the movie belongs to and that’s Jamie Lee Curtis. This has to be her finest work in a Halloween film ever.
The actress has always given the series a lift whenever she returned – that’s why killing her off within five minutes of Resurrection was such a terrible move – but it finally feels like the franchise has given her a reward for her commitment by serving up the opportunity for her to deliver a full-bodied, multi-faceted performance. When she’s this good, it’s easy to see why she had to stay closed off on set – including not speaking to the actor playing Michael Myers.
Like I said before, Laurie’s ongoing trauma is a big part of the film and Curtis gets to run the gamut in terms of emotions. She gets to be incredibly fierce, yes, but like the actress has previously stated, she didn’t just want Laurie to be “badass” and so we see also how fractured and vulnerable she is, as well as being slightly crazed due to her life-long obsession with facing Myers again.
Curtis brings a lot of pathos to the movie, building on her work from 40 years ago to perhaps hand in a career-best performance.
