Despite not being out until October 2021, Halloween Kills has just been put before the MPAA. They’ve given it an R-rating for “strong bloody violence throughout, grisly images, language and some drug use.” Sounds excellent and precisely in line with what you’d expect from the sequel to the fantastic 2018 movie.
Now that the film is complete, those involved have been building the hype by teasing how amazing it is. Most notably, director David Gordon Green has promised that it’ll have “twice the thrills” and “ten times the kills” of the last effort. But what does this add up to if we take him at his word?
Well, by my count, Michael kills 17 people over the course of Halloween (2018), which is set across two days. That’s a respectable scorecard for one of the most experienced killers in the biz, but if he’ll really have “ten times” that amount in Halloween Kills, it’d mean that we’re looking at a mind-boggling 170 deaths.
If I were friends with any member of the Stroud family, I’d be planning to take an extended vacation somewhere far, far away around the end of October. But this time, it appears that the residents of Haddonfield aren’t simply going to cower in their homes and wait for Michael to murder them.
The recent teaser trailer showed them taking a far more proactive approach to the situation, forming an armed mob to keep the streets safe. I have my doubts as to how effective their plan will be, though, as with so many victims out and about, the promise of a bloodbath beyond anything we’ve seen in previous entries in the franchise may well be fulfilled.
It’s also worth remembering that Halloween Kills is merely the second entry in a trilogy. The final instalment, Halloween Ends, will release in October 2022 and sounds as if it’ll see Laurie Stroud finally taking down Michael Myers for good. Or until the next reboot comes along, anyway.
Halloween Kills will hit theaters on October 15th, 2021.