Halloween is all about spooky costumes, ghosts, witches, vampires, zombies, sometimes even horror clowns. Many are specifically looking for goosebump moments with suitable scary films for this occasion; often some horror films are recommended that are scary but strictly speaking have nothing to do with the festival – unlike, for example, “Trick ‘r Treat – The Night of Horrors” (2007) or the outsider film “Donnie Darko” ( 2001) with Jake Gyllenhaal and probably the scariest rabbit costume in film history.
This year also famous films, the plot of which actually revolves around Halloween, got sequels: “Halloween” and “Hocus Pocus”. It shows once again “Scream Queen” Jamie Lee Curtis (63) and Bette Midler (76) as a shrill witch.
Horror Movie “Halloween Ends”
There are horror films, there are films set on Halloween – and there is “Halloween: The Night of Horrors” by John Carpenter from 1978. It is the quintessential cult shocker of the fall season. Serial killer Michael Myers is legendary. Jamie Lee Curtis had her breakthrough as a babysitter who was being pursued by a psychopath with a butcher knife and was therefore screaming. The film made her Hollywood’s Scream Queen. The work established the genre of slasher film (English “slash” for “slash”) as a subgenre of horror films in which merciless pursuers want to slaughter young people, mostly women.
There have been a lot of horribly bad sequels with “Halloween” in the title. A few years ago, however, director David Gordon Green recorded a fairly clear film series, which so far consists of the film “Halloween” (2018) and the very brutal “Halloween Kills” (2021). It should now be completed with the next part called “Halloween Ends”. Theatrical release is October 13th.
The story of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her opponent Michael Myers comes to a spectacular conclusion in it. The action takes place four years after the bloody events of Halloween Kills. Laurie now lives with her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) and is writing her memoirs. Michael Myers hasn’t been seen in a while. But of course the calm is deceptive. A wave of violence ensues when a babysitter is accused of murdering a young boy. Laurie is forced to face ultimate evil once more. The film is a, well, gimmicky finale.
Fantasyfilm “HocusPocus 2”
The intentionally silly and special effects-packed fairy tale comedy “Hocus Pocus” came out 29 years ago. The theatrical release in Germany was in January 1994. In the fantasy comedy, the teenager Max (Omri Katz) has to accompany his little sister to collect sweets on Halloween. He then accidentally resurrects the three Sanderson witch sisters who were hanged in the 17th century. The witches Winifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy) and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) want to regain their youth and gain eternal life with the children’s souls of Salem. With the help of a classmate he covets, a talking cat, and a friendly zombie, Max takes on the fight.
In the sequel “Hocus Pocus 2” (according to Disney, suitable for ages 12 and up), which is now available on the Disney streaming service, the black-flame candle is accidentally lit again and the sisters from the 17th century are brought to life. Midler, Parker and Najimy return in their old roles. Of course, the sisters are out for revenge again. However, in 2022 they encounter different circumstances than in 1993. It becomes amusing, for example, when they eat cosmetic products that are said to make you young and drink lotions in a drugstore, sometimes ride through the air on vacuum robots instead of brooms or when they break into a house in front of a suddenly chattering scare voice assistant.
The development of the film industry can be seen in the more diverse cast and the more self-confident female roles. A woman also directed: Anne Fletcher (“Self is the Bride”) instead of Kenny Ortega.
This time it’s up to three high school girls to stop the witches from wreaking havoc on Salem again on Halloween night.
Criticism of patriarchy is also clearly narrated, because the Sanderson sisters only became witches when Winnie refused to enter into a forced marriage in the 17th century. And even more than 300 years later, in our present, the three heroines Becca, Izzy and Cassie (Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo and Lilia Buckingham) have to pull themselves together and trust each other to defeat the shrill evil in the form of the chief witch Bette Midler.
In the cinema: “Halloween Ends” At Disney: “Hocus Pocus 2”
