The Reel Rejects - HALLOWEEN (2018) MOVIE REVIEW – MICHAEL MYERS IS WAY SCARIER THIS TIME!

Episode Date: August 29, 2026

FORTY YEARS LATER, LAURIE STRODE IS FINALLY READY FOR THE BOOGEYMAN! Limited Time Offer – Make healthy eating simple. Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code REJECTS at huel.com/REJECTS. New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show! Jackie Bonsignore & Jon Maturan watch Halloween (2018) for the first time in this full movie reaction and review. David Gordon Green’s Halloween serves as a direct sequel to John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), bringing Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie Strode for another terrifying confrontation with Michael Myers. From The Shape’s atmospheric one-take killing spree through Haddonfield and Laurie’s heavily fortified home to Dr. Sartain’s disturbing obsession and Karen’s unforgettable “gotcha” moment, Jackie & Jon react to Blumhouse’s revival of the legendary slasher franchise! Halloween (2018) Full Movie Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, The Exorcist: Believer) and co-written by Green, Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down, The Righteous Gemstones), and Jeff Fradley (The Righteous Gemstones), Halloween stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode (True Lies, Freaky Friday), Judy Greer as Karen Nelson (13 Going on 30, Ant-Man), Andi Matichak as Allyson Nelson (Son, Assimilate), Will Patton as Deputy Frank Hawkins (Remember the Titans, Armageddon), Haluk Bilginer as Dr. Ranbir Sartain (Winter Sleep, The International), and Virginia Gardner as Vicky (Runaways, Fall). James Jude Courtney and original Shape actor Nick Castle bring Michael Myers back to the screen. Jackie & Jon discuss Jamie Lee Curtis’ powerful return, Laurie Strode’s trauma and survivalist preparation, the strained relationship between three generations of Strode women, Michael Myers’ brutal return to Haddonfield, the acclaimed neighborhood tracking shot, Karen’s “gotcha” scene, John Carpenter’s updated score, Dr. Sartain’s controversial role, and how Halloween (2018) compares with the 1978 original. Follow Jackie Bonsignore: https://www.instagram.com/jackiebonsignore/ Follow Jon Maturan: https://www.instagram.com/jonmaturan/?hl=en Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Wayfair, every style, every home. Hello, members of the Halloween Reject Nation. I am back with John. We are here to watch Halloween 2018, because according to John Carpenter and John Humphrey, that's the true sequel to, The original Halloween film, allegedly, that's the timeline that Mr. Carpenter likes the best. And we do whatever John Humphrey tells us to do.

Yeah, definitely. We are here. Are you excited? I'm excited, yeah. I didn't know this was like a direct sequel. So I had literally no idea. Yeah. So we'll see.

And if this goes well, we'll go back to the other movies. Yes, let us know in the comments if you want us to go back to the other older movies that are apparently in alternate timelines. I hit my microphone. But, yeah, I think it's going to be really interesting to watch. Absolutely. A sequel that was shot like 40 years later. And what a gap. Yeah, but I'm excited and let's go.

Thank you to Hewell for sponsoring this video. More on them in just a bit. There we go. All right. Well, we just watched Halloween 2018. The true sequel. True sequel, yeah. What? What? What's up?

Oh, man. What the fuck? Yeah. Holy shit. How do you feel? Wow. Yeah. So, I enjoyed it. I had a ton of fun. This is directed really well. I do bump into, I mean, let's start with some negatives. Okay. Oh, yeah, go.

Maybe the, I mean, what's the name? Danny McBride writing and David Gordon Green. Some of the humor worked for me. Some of it kind of made, like, some of the dramatic dialogue kind of made it a little cheesy. I think we pointed out like the save us, like or help us or whatever. Grandmother. Yeah, yeah, that, like that. But some of the humor like really worked.

The humor hits really well for me personally. Yeah. There were some big swings and I feel like when it hit, it really hit. When it didn't, it really didn't. Yeah, definitely. So, but otherwise I, the, the 40 year gap of a franchise, it's noticeable, obviously, with not only with how it's shot. but also the, a lot of the visual effects

and how they, they treat the violence and so on and so forth. So really dope to see all that because in the 70s, that version, like you said, it was not crazy bloodshed. Yeah,

and slow and whatnot. So there's the first Halloween, the 1978 one, it's a little more grim and like dark and intense. This having humor kind of brings it a little alive, but also colorful and as it's highs and lows and so on and so forth. So I appreciated that. And the little nods to the first one is really cool.

Whether it be the closet, you seeing the shape and then, you know, cut to the other scene, come back and they're gone or whatever, whether it be Lori or even Michael Myers himself. But yeah, I had a ton of fun. I'm excited for whatever comes next after this.

But yeah, how did you feel, Jackie? like after seeing now the nice 70 one straight to this. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I definitely had a lot of fun and I think that that must have been a very daunting thing, you know, to make a new one nearly 40 years later.

I love the arc of Jamie Lee Curtis coming back and I kind of. Yeah. Like, yeah, I stand by Lori like go swing the other way. Fuck you. It's not a cage. It's a trap. I really like

watching that character arc from from her especially because of the complaints that I had with her character in the original. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there another one? Apparently. Yeah. Is there?

Yeah, there's like three other movies or two other movies after this one. After this one? Oh my God. Where was I? Yeah. Where the fuck was I? I know that.

I've been living under a rock. Apparently, you guys. Wow. Yeah, yeah. No, it makes me definitely excited to watch the rest. I mean... Hell yeah.

Same. Yeah, I don't know. I really... I really enjoyed it. I like the... I like the, you know, the... The family, the truth... Fuck.

The grandmother, the mother and the granddaughter. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was great. Yeah, I definitely, I agree with you that some of the writing just did miss a little bit for me. Sure, no, definitely. And then...

Yeah, I don't know. I really, I really, really, really enjoyed it. I thought it was really fun. Nice. And it definitely got me really bad with that one jump scare. Definitely. Oh my God. It got me really bad.

Sure. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like it took a lot of the things that I loved about the first one and sort of just definitely amped it up a bit. Obviously, much more gore, less simplicity because, you know, a modern audience is you can't really get away with that as much anymore. Yeah.

Yeah. But no, I really enjoyed it. Hell yeah. I really enjoyed it. Strong cast to characters, some really good laughs. I personally really really. like when there are comedy elements to a horror film because I think it really, it kind of adds, tension is a tension is great, but I almost think what is what is more effective for me when I'm

watching horror a lot of the time is when there's enough comedy that it makes me let my guard down. Mm-hmm. Good balance to a good balance. Yeah, yeah. I think I mentioned this when it happened, but the reason that jump scare got me so bad is because the first two jumps. scares or they really didn't so I was going into it like oh it's 2018 it's probably not that scary and then it really got it really fucking got me fair really fucking got me definitely but yeah

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Mad Love writes in, hello. They say, hi, Rejects. Welcome to the Halle Green trilogy. That's what it's called. Okay. Wow. Interesting. While John Carpenter kept Halloween

1978 filled with tension, no gore, and little violence. David Gordon Green cries to stay with similar tension but includes much more gore and violence. Which is more effective for you in a horror film? Full tension with minimal violence or tension with high violence. Personally, as much as I love violence and gore, films with tension make me feel more unsettled. It's what makes Halloween 1978 my close to perfect horror film. Okay. What do you think?

Ooh, that's a good question. I think it depends on the subject matter for me personally. If it's if it's supernatural, no gore, little violence and a lot of tension will get me psychologically, right? There's like there's a mental and emotional kind of thing there. When it comes down to a lot of violence and gore, it gets like physical. I get like really like icky and so on and so forth. So just to answer the question in a very like simplistic but also cheat way, like it depends on the subject matter. to be honest. How about you? Yeah, I was going to say I'm a huge fan of the Saw franchise.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think they're very fun. But I would almost say like with the amount of gore that is in those films, they don't scare me. Like I watch them. I'm going to sound insane right now. I watch Saw for the plot. Okay. All right. I could go into a very complex reason why I think they're camp. But anyways. Sure. So I don't know, but also, I love the tension, but I think what makes the tension work more for me in the moment is if I know there is that payoff. Oh, sure. Okay. I can see that.

So I think because we saw such gory deaths right off the bat and the first one was a fucking child, it made the tension when Lori was walking through the house in the big face-off scene, it made that tension even scarier for me. because I know what Michael's capable of. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And how fast he can move. Right? Jesus, he moved fucking fast. I'm like, dude.

He's almost like Batman. He was taking his fucking time in the, in the 1978. He was like, yeah, that's true. Just like. Sure. That's fair.

Anyways, yeah. I think I like a bit more of a mix. That's fair. I like that. All right, let's move on. Jaden Rhodes. This movie is highly love. by many, even been hailed as the best of the franchise.

Interesting, okay. But for me personally, I find it very boring. Wow. The movie is also made entirely by a comedy team fair, which does not work for me. I like their comedy movies, but them blending into horror didn't work for me at all. I'm curious if y'all like the comedy and the way it blends into the horror. Go ahead, Jackie. I really like, I really love a blend.

of horror and comedy. Because I think when I get the jump scares, it gives me this like, I don't like dopamine hit, this like euphoric rush where I feel like, ooh, I feel like taken out of myself,

you know? Right. And I feel a very similar way. Like, when I scream in a theater or watching a film or when I laugh really hard, it's kind of,

they're both. The same kind of. Yeah, they both give me a really fun rush. So I like the blend. Because obviously you can't have back to back. back to back to back to back to scares.

And you can't really have back to, well, sometimes, but not really. You can't sustain that. So it's kind of nice in a, in a movie watching experience when I have the flip from the, I'm scared to I'm laughing. I'm scared to I'm laughing. I like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because that's more sustainable.

Right. I think. Yeah, yeah. And it really pushes you to the edge in it. I really like it. Good point. No, yeah. I would have to agree.

I think I like the blending of it just because, like you said, It almost, where did you use it? Like it, um, let your guard down, right? Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah. It makes you let your guard down. Exactly. It makes you a little more vulnerable, I guess.

Yeah. So if, if there's a high laugh, obviously there's that expectation or you're coming down from a laugh and then you automatically think of like a roller coaster, like a straight down fall. Yeah, it is like that. Because if you were just constantly falling, it would wear off. But it's, it's kind of why when you go on a, do you, are you a big roller coaster? Absolutely. I'm a huge coaster head.

It's kind of like, you know, when you're coming down and it's almost like the little ones make your belly drop more. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. The big huge pivot, it's like that. Yeah, definitely. So the blending of it, as long as it's executed properly, it works. In this case, in this movie, I am a fan of David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. I just like Danny McBride's kind of. I'm going to look up what else.

Danny McBride? Yeah. He's a famous actor. but like he he's known for like something like The End and Your Highness. But in terms of writing, I know, oh, I don't know about it. He wrote the underworld. I don't think that's the same one. Interesting.

But yeah, I like to blend nonetheless. Jaden, if it didn't work for you, hey, all power to you. It worked for me and it worked for Jackie. So otherwise. I'm sorry that it didn't work for you. But I did like this movie Decently well He did Pineapple Express

Yes definitely yeah Yeah yeah yeah It's just really random No yeah So that's why he mentioned Like a comedy team right Like yeah but now he's been working on A lot of horror

A lot of horror Exorcist in 2023 And it does remind me of like Jordan Peel which I have I've not seen his movies So really? Yeah I haven't seen Get Out So no

Oh they're so good Yeah so hopefully for the channel But yeah like I've A lot of it seems like a lot lot of comedic writers and artists can go into horror very seamlessly. And I think it credits back to what you said earlier, which is basically like it's kind of it's it's it almost releases the same type of chemical rush, right? Whether it be again, crazy release of laughter, crazy release of like whatever horror does. So but yeah, I think again, if it's if it's incorrectly, it works for

me. Yeah, I was going to say I think I bring this up all the time because I love. it. I love it. But it is my favorite Stephen King novel because Pennywise is fucking funny. Right. Right. I've heard. I've heard. He's fucking funny as shit. I feel like a lot of Stephen King books. Like there's a lot of great humor in there. Very satirical a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's fantastic. But all right. Final question. Another one from Jaden. He is asking, how do we compare it to the original movie? Which we've touched on a bit. Yes. Go for it. I mean, I, I, I think you pointed this out at first,

and then I really noticed it through the rest of the film. But the way that they used that really simple... The score. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. The really simple, like, piano piece that they replay. I really love... They did it a bit in the first film,

but I really noticed in this one how much they did play with the tempo. Right. And just really making it really slow at sometimes. And, yeah, this... I thought... What was so magic about the first film was how simple it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Still accomplished so much. This one, obviously, much more geared towards a modern audience. Definitely. Right, right, right, right. Again, I like, I like that it was funny. Yeah, definitely. But what do you think? So comparing the two, like, I guess is your question, Jaden, to like, which one is better?

And if that one, that one's a hard one because, yes, I like Jackie, I do like the simplicity of a 70s shock and horror film in that sense. And, you know, credit to Jackie, she mentioned this when we first watched the original movie. It seemed like I didn't know this about the Halloween movie, but like it seemed like some sort of allegory for like sex, right? Or like sinning of sex. Oh, yeah, yeah.

So when sex in this? There was none, yeah. I mean, there was like making out, but that was it. And cheating, unfortunately. Wait, are we going to go back to in the next one? Are we going to go back to the fact that her boyfriend, fucking cheating on her. We're just not touching on that anymore.

I know. Yeah. And he, he survived. Like he, we don't see the boyfriend. Yeah, yeah.

So, but the friend that was creepy. Like, friend was creepy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That was crazy. So, um, but yeah, like to compare, I, I think I like the simplicity and the allegorical kind of in,

if that was intentional. Um, you know what? Yeah. I felt like, oh my gosh. I guess I didn't put that together. Yeah,

her two friends. Both of them were slutting it up. Yeah. And they both got, and his sister had slutted up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm saying slut in a positive way. Good for them, they should. As long as they feel safe and they're consenting,

and that's beautiful. 100%. I agree. But this was just like, there was no, there was absolutely no rhyme or reason. Right, right, right. He was just killing because I think that there was some, I mean, if I'm going to do like a deep psycho analysis.

Please, yeah, let's do that. I think they like that. On like fucking Michael Myers in the first film, you could argue he could. killed his sister after he saw her do that. It makes you think was, did something happen to him that we don't know about? Is there a backstory? Like, why does he have these weird feelings about sex as a child?

Right, right, right, right. You know, that's, it's common. Children, they don't totally know what sex is, but they, you know. But with this one, no, there was no rhyme or reason, which kind of does lean into the idea that he is just, evil. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know? I think to piggy back off that idea and to compare the two, it seems as if the first John Compriter original one had something to say about that particularly. And then this one tried to just be like with a doctor being so like obsessed with them to wear the mask and all that stuff. It was this commentary of like, let's dissect our villains. Let's let's kind of be empathetic to a certain degree. Right. Like and we try. to reason with the craziness that is something like pure evil, which is not as strong, in my opinion, because some things are just, like, I know that there's this really cliche saying, like, everything happens for a reason.

Yes. And I kind of believe that. I kind of bump into it sometimes. Like, and not to not to sound so like personal development and stuff, but like Mel Robbins says, sometimes things happen and we just find reason to kind of keep. going about it, right? So, oh, I believe in that. Yeah, so.

Because you're going to have like, um, affirmation bias. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. So like, again, confirmation bias. Yes.

So I feel as if this attempt to do that. It works to a certain degree, especially for a modern audience. Um, and then going back to being a, uh, the 70s movie, it seems like that worked for that audience.

Right. So I like both of them for different reasons. I bump into other, the things for other reasons. but I like both of them. I think it's interesting that this one, I mean, it almost feels like the moral of it was, you know, the psychiatrist that was trying to figure out why, why, why, why, why.

And the two journalists that were trying to figure out why, they all got wiped the fuck out immediately. And it was only Jamie Lee Curtis as the final girl who was like, no, he needs to be killed. Right, right. So it's kind of like the message of the movie is almost essentially saying, yes, things are that black and white. Which I think in, you know, given the context of 2018 in the modern politics, it's very interesting

that the message of the movie is very much. Oh, yeah. No, there is black and white. There's right or wrong. There's a yes or no. Right, right. It's leaning away from gray area. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

That's very fascinating in the modern take of a very classic Halloween villain. I like that. I like that analysis because, yeah, like, again, we. Go back to the... Yeah, the journalists and the doctor or whatever. They got their shit. Yeah. They were trying to explore the gray and like it doesn't work, right?

So, but yeah, in a modern day cinematic kind of exploration, it seems as if that's what a lot of filmmakers are trying to do, right? We have movies like Joker, which is trying to explain this sadistic dude. But like ultimately he's a villain, right? And yeah, like versus he's... He's just pure evil. I kind of like that. We don't need to know the backstory.

I mean, yes, that's fascinating to explore. But sometimes it's just better to kind of go on for the ride knowing that he's a bad guy. It's interesting. Yeah, yeah. Let us know down below what you guys think. And how you feel like, you know, nearly 40 years later,

how you think the new Halloween trilogy compares to the original film. It's really interesting. I'm definitely very excited to continue. I believe that the next film is Halloween kills. There we go. And I'm really excited to see how that, how that heck did he get out of that page. I know, I know, for real. How did he get out of there?

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Hell yeah. Any final thoughts or? No, I mean, okay, so honestly, I guess my final thought would be just the, like, if you like us, like, subscribe, oh, sorry. Comments. Oh, my God, I forgot.

No worries. I forgot. Honestly, I liked this conversation. especially afterwards and join our Patreon. Please join our Patreon where you can ask us questions. Yes, I think that that's why I wanted to get to is because it seems like Jackie and I

having these conversations make the movie experience going and elevate it more. But yeah, for the next one and obviously if you join our Patreon, you know our film schedule and so on and so forth. Ask us these questions because it is fascinating to dissect just this horror movie, but it has much more depth when we get to talk about it.

But otherwise, that's my final time. Yeah, we really appreciate your guys' questions. It's so much, it really helps us get into the nitty-gritty of it all. Yeah, definitely. With y'all. And it's super fun. But, yeah, you also get 15% off of merch and John and Greg have exclusive content on there. So hop on over.

Hell yeah. Like and subscribe. Yes, please. And comment on this video so they keep letting me and John make videos. Yeah. Woo! I will see you guys next time.