Ahead of its October 2018 release via Universal Pictures, director and co-writer David Gordon Green’s Halloween held its world premiere to a packed house this past Saturday, September 9th at Toronto International Film Festival, and the critical response has been overwhelming.
Says Variety’s Peter Debruge, “Why choose when you can have tricks and treats? David Gordon Green does horror fans a favor, bringing Michael Myers’ slasher-movie saga back to its roots,” while Katie Walsh of Nerdist proclaims: “David Gordon Green delivers the best Halloween sequel ever.”
That’s not all. Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly states, “Long live Michael Myers, so maybe someone can finally kill him — in a big, funny, scary, squishy, super-meta sequel that brings it all back to John Carpenter’s iconic 1978 original,” Dreadcentral’s Jonathan Barkan muses, “After years of waiting for a Halloween sequel that felt like it did justice to John Carpenter’s original masterpiece of slasher horror, David Gordon Green has brought us a vision of terror that gives fans what they’ve been craving,” and originating filmmaker Carpenter himself has declared that following his 1978 original, Green’s is the best in the franchise.
Perhaps some of the TIFF audience agreed, as following the screening, Jamie Lee Curtis and assembled cast and crew took the stage to an enthusiastic standing ovation, to which Curtis playfully said, “Happy Halloween, mother*ckers.”
The eleventh film in the franchise and co-written by director Green, Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley, Halloween is intended as a direct sequel to Carpenter’s ‘78 film, and thusly disregards all of the series subsequent entries. Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Blumhouse’s Jason Blum and Bill Block produce, with McBride, Green and star Jamie Lee Curtis serving as executive producers, along with Ryan Freimann and series originator Carpenter, who also serves as the film’s composer.
Looking forward to October 19th? We are.