“Halloween Kills” has finally arrived both in theaters and the Peacock streaming service. This film is a sequel to the “Halloween” film from 2018. This review *will* contain major spoilers.

After viewing this film, it seems as though this trilogy of films should be watched back-to-back-to-back rather than standalone features. Luckily, I watched the two most recent films for the first time like this, and it definitely benefited the viewing experience as it seemed like it was one long film split into two parts. 

While many others gave this film harsh, negative reviews, I do not personally think it was as bad as everyone said it was. There were definitely issues that I had with the film, but there is always something good to take away from it.

One of the aspects that I really liked about this film was the consistent continuation from the preceding films. There were characters in “Kills” that were seen only briefly in “Halloween” (2018). The addition of these characters did not further advance the plot in this film. However, it was nice to see that there was a direct link between films as if it were one continuous night.

One of the highlights of the film was Judy Greer’s character, Karen Strode. Karen was, without a doubt, the most level-headed and relatable character throughout the last couple of movies. There is also the fact that she was the most badass character before she was killed within the last few seconds of the film. 

There were also moments that weakened the film, such as the dialogue or the acting from the side characters. These moments kind of pulled me out of the film, but also adds to the campiness of it all. It should also be noted that this was the goriest and most violent film in this timeline. 

It is often debated what exactly Michael Myers is, whether he is an actual flesh and blood man or a supernatural, incarnate essence of evil. This film leaned a little more on the supernatural side than the previous film with the amount of damage Myers suffered throughout the film and continued to get back up. There were also comments in the film referring to Myers as an entity, rather than a person, which is an interesting direction to take the films.

The third film in the trilogy, “Halloween Ends,” will apparently take place four years after the events of this film. 

Director David Gordon Green has revealed the timeline in a recent interview, saying, “There is a time jump. It gets back onto a contemporary timeline, so it’ll jump four years.”

This is surprising after the cliffhanger of a finale when Michael Myers kills Karen Strode in the final seconds of the film. It will be interesting to see where the next film starts back up, and how much the characters of Haddonfield are affected moving forward.