WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Halloween Kills, now playing in theaters and available through Peacock.
Halloween Kills was just released, and the general consensus among both fans and critics is that it's definitely a step down from the 2018 film. Characterization, plot and dialogue are some of the most common criticisms, with the latter in particular being one of the movie's biggest sticking points.
Phrases like "evil dies tonight" are heard way too often in Halloween Kills, to the point it's impossible to take the movie seriously. No one ever questions these dumb slogans, which are likely meant to reflect the film's questioning of mob mentality while making this attempt at "depth" even worse. It also reflects the film's script and how much Halloween Kills was never meant to exist.
Halloween Kills Overuses Corny Slogans
As mentioned, Halloween Kills constantly cycles back and forth between saying a lot of the same phrases over and over again. These include variations of "evil dies tonight," "this ends tonight," "he's coming here for me," and "40 years ago." Then, there's the fact that all of these lines are said with the utmost sincerity as if they are Shakespearean moments of wit when they're actually increasingly corny.
It gets to the point that whenever a character is on screen, it's almost expected that a certain line will hilariously slip from their lips. For instance, Tommy and his gang of citizens are sure to say "evil dies tonight," while Laurie Strode will try to assure the audience that "he's coming here for me." The fact that neither of these things comes true speaks to the film's quality, but it also sadly reflects the poor attempt at a thematic message.
How Halloween Kills' Slogans Hurt The Movie
The movie's central message is that there's danger in a groupthink mob mentality, with those uniting together to defeat something potentially becoming exactly what they claim to fight against. Unfortunately, Halloween Kills not only drops the ball in doing this well but straight-up slams it on the ground, with phrases like "evil dies tonight," only hammering home how poorly done the moral is.
No one ever stops to question the "evil dies tonight" chant, with everyone mindlessly saying it because it sounds cool. Laurie somewhat touches on this when she refers to the crowded mob as sheep, but there is no other commentary on the dangers of a mob, even after it leads to the suicide of an innocent man. Laurie's climactic monologue that Michael can't die makes the ridiculous slogan all the more grating and unnecessary.
The fact that so many phrases and moments are replayed with different characters at different points in the movie also highlights its nature as a "bridge film." Halloween 2018 was meant to merely have one more sequel, with the studio mandating that it be a trilogy instead. Now, Halloween Ends, which should've been the second and final movie, is the third. The result is a middle movie where nothing much happens, with the film just spinning its wheels until the last 20 minutes. With so much of the movie's narrative basically just padding for the third film, it only makes sense that it repeats itself so much.
To hear the movie's repetitive catchphrase, Halloween Kills is currently playing in theaters and streaming on Peacock.