To some of us, Slasher franchises matter. Maybe it's a generational thing but it's true. The big picture, the integrity of it all, maybe even closure. For some reason, closure is a big one for me. That's one reason why I was never down with Rob Zombie's contributions. Because they weren't. Those movies were remakes, and going by past remakes, this is the obvious kiss of death for a franchise, regardless of how much life it had left in it. A trend that has laid waste to more than a couple of Horror series/franchises over the years. However, nobody ever said they had to stay on the shelf forever. Especially if certain remakes didn't live up to expectations. After Rob Zombie had his fun, I don't think anyone had any idea what was next for Michael Myers. I would have voted for nothing, but Hollywood greed happens to be a thing.So, as we know, nothing can only go on for so long before some asshole in a suit makes a suggestion to continue/remake/reboot a well-known franchise regardless of whether or not the last one was indeed the LAST one. Which reminds me, you're up, Michael!

And I was SO on board with this when I heard they were going to resurrect the original series. And then, of course, reality sets in as it tends to do. The completely predictable announcement that all sequels will be ignored in the upcoming Halloween movie. A new part 2, if you will. Yeah, I don't really give a shit about the Halloween sequels, but this annoys me, just the same. A second chance at closure, but at a price. For one reason or another, the integrity of yet another Horror franchise has been compromised. And now that that's out of the way, time to cheer up because Halloween 2.2 actually turned out to be something special. And yeah, I'm just kidding. They didn't really call it Halloween 2.2. That wouldn't make much sense, would it?. No, they actually called it Halloween, mainly because... OK, then! On with the story!

Remember H2O? Yeah, neither do I, but whatever was going on with Laurie Strode in that movie never happened. Whoever Laurie Strode was in 1998 no longer exists. I thought excluding Halloween II was a bit harsh, but OK! Nothing has happened since 1978. Got it! That one night messed Laurie up pretty good, though. Nothing too bad but enough to make her into a bit of a Sarah Connor with a drinking problem. Laurie Strode isn't doing very well in 2018. Laurie's questionable child-raising tactics have cost her a decent relationship with her daughter, ultimately costing her a relationship with her granddaughter. It's worth it to Laurie as long as she made a difference, making her daughter even a little more prepared than she would have been. Because you never know. You just never know.

Yeah, Michael is alive. I guess he was finally caught later that night, and he's been back in the asylum ever since. No return, no revenge, Michael twiddles his thumbs for forty years. Laurie doesn't give a fuck. She's going to blow his brains out if he ever comes around again. Laurie's daughter thinks she's being silly, but Michael is soon being transferred to another hospital, which isn't particularly great for Laurie's anxiety. Despite not existing in all these other sequels that don't exist, Laurie isn't all that surprised when Michael escapes after a wreck. She's not super thrilled about this, but for the first time in years, she doesn't seem like quite the basket case. In control and prepared.

Earlier, there were some True Crime pod-casters trying to get some words out of Michael, but came up short. Since they had possession of the infamous mask, you know they're going to cross paths again. And just like that, we're able to forget that Michael Myers is a senior citizen, now. After being introduced for a handful of characters that aren't too annoying, we witness Laurie getting her shit together while getting her family with her so she can protect them. Laurie knows Michael is headed for her, but she's going to make him wish he went elsewhere because part of her preparation for this night included turning her house into one big slasher-trap, designed to make things very difficult for a masked maniac who is killing for no apparent reason.

And what a totally uncomplicated premise done effectively as possible. Seriously, well done! Nice, brutal kills and nice touch bringing back the original Michael. Hey, maybe wiping away the past sins of this series is what it took to finally make a good sequel. Laurie doesn't need to be Michael's sister and Paul Rudd's character in part 6 didn't really need to exist. And you know what? It's not always hard to pretend this wasn't Halloween 9, so, I'd say everyone wins, time time... as long as it was the last one and we finally get our Halloween closure. This was the last one, right? 7/10