monol22

This is not your average Halloween sequel and that's what I loved most about it. Definitely my favorite of the Danny McBride trilogy, absolutely one of my favorites of the entire franchise. It's got a very 80s vibe to it and feels like a Freddy or Jason movie more than a Halloween. That may bother you if you are a purist. 'Halloween Kills' this is NOT. I don't want to spoil it as it is opening weekend as of this being written... I recommend just going in blind and not reading what the story exactly is, just that it is very different and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Jamie Lee Curtis is great as usual and the grand daughter character really comes into her own spotlight in a highly enjoyable way. This was great. I see a lot of complaints I don't personally agree with. But everyone has their own unique expectations I guess.

Let me start by clarifying that besides this movie I have only ever seen the original Hellraiser and have never read the book. This is definitely not a remake, it's more of a completely new beginning and an entirely different story so if you have never seen any of the other movies you won't be lost at all. If I had to compare it to a non-Hellraiser movie that I HAVE seen I would say it kind of reminded me of 13 GHOSTS. It starts out slow but it spends time fleshing out the main characters and the atmosphere and story, which is kind of refreshing these days. I can't say I "cared" about all the characters but some of them kind of and that's definitely a step in the right direction when it comes to upping the tension and having an impact. The make-up effects on this are Academy Award worthy and besides the flying chains I noticed little to no CGI. Pin-Head and Co are back in all their gory glory and the new cenobite friends they bring along are a true sight to behold. If you are on the fence about watching this take off your shirt and let the fence metal rip all your back flesh off! That's the Hellraiser way!

It only gets 6 stars because it brings Emilio Estevez out of retirement and he literally carries the entire show. There is absolutely too much woke trash and checklist pandering. But its Disney so I already knew/expected this going in. Everybody gets a participation trophy I guess! The kids are alright... I guess... semi likeable if not for their personalities being overly exaggerated caricatures of what Disney executives THINK kids these days are really like. I really found it difficult to get through a few episides, I was about to stop watching entirely when they threw in some gratuitous cameos that pulled me back from the brink. The episodes themselves are simultaneously too short and mostly filler. This could have VERY EFFECTIVELY been edited down into a decent DISNEY+ exclusive movie. Shame really. I dint expect a season 2 and have yet to hear any news or INTEREST in one.