Fans of Halloween (1978) can be forgiven for being sceptical about new additions to their beloved franchise. After a reasonable follow-up, Halloween II (1981), it was all downhill, starting with a half decent but non-canonical third instalment, Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), through a middle run of films that grew ever more ridiculous, up to a pair of Rob Zombie remakes that were the blunt unlikeable antithesis of John Carpenter’s sharp original. Even the involvement of final girl Jamie Lee Curtis was no guarantee of quality as the underwhelming Halloween: H20 (1998) and the horrendous Halloween: Resurrection (2002) demonstrated.

When Lee Curtis announced in 2017 that she was returning to the franchise that launched her career, even she seemed nonplussed. Eschewing the usual pre-film promotional espousing, Lee Curtis was ... Read more »