The masked serial killer Michael Myers first terrified generations of audiences 40 years ago.

Now, with the help of the writers (and the director) of such horror classics as Your Highness and Pineapple Express, comes this insatiable, truly unbelievable sequel.

If you had’ve told me the loudmouth from Eastbound & Down Danny McBride and director David Gordon Green would make the best Halloween movie since the original, I would have laughed at you last here.

But here we are, with Halloween back in the horror lexicon, and not as a laughing stock. Michael Myers is finally scary again, and with a film that erases all the previously-made disappointments, we’re finally given the movie the 1978 original deserves.

The film is not only gripping, intensely scary, laugh-out-loud funny and impeccably shot and cast, it’s also a passion project you can tell the filmmakers put their heart and soul into.

These men were fanboys, and its their passion and drive that pushes forward this redux, defined by a heroic performance by the original’s star Jamie Lee Curtis. The scream queen proves she still reigns 50 years on, and owns the screen the entire run-time.

Halloween isn’t perfect, and suffers some tonal issues as it shifts between comedy, self-awareness and straight-up chills.

But what it lacks in finesse it makes up for in body count and a love for the material by a director who quite obviously was determined to get things right.

The result is a movie that should be on every horror fan’s list this Halloween, and a film that doesn’t just serve as a genre great and a franchise resurrection.

It’s a spectacular thrill-ride of a film, no matter the subject matter, and was one of the greatest theatre pleasures of the year for me.

4.5/5 Stars