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‘Halloween 2018’ is now in stores


Jamie Lee Curtis is shown in a scene from “Halloween 2018,” which went on sale to the public this week. (Universal Pictures).

Jamie Lee Curtis is shown in a scene from “Halloween 2018,” which went on sale to the public this week. (Universal Pictures).

DVDs reviewed in this column are available in stores this week.

“Halloween (2018)” (R) — Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), the lone survivor of Michael Myers’s 1978 killing spree, has spent 40 years suffering (she’s an alcoholic and an agoraphobic) and preparing for his inevitable return. She’s training in combat, militarizing her home and remaining ever vigilant, to the embarrassment of her family. But boy does it pay off! After an accident in transport releases the masked psychopath on a Halloween eve, the G.I. Grandma goes into attack mode to save her kids, her grandkids and the whole town. This was really well done — the right mix of tension, dread, jump scares and gore — and nothing like the many throwaway sequels and homages that have littered the past 40 years.

“Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween” (PG) — A couple of plucky kids trying to earn pocket money by cleaning up junk become unwitting participants in Slappy the Dummy’s attempt to escape the pages of R.L. Stine’s magnificently scary stories. Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Sam (Caleel Harris) pick up a job cleaning garbage out of an abandoned house, where they come across an unpublished manuscript for a Stine book titled “Haunted Halloween.” They unlock the book, and the shenanigans begin, with Slappy bringing the whole town’s Halloween decorations to life. The boys get a big assist from Sonny’s bright older sister Sarah (Madison Iseman). It’s a pretty cute take on “scary,” but the attention won’t hold for adults or older teens (despite the cast inclusion of adult comedy staples Ken Jeong and Chris Parnell).

NEW TV RELEASES

“The Birthday Wish” (Hallmark Channel)

“The Pink Panther Cartoon Collection” Volume 4

“The Dr. Blake Mysteries” Season 5

“PAW Patrol: Pups Save Puplantis”

“Hunter X Hunter” Volume 5

©2019 King Features Synd., Inc.

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