Michael Myers is back, and he’s as bloodthirsty as ever. The highly-anticipated addition to the Halloween series sees the triumphant return of the slasher mainstay.

It has been forty years since audiences were left gasping for air at the sight of the masked man on a murderous rampage. In the time since Myers first graced our screens, there has been a total of nine sequels in the now iconic franchise. The latest offering, directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), ignores the previous timeline and acts as a direct sequel to the 1978 original with Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role as Laurie Strode.

The film opens with a pair of investigative journalists approaching Myers at the mental rehabilitation facility he’s been held in for the past four decades. Following a chilling scene in the prison, a gruesome series of events free him, which subsequently results in Myers donning the iconic mask.

Following years of paranoia, predicting Myers’ eventual return, Laurie has spent her time fortifying her house into some sort of bunker while raising – and training – her daughter Karen (Judy Greer), in preparation for the jumpsuit-clad killer.

Growing tired of her mother’s actions, Karen sets off to live a normal life with husband Ray (Toby Huss) and daughter Karen (Allyson Matichak), away from the memory of Myers and his murderous rampage 40 years ago.

What follows is a gory, unnerving, and often,  surprisingly charming slasher film. It has everything the viewer would want and expect from Myers, including gruesome deaths, spine-tingling tension and a grandstand finish.

Halloween delivers on all fronts, in a time when horror titles have become more silly than scary, all the while paying homage to John Carpenter’s 1978 classic that originally gained the adoration of audiences worldwide.