Halloween Kills is an American slasher film and a direct sequel to 2018’s Halloween. It is the twelfth installment in the Halloween franchise. We were lucky enough to find a subject who grew up with a fear of The Boogeyman in the form of a monster under her bed. In fact, she informed us that to this day she will not sleep with any part of her body hanging off the bed. Did Michael Myers‘ return to the big screen rekindle these childhood fears? And more importantly, could the famous boogeyman affect her resting heart rate in this new vicious sequel?
SYNOPSIS:
The saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode continues in the next thrilling chapter of the Halloween series.
Where to Watch:
In theaters or with a Peacock subscription
Test Subject: Jackie
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Fears: Bogyphobia (Fear of the Boogeyman)
Resting HR: 60-65bpm
Walking HR: 80-85bpm
ANALYSIS:
A beautiful yet tense flashback lifted our subject’s heart rate within the first ten minutes even before the opening credits rolled. After that, her pulse slowed as she tried to recall characters and scenes from the original 1978 film. At 27:00 it was a disturbing stab that ‘lit’ up our heart monitor. Usually, gruesome, gory attacks are too quick to produce high numbers but it was the impending dread created that initiated a slow climb to 86bpm.
There were moments when tension was building but the filmmakers chose to cutaway to the subplot (1:07-1:10). This allowed our subject’s heart rate to dip. Had they stuck with the suspenseful scene, we may have recorded much higher numbers. Halfway through the movie, stalking and slicing got the best of our subject as a brutal massacre resulted in her 93bpm peak. This led to another lull with the neighborhood mob but more grisly attacks would be on the way shooting her heart rate into the 80’s throughout the finale.
CONCLUSION:
Halloween Kills is a treat for hard core boogeyman fans and proves that Michael moments can still scare up terrifying results. Share on X Suspenseful scenes outweighed some of the cornier situations to keep the heart rate fluctuating. And while the flashbacks and easter eggs were cool to watch as a Halloween fanatic, they were often missed by our subject who struggled to unravel the storyline. That didn’t seem to matter for our FearScale though, as impressive spikes hit hard working on her nerves during intense and extremely violent attacks. On a personal note, Halloween Kills worked as the middle build of a three act script and we can’t wait to see how it ends.
Halloween Kills (2021): Burns an average of 208 Calories
Pumpkin Spice Latte: 380 Calories
How many Fear Calories did you burn watching Halloween Kills? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
