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There's nothing more to see in this endlessly chaotic, and done-to-death franchise. We all remember the line "you don't know what death is..." from the only REAL Halloween 2 we'll ever need. Welp, now, we DO know what death is. This insulting, rancid disservice to the original Carpenter film is TOTAL DEATH.

To retcon the literal Crap out of the misfire that this franchise had become, was an interesting, and even commendable task...at least on paper anyway. The idea of bringing JLC as Laurie Strode back to the game was not a novelty, but certainly wasn't a bad idea after 40 years, countless rip-offs, and a franchise as a whole, which was shot to hell after numerous attempts to keep it running. Alas, when the Halloween requel of 2018 saw the projector light of day, it was sworn to be the last of this wretched gamble known as capitalism in LaLa Land. Still, in true form, that would NOT be the last of it.

Here, we continue the reign of terror from the 2018 Requel installment. No tension, no pacing, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the cheap, grab-n-go way that Blumhouse has been churning out these requels, sequels, and cockamamie. It could ALMOST be admirable that they want to go down a few different roads with the story, and the characters. The filmmakers take us into some carefully plotted plot points and backstories, which they obviously hoped would flesh out the characters. In fact, they take great pains to spend more than enough time annoying us with it. Unfortunately, on all levels, these so-called backstories invade the original source material, creating complete, far-fetched fodder that disrupts the original 1978 film, and makes a complete ass out out of just about everyone who was involved. JLC, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Stephens, and Kyle Richards should all bow their heads in shame for,, essentially, taking a dump on the work they provided 42 years prior. More insulting still...a moment of attempted reflection during a wild riot in the hospital setting, proves disastrous and inept. Completely out of place in this franchise. You can't believe this is Laurie Strode, or Tommy Doyle, or Lindsay Wallace, or Marion Chambers. None of them. Just faces and familiarity to appease the common movie goer with BAD writing and characterizations.

No no, this is NOT an exorcise in good filmmaking, Not an exorcise in any continuance of professionalism with handling a product that need be generated for the large masses, and appeal to those with a niche for the genre and franchise specifically. Blumhouse and co. Have Killed any possibility of taking this any further in any good way, shape, or form. We get to witness the filmmakers stab the franchise in the back, jab it a few times in the gut, and ultimate slit it's throat with a REALLY BIG KITCHEN KNIFE before pinning it to the wall for future generations to gawk at and make fun of because of how laughably awful it is. I can see it now. One young'un will point hysterically and figure that it shouldn't have been made in the first place, and to his young credit, he will be correct.

Director/Writer Ann Hu has a small library of work, sporadic and brief in measure, but boy, can it pack a punch in those 3 independent pictures. More like an explosion of...well, Confetti. In 2021, ironically after the well noted attack on Asian Americans and their culture, we have a delightful slice of that very lesson we need to learn, or have the potential to learn. Ann Hu insures this with a very detailed and imaginative script that brings about the struggles of the impressive Zhu Zhu as a young mother in China, desperate to see that her little girl will receive the best levels of education depite learning disabilities. It might sound simple, but as the mother and her daughter sojourn to New York City, you realize learning disabilities, language, and culture, are not the only barriers they will have to defeat.

Hu introduces a varied set of supporting characters involved in this case. A compassionate teacher, A cranky woman with years of baggage, and an instructor. Zhu Zhu portrays the lead beautifully. We are given a wide range of different moments which show her struggle, and how it relates to the culture she was raised in. She delivers the part with stamina and balance. Helen Slater and Amy Irving are a most marvelous pair to see in this little movie. We don't see either of them as often, and so thus their involvement is a sight to behold, and they're both great in their roles. The young Harmonie He is a real treat. Adorably focused and poised with umph and discipline. She's a young talent on par with Shirley Temple who just might go far.

Hu sprinkles her narrative with hints of the back story for the mother of the story, and how she has struggled too, similarly and without help. We are gifted to instances wherein our view of the world becomes momentarily distorted when we see the world through her eyes. It's at this point that we begin to see where things are TRULY deeper than they appear. We come to learn everyone has a story, and everyone struggles. There is also, a fantastic presence of unity suggested by such circumstances. Suddenly, this situation is not black and white, cut and dry, iron and steel. None of it. People are complex, life is complicated, and most dilemmas do not get fixed easily.

Hu's message is ultimately positive, wrought with reconciliation and acceptance on life, who we are, where we are and come from. It's a definite thinking picture, but on terms of people and only people, not a societal whole like most american films are desperately trying to do today. This film is personal, it's deep, and it's powerful. Such a move as this on Hu's part, plays out more like a celebration of cultural and societal differences, and here we see the sweet imaginative way we connect through our own beings, and the way to do that, is us.

If you're in need of some entertaining medicine, you've come to the right hospital, er, program. Cheryl Ladd was a main fixture of Television back in the 1980s, and like her 'Charlie's Angels' co-stars, it took some work to get past the imagery and stigma of "Jiggle Show" and other Vampy connotations that followed them all around after the show ended. A few of them, such as Cheryl Ladd here, had great moments away from that, which have been sorely forgotten, or swept under the rug in the past 30 years. 'Deadly Care was a made-for-television picture which, like many TV Movies at the time, reached out beyond the typical fare of network cash-ins on bigger films, and/or extended pilots and series concepts.

In a straight forward, tells-it-like-it-s kind of way, 'Deadly Care' isn't as "Lifetime" as it sounds.. It's rather well done. An honest script by Lane Slate, and some great direction by Director David Anspaugh get this little movie on point. It's never a happy story by any means. We 're introduced to Cheryl Ladd as Annie Halloran, a top nurse who is already dependent on the cushioning balance that pills and barbiturates provide for the stressed out. Unfortunately, for her, life is very depressing, and like many encumbered by life's unfair inconveniences (stressful job, loss of a relative, loneliness et al) it's not too far a jump to the bottom. And that's exactly where our tragic Nurse Annie ends up in a very slow, heart shattering, emotionally painful decent.

Great performances are all around in this one. Cheryl Ladd proves to be a surely impressive actress at this point. Very melancholy, but in tact. She has a good grip on her character and she slides ever so ingloriously down the rabbit hole of the actors journey. This was a goods role, and she was a darn good choice. It's a shame this performance isn't recounted more often as Mrs. Ladd has maintained a streak of nostalgia for her 'Angel' days. Still, that also makes it all-the-more-exciting to run across, and still manage to be a topical subject today. Veteran 'Exorcist' actor Jason Miller supplies excellent support as a heart surgeon controlled by his profession. Early Brian De Palma alumni Jennifer Salt gets something too. She's the moral Compass to Cheryl Ladd, and she sets the scene effortlessly. Most notably though, is the great performance by character actress Belinda Balaski. Such a heartbreaking and concentrated scene, with which, the wonderful Ms. Balaski shatters our hearts like glass. A wonderful decision for casting.

Director Anspaugh makes some great set pieces in the hospital, and uses his narrative with sharp, clever technical skill as he builds the rest of the world around it. Clearly, aside from the anti-drug message that rang ad nauseam that time, there is care put into this for maximum engagement and complete sympathy on our parts. Its not an easy story to take so it's not always easy to tell it, but let humanity and compassion be your guide here. The film itself discusses various stages of life...and death. Perhaps it's one more thing to remember before we misuse our own advantages.