Halloween Kills was reviewed out of the Venice Film Festival, where it made its world premiere. It will hit theaters on Oct. 15.

Halloween Kills is a dark chapter in the story of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers, with a somber tone and even more gruesome murders than we’ve seen in previous installments. It finds fulfilling ways to expand the world of Carpenter's original with a larger focus on the town of Haddonfield and characters from the 1978 classic, while unfortunately suffering from feeling like an incomplete experience.

The film starts with a flashback to the end of the original Halloween, expanding the role of Deputy Frank Hawkins (played by Will Patton in the present time) to show us what really happened when Michael was finally caught after his killing spree. Director David Gordon-Green and cinematographer Michael Simmonds do a great job of recreating the look of Carpenter's original down to the film grain, and even find shockingly faithful ways to bring back old characters for new scenes. In fact, Halloween Kills feels even more closely indebted to the first film than the 2018 reboot/sequel did. There are nods to everything from Michael's gruesome disposal of a dog in the original movie, to Easter eggs to the entire franchise (there are several references to The Curse of Michael Myers), in addition to the returns of several fan-favorite characters. Thankfully, the nods and cameos are more than just fan service; they enhance the franchise as a whole by building a thematic bridge between the original and the new films, connecting the trauma of the past with the resurgence of The Shape in the present.

The main story takes place immediately following the events of the 2018 Halloween, with Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode, Judy Greer's Karen, and Andi Matichak's Allyson leaving Laurie's burning home, believing Michael to be dead. Of course, evil that strong never truly dies, and the Boogeyman comes home yet again. This time, however, the cast expands to include more than the Strode women and a bunch of innocent bystanders. Several characters from the 1978 original return, including Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet), and even former sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers).

Tired of living in constant fear, the townspeople of Haddonfield decide to form a mob and hunt down The Shape. This is a unique theme for a slasher movie, and one that Halloween Kills doesn't really know what to do with. There are interesting questions raised about mob mentality and what fear does to a community, but the script never fully decides whether to condemn or celebrate it.

Even if he has the entire town looking for him, Michael Myers is in no way the underdog. If anything, this is a much angrier, darker, and more violent film than 2018's Halloween, and it includes some of the most shocking and disturbing kills in the entire franchise. Where often the Halloween movies would cut away right as Michael gets the jump on someone and only reveal the aftermath of the crime, Halloween Kills fully displays Michael's brutal butchering of his victims.

Seriously, these murders are gory. The shock value is best exemplified when Halloween Kills gives us our first proper look at Michael’s sadistic artistic expression via his grandiose and campy staging of mutilated corpses, which is more disturbing than any Silver Shamrock product. Even John Carpenter's score is darker, slower, and more dramatic than any of his previous Halloween efforts, building up to what can best be described as the Empire Strikes Back of the Halloween franchise.

That's not to say that Halloween Kills is completely devoid of fun. It still knows when to balance the scares with moments of levity, including two new comic relief characters, played by Scott MacArthur and Michael McDonald, that steal the show every time they’re on screen, much in the same way Julian Morrisey (Jibrail Nantambu) did in the 2018 film.

Most of the problems with Halloween Kills come from it being the second chapter in a trilogy that was announced prior to its release. Some characters sit out most of the action for seemingly no reason, while several themes and reveals are introduced and then dropped rather quickly, including some allusions to The Curse of Michael Myers that are sure to spark plenty of conversations among fans. Much of Halloween Kills is just table setting for the final confrontation, including an abrupt cliffhanger ending that makes this feel like half of a movie.

As far as horror sequels go, especially sequels to reboots, Halloween Kills does a lot right. For one, it honors the original in a way that feels not like empty fan service, but as a compelling companion to the material. The film's darker tone instantly sets itself apart from its predecessors, diving more deeply into the themes of trauma and how it affects a community while delivering some truly gruesome kills. Sadly, it doesn't really stand on its own, being too dependent on a conclusion that is still a year away, one that could either fix some of the holes in this movie, or expose even greater flaws. Because of this, it's hard to recommend Halloween Kills as a standalone experience, but rest assured that when Michael is out on the hunt, Halloween certainly Kills.

Fallout 76's newest season arrives today, despite a previous announcement that it would be delayed. Bethesda Game Studios says the Fallout Worlds update, along with the start of Season 6, is out today, adding Public and Custom Worlds game modes to Fallout 76.

Fallout Worlds introduces two new customizable ways to play Fallout 76. Public Worlds will feature a rotation of themed experiences that will shake up the world for all players. One example is an option called Happy Builder, that will reduce building restrictions and disable PvP.

The update also introduces Custom Worlds, which will be available for those who subscribe to Falloust 1st, the game's premium membership. Here, players can create a game world tailored to their liking. Up to eight friends can play in one Custom World together, and players can even invite friends who don't have a Fallout 1st membership. You can find more information on the new game modes by reading Bethesda's official patch notes.

Bethesda says custom servers have always been the long-term goal for Fallout 76. Upon announcing the Fallout Worlds update earlier this year, Bethesda said, "Our modding community has been an enormous part of our games for over 20 years, and it's always been our long-term goal with Fallout 76 to give you your own servers to customize for yourself and your friends."

The studio originally decided to delay the new season because of a bug impacting microtransactions. While the developers continue investigating the bug, they are disabling purchased rank-ups at the start of Season 6. The devs say they will announce their plan to reintroduce rank purchases whenever they've solved the bug.

To apologize for the confusion caused by the update's release timing, Season 6 will kick off with special events that will run from today through Monday, September 13.

For more, check out IGN's Fallout 76 performance review, where we tested the FPS boost on Xbox Series X|S.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

We're less than two months away from Ghostbusters: Afterlife's release, and key members of the film are now set to show new footage of the movie at New York Comic Con.

Director Jason Reitman, producer Ivan Reitman, and members of the cast will head to New York Comic Con next month to unveil even more details about the next chapter in the Ghostbusters saga. The panel will take place Friday, October 8 at 3:30 p.m. Pacific / 6:30 p.m. Eastern / 11:30 p.m. UK.

New York Comic Con 2021 will be an in-person event taking place from October 7 to October 10. A virtual element is being planned alongside the event as well.

We won't have to wait long to actually see the movie after its appearance at Comic Con. Ghostbusters: Afterlife is set to release exclusively in theaters on November 19. Earlier this month, the movie was delayed just one week from November 12 to the 19th.

For more, you can watch IGN's exclusive Ghostbusters: Afterlife trailer breakdown with director Jason Reitman. Or, take a look at the movie's new and returning cast members, including franchise staples Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. They'll have to deal with the newest ghost to join the series, Muncher.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

There are some really good deals today. Score the lowest price ever on an MSI GL66 RTX 3070 gaming laptop on Amazon. Best of all, it ships within the week. For those of you who haven't yet picked up an Oculus Quest 2, Newegg sweetens the deal a bit more with a bonus gift card. Purchase an accessory (some of them are really, really handy), and you'll get bonus gift cards for those as well. Check out the price drops on a 2021 Hisense 4K QLED TV, the Xbox Elite Series 2 wireless controller, Sony noise cancelling headphones, and more.

MSI RTX 3070 Gaming Laptop for Only $1349

This MSI GL66 gaming laptop just got marked down by $150, making it the least expensive RTX 3070 equipped laptop on the market right now. The GPU has a TDP of only 85W in order to keep the power consumption, heat, and noise to a minimum. That means it's not as fast as some of the other RTX 3070 equipped laptops out there, but it still performs better than an RTX 3060 equipped laptop while running cooler and quieter.

New Oculus Quest 2 VR Headset with More Storage, Same Price, and Bonus Newegg Gift Card

The Oculus Quest 2 has so far been the best value when it comes to VR gaming. It's hundreds of dollars cheaper than its competitors, it has phenomenal tracking, it doesn't need to be tethered to a PC, and it boasts a huge library of games (even Half Life: Alyx is easily playable on the Quest 2). Now, Oculus has re-released its Oculus Quest 2 VR headset with double the storage (128GB vs 64GB) for the exact same price. There's even less of a reason now to pick something else. I purchased an Oculus Rift when it first launched, played the heck out of it, and now own a Quest 2. In my opinion, and with price factored in, it's far and away the best VR headset to get into Beat Saber.

Buy Quest 2 Accessories, Get a Newegg Gift Card

The Oculus Quest 2 is a bargain at $299, and thanks to the low price, you can pick up some very convenient accessories without having to feel like you just stepped out of your budget. Newegg is offering a bonus gift card when you purchase any of the accessories below. That includes the Elite Strap, the Elite Strap with Battery Pack, the Link Cable, and more.

HP Reverb G2 VR Headset

The Reverb G2 normally sells for $599, but the HP Store has it for $150 off. At this price, it's only $150 more than the base Oculus Quest 2 headset and boasts some significant upgrades. The Reverb G2 sports the second highest resolution of any VR headset with 2160×2160 pixels per eye (even more than the already impressive Quest 2's 1832×1920 resolution), manual IPD adjustment, a far more robust headstrap than the Quest 2, inside-out tracking that doesn't require external sensors, and off-ear headphones so they don't get as grimy and maintains your peripheral hearing.

2021 65" Hisense U6G 4K QLED Smart TV

Pick up the new 2021 65" Hisense 4K TV featuring Quantum Dot technology for the lowest price ever. This ULED TV supports Dolby Vision HDR thanks to a ULED panel that's rated for 600nits of maximum brightness and boasts 60 local dimming zones. It's actually one of the highest rated TVs around, especially for its price range.

Dell S2721DGF 27" 1440p GSYNC Gaming Monitor

This is one of the best gaming monitors you can buy for under $500. The S2721DGF is a 27" monitor with an excellent IPS panel (better than the VA panel found on the popular S3220DGF model). It features wide viewing angles and excellent color rendition including 98% DCI-P3 color coverage. At the same time, it boasts a super fast 1ms response time and up to 165Hz refresh rate through the DisplayPort. It's also FreeSync Premium Pro and G-SYNC compatible.

Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller (Preowned)

If you get a preowned Xbox Elite Series 2 controller off Amazon Warehouse, you can get an extra 20% off the already discounted price. You'll have to make sure the vendor is "Amazon" and not a 3rd party marketplace vendor. "Used: Very Good" and "Used: Like New" condition models are both available. This professional-grade controller features adjustable tension thumbsticks, shorter hair trigger locks, wraparound textured grips, interchangeable thumbsticks and paddle shapes, custom profiles saved on your controller itself, and included USB Type C cable with charging dock. It boasts up to 40 hours of battery life and is compatible with the Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, and PC.

40lb Rubber Encased Hex Dumbbell

If you've been stockpiling exercise equipment to work out at home, you might have realized that the cost of weights adds up. You could be paying upwards of $2-$4 per pound of weights if you've been buying stuff at regular retail price. Deals like these aren't flashy, but they're very welcome. This 40-pound dumbbell costs only $41.10, that's just over $1 per pound. The weights themselves are rubber encased to protect your floor, and the handle is ergonomically shapped and the chrome finshed ergo handles are textured for a better grip.

Preorder the Middle Earth 6-Film Ultimate Collector's Edition (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital)

This impressive Middle Earth Collector's Edition includes both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Trilogies over a whopping 31 discs. That's because there are separate 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs for both the Theatrical Editions and the Extended Editions. You also get digital HD copies for free, and they are compatible with MoviesAnywhere so you can merge it into your digital library. As far as extras go, you get a Special Features Blu-ray disc, a 64-page booklet, and 7 travel poster art cards. All the discs are stored in collectible foil sleeves.

Video Game Deals

More Daily Deals for September 8

After what feels like an eternity, we have finally received our first look at The Matrix Resurrections via a bunch of cryptic mini-teasers. However, much like the mystery of The Matrix itself, the teasers themselves not only offer more questions than they answer, but even the act of watching them all can be a bit difficult.

Those who visit whatisthematrix.com are greeted with the choice of taking a Red Pill or Blue Pill, not unlike Neo’s choice from the original film. Once a pill is chosen, one possible video of 180,000 is played to offer a tease of the full trailer that is dropping on September 9. Each pill has different scenes, and there is no surefire way to ensure you’ve seen everything.

Still, we’ve gathered all the most important scenes from The Matrix Resurrection’s teasers that we could find in order to break down their significance and try to figure out what they may be letting us know about the film, which is set to be released in theaters and on HBO Max on December 22, 2021. Read on our scroll through the slideshow below!

Red Pill

If you choose the Red Pill on whatisthematrix.com, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s voice can be heard over the many possible scenes that might appear. While we don’t yet know who Abdul-Mateen is playing, some of these scenes hint that he could be a new version of a beloved character.

“This is the moment,” Abdul-Mateen says. “For you to show us what is real. Right now, you believe it’s [the current time when you are watching the video], but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Could be this is the first day of the rest of your life, but if you want it, you got to fight for it.”

For those who need a refresher, Neo took the Red Pill in the first Matrix after Mopheus says, “You take the Red Pill, you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”

While we do get glimpses of Neo in the Red Pill scenes, Abdul-Mateen II’s character has some of the most intriguing moments. One includes him not only staring at his reflection in the mirror with a sense of disbelief, but it also shows his fingers appearing to pass through that mirror, which is similar to another scene in the Blue Pill’s collection.

Another, which is one that probably raises the most questions, sees him being built/rebuilt by some machine. This, and many more in both the Red Pill and Blue Pill scenes, may lend weight to the theory that Abdul-Mateen II is actually playing a new version of Morpheus.

Laurence Fishburne doesn’t appear to be returning to his role as Morpheus, but The Matrix Online may be the key to not only why this is, but also to why Abdul-Mateen II may be playing a reborn version of the character.

The Matrix Online was an MMORPG that ran from 2005-2009 and was actually a canon continuation of The Matrix story following The Matrix Revolutions. One of the biggest story moments in the MMO was the death of Morpheus. Yes, you read that right.

In Chapter 1.2 of The Matrix Online, Morpheus was demanding the return of Neo’s body from the machines and began orchestrating attacks across The Matrix to accomplish his goal. During one of these attacks, Morpheus is killed by gunshots from a character known as the Assassin, who had bullets with a “kill code.”

Sure, anything could happen and Fishburne could still return, but it's an interesting rabbit hole of its own to go down.

The Red Pill scenes also include a few glimpses of life outside The Matrix, and we see a flying ship that’s not totally unlike Morpheus’ ship the Nebuchadnezzar from the original films. We also see characters being attacked by sentinels.

Another scene that may be from outside the Matrix is a glimpse of a character’s eye. What’s of note in this image is that the eyelashes appear to be mostly gone and could be a look at a character – possibly Neo – waking up from the Matrix. In the first movie, Neo wakes up in a pod and has no hair, and this could be a similar situation.

Other scenes include a character getting jacked into the Matrix, glimpses of Trinity and Jessica Henwick’s characters, Neo walking towards the Simulatte coffee shop that was mentioned in the CinemaCon footage that screened recently, and Jonathan Groff’s character having his mouth sealed like Neo’s was in the original.

Blue Pill

If you choose the Blue Pill on whatisthematrix.com, you are treated to narration by Neil Patrick Harris, a newcomer to the franchise who is set to play a therapist (this character was reportedly speaking to Neo in the footage at CinemaCon.)

“Do you remember how you got here? You’ve lost your capacity to discern reality from fiction,” Harris says throughout the teaser(s). “What’s real is here and now, [the current time when you are watching the video]. Anything else is just your mind playing tricks on you. It becomes a problem when fantasies endanger us. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, do we?”

If Neo had taken the Blue Pill in the first film, according to Morpheus, “The story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe.”

While this could obviously be a misdirect, it could hint that Harris’ character may be someone who wants to keep The Matrix as it is and keep Neo unaware of what is truly going on. In the CinemaCon footage, Neo is said to have been taking two Blue Pills a day and, when Neo and Trinity meet at a coffee shop, neither of them appear to remember each other.

We may see this moment in one of the teasers for The Matrix Resurrections when Neo and Trinity are together but Trinity pulls her hand away from him.

Other footage does include Neo and Trinity working together, however, and shows the return of Neo’s ability to stop bullets in their tracks.

Blue Pills also show up in multiple teasers, and one in particular looks to have Neo pouring a ton of them down a sink, possibly as he starts to remember his past. While we don’t see his face, his iconic trench coat may be a giveaway it is him.

The last Blue Pill scene worth mentioning is the most surprising, and may show us a glimpse of old Neo. We see Neo taking these pills – which look to be called Ontolofloxin – but the mirror next to him shows an older version of him taking the same pills. What could it mean? Only time will tell.

What we do know is that Ontology, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being” or “a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence.”

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jessica Henwick’s characters also show up in the Blue Pill teasers, and there are a few hints that further tease the possibility that Abdul-Mateen is actually a reborn/new Morpheus. Beyond the obvious comparison that is seen when Neo and Abdul-Mateen’s yet-unknown character are fighting in a dojo that looks much like a similar scene from the original trilogy with Neo and Laurence Fishburne’s Morpheus, one of the teasers may give us a glimpse of those round glasses Morpheus loved to wear.

In the image, Abdul-Mateen and Henwick are running down a hallway and Abdul-Mateen is wearing sunglasses. The striking thing, however, is that behind a pair of standard sunglasses with a flat top appears to be those round glasses that Morpheus wore.

Other possible Blue Pill scenes include a black cat, which in the Fifth and Six Matrix signified Deja Vu. There are also glimpses of a character with two ports on the back of their head, an arm with a gun passing through a mirror, Jonathan Groff’s character smiling, Neo walking through a door of light and another with him walking off the edge of a building with others looking on, and more.

We don’t have long to wait to learn more about The Matrix Resurrections, but be sure to let us know in the comments below what your wildest theories are about the first Matrix film since 2003’s The Matrix Revolutions — including why The Matrix digital rain in the teasers starts off normal in that it is falling down, but then starts going up and changing colors. So much to discuss!

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.