Happy Halloween! Toast the day with spooky wine and a scary flick, like the new “Halloween” movie. Gary shares why this “Halloween” is better than some of the remakes in the past in our latest “Cogill Wine and Film, A Perfect Pairing” Podcast on reVolver Podcasts.

Listen to the show here, or through your favorite podcast site, like iTunes, Spotify or IHeartRadio. Gary’s full review of the film below.

The Film: “Halloween”

The new “Halloween” slasher flick is better than expected and rests uncomfortably behind the 1978 original. It’s been forty years since Michael Meyers put on his creepy mask and terrorized his way into the life of Laurie Strode played this time in full grandmother mode by, Jamie Lee Curtis.

Laurie has lived a life of constant paranoia, living in a wooded armed fortress and only coming out for groceries and family time. Wouldn’t you know it, as Halloween approaches, Meyers is about to be transferred to a newer, safer facility when the bus wrecks in the fog and the omnipresent killer is back on the loose.

Throw in a new police chief, a crazed psychiatrist, some sex-starved teenagers, and a pair of self-obsessed podcasters, and you have a formula that has been regurgitating itself for decades. In case you are counting this “Halloween” takes us to 11, that’s one more than ten.

Yet, despite its horror film cliches and dumbed down characters this one seems elevated by it’s acting and directing. Jamie Lee Curtis demands your attention by playing a character to be taken seriously considering what she has been through and what she is about to encounter. There is no ambiguity about her intentions, and she’s armed to the teeth to make it happen.

But the biggest surprise here is co-writer and director, David Gordon Green (George Washington, Stronger, The Pineapple Express) who cinematically traffics in realism rather than cliches. He takes the surface of “Halloween” and digs deeper giving this version a sense of urgency while still honoring the formula. Who knew that “Halloween” would be in such good hands?

Enter at your own risk.

• Gary Cogill