Photo: RLJE Films
Stephen Lang in 'Old Man'
Stephen Lang in 'Old Man'
“Dexter + Dexter New Blood: The Complete Series”
(CBS Blu-ray)
Showtime’s acclaimed series had as its antihero a serial killer, Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall). As he tells the child murderer in Episode One’s opening scene, before killing him, “Children? I could never do that. I have standards.”
Dexter is a surprisingly complicated character as a serial killer whose life’s mission is to rid his city of serial killers. As a forensics expert with the Miami police, he’s in a unique position to pursue his vocation. With a childhood trauma that left him with “a hallow place inside,” Dexter is a sociopath who learned to channel his violent hostility—under the guidance of his cop stepdad. He justifies himself by getting the bad guys. The hardcore pornographer-woman killer who beat the rap because the court declared the police search warrant as “faulty”? Dexter won’t let him escape.
Yes, some of his colleagues notice that he’s a bit weird, but he’s learned to pass undetected in ordinary situations—he translates “normal” emotional cues as if they are a second, or maybe a third language. And yet he’s good with children. Throughout the series, Dexter reveals himself with droll monologues. He considers himself smarter than most people and he’s not entirely wrong. Sometimes tracking and killing a killer is a game of skill for him; like Sherlock Holmes, detection is an exercise of the mind. And sometimes it’s the old idea of vigilantism, rooted in the anxiety that the established system is unable or unwilling to mete out justice.
Dexter describes his girlfriend in early episodes, Rita, as “in her own way as damaged as me.” She’s a caring person who survived repeated rapes from her crackhead ex-husband. Dexter walks through a dark world in the shadows of Miami’s bright sunshine, a place resembling Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem on crank. (David Luhrssen)
Halloween Ends
(In Theaters & Streaming on Peacock, Oct 14)
This 13th “Halloween” installment ends the Laurie Strode storyline, begun in 1978, then resurfacing as an additional trilogy in 2018. Set four years after Halloween Kills, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is grieving her daughter's death while living with granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak). As Laurie finishes penning her memoirs, teen Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), is accused of killing a child, leading to a violent crusade of terror that forces Laurie to confront Michael Myers—yet again!
Will Patton reprises sheriff’s deputy Frank Hawkins, who arrested Michael following his initial killing spree in 1978 and is a returning in this trilogy. Variety predicts this final chapter of the threequel will earn $130 million in the U.S. alone. Since a slasher costs around $20 million to make, $60 million in ticket sales is considered a success. Therefore, viewers can anticipate additional storylines, and more “Halloween” films, making the title Halloween Ends a ghoulish oxymoron. (Lisa Miller)
Old Man
(Limited Theatrical Release & Streaming on AppleTV & VUDU, Oct 10th)
Lost, and claiming he can’t remember how he got there, a hiker named Joe (Marc Senter), arrives at a remote mountain cabin. It belongs to an irascible, eccentric old man (Stephen Lang) and is off the grid. He trusts no one and is suspicious of Joe from the get-go, interrogating the hiker at the point of a rifle. Making his screenwriting debut, Joel Veach scripts a masterful back-and-forth that insinuates these characters are connected by a damning secret. Initially, Joe appears no match for this self-sufficient hermit, but twists upon twists keep this chamber thriller surprising. Their connection, slowly revealed via conversation and bits of action, benefits from mesmerizing performances. Lang, now 70, shows he hasn’t lost his chops from Don’t Breathe. For these 97 minutes, we won’t. (Lisa Miller)
