masked killer Michael Myers surviving the fire of 2018's Halloween and wreaking havoc across the town of Haddonfield, Illinois. While Laurie is confined to a hospital bed for the duration of the sequel the townspeople, led by returning character Tommy Doyle, take it upon themselves to enact revenge against Michael.
Early on in Halloween Kills, Doyle and a handful of other survivors are commemorating the 40th anniversary of Michael Myers' capture at a local bar. When someone mistakenly spots another escaped psychiatric patient as Michael in the parking lot, Tommy launches a town-wide search, recruiting anyone willing to in. All hell breaks loose at the hospital when the patient Lance arrives in need of help and the mob mentality intensifies, leading to a chase that ends in Lance's death.
Halloween Kills' frenzied mob is certainly frightening as they storm the hospital, but the gravity of the moment is counteracted by the graphic nature of Lance's death. Karen's attempts to protect him and reason with the mob fail and he is forced to jump when everyone advances on him. The next shot shows Lance's mangled body as the crowd finally snaps out of its hive mind and realizes they collectively hounded a man to death. Perhaps this would have been even more effective if Lance's body had not been shown in gleefully gory detail or his death had somehow been averted, and the mob realized they had let their fears consume them.
The mob mentality subplot falls flat due to how predictable it is and how it involves Tommy, who is ultimately a one-note character who doesn't have much to do other than incite his fellow residents. Halloween Kills' ending scene where the townspeople beat Michael could have felt even more triumphant if more time had been dedicated to their individual character arcs - especially the retired Sheriff Brackett, who wants revenge for his daughter's death in the 1978 original - instead of a separate subplot that didn't pay off. While conceptually intriguing this storyline doesn't feel properly developed or explored in the final movie, and the script could have benefitted from another past at it.
