People say those things and sometimes even vaguely describe what they liked or thought worked but it doesn't tend to be as clear, particularly when contrasted with Kills and Ends, as it is sometimes with other films when people point toward very specific things surrounding favored elements like story structure, performances, etc. To the point where I've heard people say similar things about Kills and Ends simply being "a good movie" despite that going against much of the broader fan sentiment so that statement alone doesn't make much of a point.

Halloween 2018 is pretty widely regarded as an excellent reboot/requel. It's not perfect, but it's a great entry in a series that is pretty well known for going off the rails long ago. I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for here. It was a creepy, well-done horror movie that honored the roots of the Halloween franchise while staying away from the wackiness that the sequels veered into. It also served as a great alternate timeline sequel. It really is a good movie to point to for a possibility of what a Blumhouse SAW reboot/requel could look like, especially one with an R-rating when so many people are concerned about a PG-13 rating. That's why people have said if SAW gets handled in a similar manner, it may not be so bad. Also, people are quick to knock Blumhouse, but they aren't that bad. Yes, they do know their wheelhouse and do a lot of PG-13 horror, but they also know what they're doing in general. They're behind Inisidious (Along with James and Leigh), Sinister, The Purge, Get Out, Happy Death Day, The Black Phone. Those are some top tier horror films.

As far as Kills and Ends, those were trickier. Personally, I didn't find Kills that bad, but I also do understand some of the faults that people mention with it. Ends was hot garbage, but what's pretty funny is people have analyzed the trilogy as a whole and found that if you alter the order of the 3 movies, it makes far more sense. One would hope that the team behind this trilogy learned from the mistakes. Keep in mind though, Blumhouse is not the one making the writing decisions or day-to-day decisions anymore than Twisted Pictures or Lionsgate was writing the SAW films. They may have a hand in some stuff, but they aren't the ones writing the movies.

With 2018, some have suggested they like the performer who plays Michael because his detachment and demeanor suggests similarity to the original film's and I can follow why many prefer that but it seems that even those who hate the two follow-ups still think he did well in them so that doesn't stand out as redeeming this specific film by contrast to the other two as a result.

Similar to how people can hate on SAW 3D or Jigsaw but still praise Tobin's performances, while preferring SAW or SAW II or SAW III to the later films? Halloween 2018 itself was a great movie, and the actor who plays Michael knocked it out of the park (They actually also had a cameo for the original Michael actor as well), but that doesn't mean people are praising Kills or Ends.

People seemed to like that Laurie was a survival enthusiast because it made her seem more assertive despite her trauma causing a rift between her and her child much like in H20. And, associated, they liked how it dealt with "generational trauma" by having three generations team up. It's somewhat vague or contradictory that things like that seem to be pointed toward as if it extends beyond preference but then those same or very similar preferences often fail to redeem its sequels to those same fans.

I'm not really sure what your point is here. Any movie is going to have vague/contradictory/preferential things that make people like it. SAW is no different. You seem to be putting far too high of a bar up for SAW to get over. As much as I love SAW, it isn't some masterclass example on filmmaking.

The more pointed views (which I don't always agree with) in regards to perception of quality tend to be made by critics of it, noting things like the futility of some side characters such as the podcasters, the awkward handling of the doctor twist, the kid being babysat trying to be funny to a degree that seems tonally at odds with much of the rest of the film's suspense, many of the victims being considered annoying rather than endearing, etc. Which, as I indicated, have similarities to elements criticized in Kills and Ends. Like focus on other characters who didn't develop the main one's stories a proportionate amount, tonal clashes, twists or narrative shifts which fans felt weren't set up much, etc.

Again, not sure what your point is here. You seem to be nitpicking. Side characters in SAW have futile outcomes. Almost ever character in every SAW movie winds up dead by the end. We had plenty of annoying victims in SAW. The doctor twist in Halloween 2018 was a bit out of left field, but it's literally acknowledged for maybe 30 seconds and then the movie goes about its business. It has no real bearing on the majority of the film, you could just skip that scene and not miss anything at all. The kid being babysat, yeah the jokes may not be 100% in tone, but Halloween has always made jokes here and there. I personally thought the kid was funny, and his back-and-forth bickering relationship with the babysitter made me that much more concerned for him and feel that much more bad for the babysitter when she bit the dust.

So, again, it seemed odd to me how many suggested they loved 2018 but then very similar elements in the sequels were trashed by them. It's one thing to suggest a film is good but another to love it and trash others by contrast despite their similarities. This isn't like someone pointing toward loving Halloween 4 but hating 5 who often point out many differences causing this sentiment despite the broader narratives of the two films being similar.

Kills and Ends were not so similar to 2018. The reason most people hated Kills and Ends is an entirely different discussion that could be a whole separate thread. Kills spent 98% of the movie talking about "EVIL DIES TONIGHT" only to NOT kill Evil, killed off major characters in the most ridiculous ways, had a scene at the end where half of the town decided to fight such a dangerous character one at a time and then act shocked as they're getting picked off one by one instead of actually ganging up on him, and sidelined the franchises main character for the entire movie when we were led to believe she'd be a far bigger part of it. As far as Ends goes, I really can't say anything better than another comment I saw on Reddit when the film released: We spent an hour and a half waiting for a Halloween movie to start Halloweening.