HalloweenH20

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

So before I start the review I wanted to give everyone a heads up. This movie ignores the events of Halloween 3-6, and is supposed to be a sequel to what happens in the 1st pair of movies. With this in mind the movie opens with Michael Myers tracking down his sister Laurie thru Dr. Loomis’s files. Now the doctor is already dead, but lucky of Myers his nurse still has the files. After dispatching her and a few of the neighbors he finds that Laurie has changed her name and is now running a private school. He tracks her down and sure enough on the 31st he is chasing her and her son around the campus killing anyone that gets in his way.

You know I don’t remember liking this movie when I first saw it (I caught it on it’s theatrical run… yeah I’m old) and haven’t seen it since. And I don’t know if this is the Rob Zombie sequels talking here (I really hated them) but I actually liked it this time around. This movie goes back to the style of the original and doesn’t have much in the way of a body count, and the kills are sort of tame. But I did think that there is quite a bit of atmosphere and there are some jump kills that work pretty well. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that this is as creepy or scary as Carpenter’s masterpiece. That might be the scariest movie that I’ve ever watched. My comparison is that H20 tries to be scary and not terribly gory which is nice change of pace.

Also the returning to the series for the 1st time since Halloween 2 is Jamie Lee Curtis. For me it just isn’t a Halloween movie without her presence as Laurie Strode and it was great to see her return to the role. Not only is she a great actress, but she also brings some history to the character that no one else can. I’m not going to spoil the ending for you guys, but it is a nice conclusion to her storyline in the series. Too bad she returned for another sequel. Add in her mother, Janet Leigh, in a small role that allows the movie to make a couple of nods to the classic horror flick Psycho and you have some added fun for the genre crowd.

This is a slasher movie so we need to talk gore. Now like I’ve said this is a pretty tame when it comes to splashing the red stuff around. There are only 2 onscreen kills in the entire movie. In fact the best bit of gore has to do with a dumbwaiter and a young lady that Myers is chasing. It is gruesome, but not fatal to her. That comes a bit later! As far as the other non special effects stuff I thought that the camerawork and lighting were decent. There are a couple of scenes where you see Myers appear from the shadows in the background that were well done. It was also cool to hear some familiar music as well as musical queues used. Not only do we get to hear bits of the Carpenter score again, but there is even a touch of Psycho.

Halloween H20 manages to be reminiscent of the earlier entries of the series without feeling like they were rehashing or trying to rip it off. Compared to what has happened with the Halloween franchise now I think that this one is well worth adding to your collection. And with the new DVD from Echo Bridge it is an inexpensive purchase.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer