Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Michael Myers is back yet again.  The movie opens after the events of H20.  Only we discover that it wasn’t Michael that Laurie killed at the end of that movie.  Michael had pulled a switch and is still running around.  Though beheading the wrong person has put Laurie in a mental hospital.  This is where Michael finally catches up with her.  Then the action moves to the Myers house where a reality show is going to tape a live special.  With his house filled with college students Michael goes on another killing spree.  The bodies pile up as the cast is done away with.  Who lives and who dies? 

I remember seeing this movie when it came out in the theaters and I remember really disliking it.  Now I don’t know if it is the fact that I’ve seen some really terrible movies since then (Zombie’s Halloween comes to mind…) but I didn’t dislike it so much this time around.  The story is paced pretty well and we get a nice sprinkling of kills throughout to keep things interesting.  I thought that the idea of having an audience watching the reality show and having them help the victims was interesting.  I mean how many times have you been watching a horror movie and yelled at the screen?  Here the audience actually gets to help. 

I also really remember hating the whole Busta Rhymes Kung Fu thing.  But this time around I thought it was sort of funny.  I mean his character is the comic relief and is one of the most memorable from the movie.  So all in all I thought it was okay.  Then again of the characters in this movie his is the only one that I will remember at all.  Sadly this movie falls victim to the same thing that killed so many ’90s and ‘2000s horror films.  A pretty but very bland cast that is forgotten almost as soon as the flick is over.  If you think about it the highlight of many of the best slashers are the memorable characters that are victims.  This one has none of that and suffers for it. 

Of course since this is a slasher movie we do have to talk some special effects.  The kills in this one harken back to what we have already seen from the series.  We get a guy pinned to the kitchen door with butcher knives, a nifty little beheading (the head rolling down the stairs was a nice touch), and Michael crushes a man’s head.  There is also an impalement and a knife thru the noggin’ that I rather enjoyed.  The kills might not be as explicit as those from the’80s and there looks to be some CGI assists used in some of them.  But overall my inner gore hound was satisfied with what they put on the screen.  Can’t really say that about many of the newer horror flicks.

Is Halloween: Resurrection a great movie?  Not really.  And it also misses the tension and atmosphere of the original. But it does have a solid story and doesn’t try and rewrite Michael’s history.  This is much better then some of the other entries in the series.  Personally I’m not sure why I was so harsh the last time I saw this one, but I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong.  This isn’t too bad of an entry to the Halloween franchise.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2011 John Shatzer