OCTOBER 23, 2014 1:07PM
Return of the Queen
HALLOWEEN H20: TWENTY YEARS LATER
Released: August 1998
Director: Steve Miner
Writers: Robert Zappia, Matt Greenberg, Debra Hill, John Carpenter
Notable Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, LL Cool J
Plot: On Halloween in 1963, Michael Myers murdered his sister, Judith. In 1978, he broke out to kill his other sister, Laurie Strode. He killed all of her friends, but she escaped. A few years later, she faked her death so he couldn't find her. But now, in 1998, Michael has returned and found all the papers he needs to find her. He tracks her down to a private school where she has gone under a new name with her son, John. And now, Laurie must do what she should have done a long time ago and finally decided to hunt down the evil one last time. (source: imdb.com)
Commentary: Reportedly, Jamie Lee Curtis decided to return to the role of Laurie Strode as a thank-you to the horror fans that helped to launch her career.
At that point, the Halloween franchise had become the three-headed incestous spawn of the original, with Jamie Lee Curtis nowhere in sight and more contrived relatives of Michael Myers for him to slash-n-stalk.
"What about Halloweens 4, 5 and 6???!" clamored some angry, didactic fans who can't sleep if a series doesn't hold to some tired and stale progression or continuity. Well, they completely ignored 4, 5 and 6.
Wouldn't you?
I would have. Although those three films hold a potential seed for the franchise to come back to life:
(To see what I'm talking about, start at 3:47 ish)
Halloween H2O was great for completionists and for those who regard 1, 2 and 7 as one story. It cues and cites the original's mythology very effectively, and you do feel like you're seamlessly catching up with Laurie Strode twenty years later.
You certainly can't deny JLC's powerful performance here as the haunted woman who twenty years ago survived a harrowing night of horror on Halloween and All Saint's Day. A lot of time may have passed since that night, but in the back of her mind, she knows her brother isn't dead and he's going to try to kill her again.
Here's where I don't like H20: as a horror movie, it sucks. In fact, despite inferior acting and dumb plot, the staging and filming of the scare scenes in Halloween 4 far exceeds H20.
No menace, no tension, just well-lit, rote lather-rinse-repeat kills and "boos!" that you see coming from a mile away. A generally flat atmosphere. As I keep saying like a broken record, nothing matches the original's masterful minimalist blend of music and cinematography to scare you to the bone.
I'd go so far as to say that, with it's climactic conforntation (which is worth watching), H2O feels more like a Western instead of a horror movie.
Another point I dislike is the "Kevin Williamson-ness" of it all (he is credited as an executive co-producer). The knowing self-referential winks at horror tropes, the clips of the Scream movies playing in the background, the 1990's it guys and girls populating it - it all cheapened what should have been a triumphant final chapter.
I'll consider it the final chapter, though. Because Halloween 8 exists in it's own fictional universe of utter suck.
Final things to note:
- Janet Leigh makes an appearance with her daughter. Cute - but they actually appeared together in John Carpenter's The Fog years earlier.
- LL Cool J. The hip hop stars in horror post WILL happen, probably in the next year!
What We're Afraid Of: It's tough to say in this case. As an extension of Halloween and Halloween 2, it should have dealt with loose teen morals and such, but it did so only faintly. Because it was really about Laurie's Strode battle not just to survive but to confront and rid herself of her demon. She's now an adult woman with her own agency so the game has changed.
It's a personal horror, I guess. Some people have said it's about alcoholism. What do you think?
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Comments
When you heralded the
return of the Queen, I assumed you meant Elvira - Mistress of the Dark,
always enjoyed staying up to the wee hours watching her antics between
segments of B- horror flicks... but H20 was cool too. R&R ;-)
I like what Roger Ebert
said about Michael Meyers in his notes on Halloween H20: He'd be a
marvel for medical science to study because "He can take a licking and
keep on slicing."
I think you must be about ready to make your on horror movie.
@jmac, Elvira has resurrected herself in style, no need to worry!
@Jerry - meh, that's just a function of Hollywood franchise milking, no science behind it
@Zanelle - my horror movies would never be greenlit ;)
@Jerry - meh, that's just a function of Hollywood franchise milking, no science behind it
@Zanelle - my horror movies would never be greenlit ;)
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