In the previous entry in this blog series I reviewed
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and what I mentioned was this was the beginning
of the Miramax era in the Halloween Franchise and all the rights there in.
When I was in my senior year of High School in 1998 it was
announced that Jamie Lee Curtis was returning to the franchise that made her
career in Halloween: H20. Now.Now I have to admit that the first time that I saw this
flick was an interesting time for me and with the night and the events that happened
to me had ramifications for many years and when I think of this film I am made
to think of these events.
The truth is that H20 isn’t one of my favorites. As a
longtime fan of the franchise I was bothered by the fact that 4, 5, and 6 were
erased from existence.
Now for those of you that are asking what I mean by this is
that the Weinstein’s and Dimension films decided that this film is essentially
Halloween 3. They even went as far to call it the concluding chapter in the
Halloween series and with the return of Jamie Lee Curtis as well as the casting
of Josh Harnett, and Michelle Williams who was hot at the time due to her role on
Dawson’s Creek there was much hype on this flick and on opening day the theatre
was packed to capacity.
The reason for this was in fact Jamie Lee Curtis who
admitted that she was not a fan of Halloween 2 and only did the film out of
loyalty to John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
Open about the fact that she didn’t see any of the sequels Jamie
Lee Curtis thought of a story where her character after 20 years is once again
confronted by her brother and must face him and kill him in the end.
This will become an issue later.
The plot of the film is that Michael Myers appears at nurse
Chambers’ house where Dr. Loomis lived be his before his death shortly before
the film where he learns of Laurie’s whereabouts and sets out for California.
Laurie Strode has relocated to California and under the
assumed name of Carrie Tate she lives as the head Mistress of a posh private
school that her 17 year old son John also attends.
John has grown accustomed to his mother’s PTSD as Laurie has
become a function alcoholic and prescription drug addict who has multiple meltdowns
every year on Halloween. Laurie’s
overprotectiveness of John causes many issues for mother and son.
Michael arrives and what we get is a film that in a Hollywood
style pitch is Psycho meets Scream…and it is a sequel to Halloween.
7 Dead Bodies
0 Breasts
1 Beast
Ice Skate to the face
2 Knives to the back
2 Throat Slashings
1 Hanging
1 Moter Vehicle Chase
Legs Roll
Heads Roll
Look for Future Hollywood Players Josh Harnett as Laurie’s
son John and Joseph Gordon Levitt as Jimmy the first victim in the flick.
Nice Refrence to Psycho in the scene where Jamie Lee's mother Psycho star Janet Leigh goes to her car which is the scame car from Psycho.
This actually was a chapter that I almost considered passing
up on the bluray box set but I am glad that I didn’t.
There were features on this disc in the collection that
explained many issues that I had with the film.
Now one of the issues that I was just confused is the
multiple masks that were in the film which all that managed to accomplish was
the fact that I began to think that there were multiple Michael Myers in the
film and as it turned out I was not that far off.
The reason that I admitted that this film was not one of my favorites
was the way Michael Myers was both portrayed and killed in the film.
In the Ending of Halloween H20 Laurie Strode in a final
encounter with Michael Myers manages to subdue her brother but before she can
make the final kill she is stopped by LL Cool J and soon the police and EMTs
arrive and while Michael is being loaded into the coroner’s van Laurie realizes
that this is how he is going to make his escape and after stealing a gun form a
nearby officer she orders that Michael be loaded into the van and takes off
with her brother in the back.
As she predicted Michael soon reawakens in the back of the
van and a final confrontation ensues which concludes with Michael pinned under
the van as it sets on fire with Laurie standing over him with the Axe.
After Michael tries to make peace with his sister which we
all knew was a trick she chops his head off with the Axe ending the movie.
Now what I didn’t know was the conflict that this brought
into production.
As it turns out Jamie Lee Curtis was brought into the film
due to Miramax and the film that she wanted was this ending.
Well into preproduction this was the intention until Mustafa
Akkad became aware of the ending and revealed that there was in his contract
that Michael Myers never dies. This needless to say didn’t sit too well with
Jamie Lee Curtis.
With Jamie Lee threatening to drop out of the film just
before production the creative heads involved with the project scrambles to
find a solution and with both the film’s star and the franchise’s head refusing
to budge on their positions it seemed that the film would be halted.
Scream writer Kevin Williamson soon reached the solution
that Laurie Strode would kill Michael Myers but what the viewers and the
characters don’t know is that Michael has switched bodies with an EMT after
crushing his voice box and he would return in the next film when all is
revealed.
Jamie Lee Curtis as a measure of compromise would sign on
for the next film on the condition that her character would die early in the
film and the filming continued on as planned.
This therefor brings us to Halloween Resurrection.
Now this is where I am going to get into trouble as I have
been in trouble here before because I am actually both a fan and a supporter of
the film. Facts that I have received much ridicule and hate from friends and
fans alike.
Now I have to admit that I did go into the film with all of
my expectations low and didn’t even see the film until it had been in the
theatres for a week or two and I finally went to see it in a particularly empty
theatre.
I know that many of my Horror reviewing Brethren have highly
bashed the film but this flick is on my guilty pleasures list.
Picking up a brief few years after the events of Halloween
H20 you now find that Laurie Strode has now learned that she killed a father of
three has now been institutionalized where Michael soon finds her.
As per her contract that I was well aware of at the time in
the film’s opening Jamie faces off against her brother for the final time
before meeting her fate after he outsmarts her and drops her off the roof with
her vowing to see him in Hell.
The way Michael defeats her makes reference to a scene in
H20 that I had issue with which after listening to the commentaries and DVD
features that this was all preplanned.
Now I feel that this is the issue that many will have with
the film as that we are seeing our long time protagonist meeting her end in a
way that makes the character feel weak which this was Jamie Lee’s idea for the
character. I guess the fact that I already know this going into the film is why
it didn’t bother me.
The film then returns to Haddonfield where there is a
reality show being filmed in the Myers House for Dangertainment on as you most
likely guessed the show airs live on Halloween Night.
Produced by Freddie Harris and Nora Winston (Busta Rhymes
and Tyra Banks) The show follows the modern trends of reality television at the
time and this is in fact a webcast across the internet and the producers assemble
a cast of local college students including the trio of Jen, Rudy and Sara.
Sara is cast after a light falls behind her during her
audition making her scream and Freddie convinces her to join the cast despite
her misgivings. Sara is also involved in an internet friendship with a man
named Deckard. Unknown to Sara Deckard is actually a High School Freshman who
is attending a Halloween party than night though he still catches the webcast
with many of the party goers.
Soon Michael Myers begins to stalk and take out both the
cast and crew while Sara IRC Chats with Deckard to know how to escape the house
while Freddie and Michael face off in a fiery confrontation.
10 Dead Bodies
2 Breasts
1 Beast
Hanging
Slashing
Multiple Stabbings
Face Ripping
Skull Crushing
Heads Roll
Another issue that
many had with this flick that caused it’s failure was the casting of Busta
Rhymes.
I personally don’t see the issue with the casting now many were talking about
his acting however I will admit that I have encountered many producers like the
character of Freddie and they are very similar to the character and Rhymes’s
performance is just like them.
Now many are hung up on the Hip Hop artist and the typical
demographic of the Halloween fans aren’t Hip Hop fans but he isn’t rapping in
the film so I personally don’t care if he is a musician. I do like the
character.
Yes I am the type of director that will be sitting in my
motel room watching Martial Arts films on the evening before a shoot.
Canadian actor and stunt performer Brad Loree plays Michael
this time out and also does a good job and I love the Mask by the way.
I also liked the way that the internet is utilized in the
film as Deckard is able to tell Sara where to go effectively adding a new
dimension to the film with the characters thinking that they are watching a
show but soon learning the horrifying fact that what they are watching is real effectively
giving the film a Blair Witch reference and a War of the Worlds reference as
well though Audiences are well aware that the film is fiction but watching many
of the previous entries for the first time audiences would frequently be seen
yelling at the screen.
Well in this movie the characters are listening.
The DVD and Blu-Ray Releases do have a special feature
option where you can see the found footage show as it is airing.
The film was directed by Halloween director Rick Rosenthal
and filmed on a soundstage in Canada which was a first for the series. I do
like the camerawork and the editing as well. The look of the film and sound
design is great and I can’t complain about it.
Bianca Kajlich is both hot and a great Final Girl for the
flick. I almost would have expected this role for a pre Battlestar Galactica Katee
Sackhoff before becoming Starbuck in the role of the celebrity narcissistic Jen
.
The Ending scene in the Morgue is a nice touch!
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Needless to say this flick is a good stand-alone film in the
series and while often regarded as the redheaded stepchild due to the death of
Jamie Lee and the Martial Arts rapper but these don’t bother me and if you ask
me what could be worse.
Well you could always hire a Rock Star
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