Written by Josh Brewer, September 30, 2016, at 7:30 p.m.
Title: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Director: Steven Miner
Writer: Robert Zappia, Matt Greenberg
Release Date: August 5, 1998
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Harnett, Michelle Williams, Adam Arkin, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, LL Cool J, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Cliff’s Notes
Everyone pretends that the last three flicks didn’t happen – if only that were true for Part 6! – so Laurie Strode has changed her name and become a headmaster at some preppy boarding school. She suffers from PTSD and has a son. Life is… suitable. Don’t worry though, Michael Myers has something to say about that.
Lecture
Halloween H20 serves as a kind of breaking point. It does everything it can to retcon the previous three films, more on that later, and tries to unify the series and move it into a new direction. While this is a great idea, the effect is not exactly what’s desired from one of the foremost horror franchises. The new effort feels more like Scream + Halloween, not Halloween 7. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a little Scream flavoring. But the film never embraces the postmodern strategy the way Scream does, so the result is more like IKWYDLS: occasionally smart but formulaic.
That being said, there are a lot of bonuses here. The actors rock their respective roles, with Harnett and Curtis bringing a level of humanity to the proceedings.
The slasher revival films finally address PTSD, something that’s only hinted at in the 80’s, and Halloween H20 is one of the best. The film explores the effects of trauma, not only of the victim, but also on the victim’s family and friends. H20 gets extra help by having a trio of awesome actors handling the heavier aspects of the script.
Even though this contributes to the slower pace of the beginning of the film, I didn’t mind because the film was doing something interesting. The same can be said for the ending of the film. Laurie and Michael get to go at each other, realizing twenty years of build up between the abusive brother and survivor type.
Alas, not every knife is sharp in this kitchen. With the exception of a pair of early horror bits, Halloween H20 is sorely lacking scares in its second act. With only a pair of kills before the third act, there’s a lot of running around with very little reward. The film does everything it can to establish a few well defined characters, but then doesn’t ever really put them at risk. Because of this, the film lacks punch.
And as for the retcon, I can’t say that I hate the idea. Getting rid of Parts 5 and 6 is wonderful, but that means I’m missing Jamie and Loomis and their effects on the story. Loomis is mentioned, Donald Pleasence passed before the film was made, but by removing the previous three entries, the series loses everything that he gave to it. I can see trying to pull Jamie from the Halloween-verse, but there’s no way in hell you can cut Loomis. The story deserves better.
Acting
Curtis returns to her horror roots and really shows off why she’s one of the genre’s best. Her work with Harnett steals the show early on. Speaking of, Harnett knocks his role out of the park and gives a fantastic show. Williams, O’Keefe, and Hann-Byrd fill the teen roles well. LL Cool J does what he has to do, but seems a little underutilized. I dug his comedic every man who has to put up with the rich kids, but wanted more if him. Right now, he serves the plot and little else.
Directing
Miner hits and misses without too much consistency. His work establishing the characters is nice, but it takes 70 minutes for the actual horror to kick into gear. Despite his solid background, most of the horror work lacks specificity and shows a limited control of pacing and tension. Oh-hum.
Script
The script has a number of cool parts, loved the school chase and the finale, but it takes a while to get going. That’s not usually a problem in my book, but with a flick this short, it’s a major issue. That being said, the focus of the early piece, especially in terms of the relationship between Laurie and John, shines as a welcome relief from the characterless efforts in Parts 6 and 8. Also, this flick screams “Structure be Damned,” which really isn’t the right call for a film this short.
Effects
Michael kills folks, but plenty of those deaths go down off-screen. Still, the stabbings go well and give a little kick to the flick.
Highlights
I loved the school chase. It provided a number of solid tension bits and the table tossing moments were great. Also, this:
Lowlights
This thing only runs 86 minutes. Think about that, remember you paid full price, and then give a thought to how much more this flick could have been. The entire thing feels rushed and it doesn’t need to be.
Halloween-iness
Halloween H20 reeks of Halloween light. All of the pieces are there, but without the calories or full taste. Michael kills some kids, Laurie fights to survive, and the score still rocks. Too bad it’s all a light version of what the series does right.
Final Thoughts
One of the better sequels, and easily the best of the group released after 1990, Halloween H20 stands out because of its solid cast and quality third act. Alas, it stumbles around for the first 70 minutes and wipes away any of the good grace that Part 4 tosses its way in order to move the series to a more 90’s centric vibe.
