As 1995 came to a close, the Halloween franchise was in the worst shape its ever been. Along with the death of the legendary Donald Pleasance, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers entered the conversation as one of the worst horror films of all time. Poor reviews and a poor box office left fans wondering if Michael Myers was truly dead.
1996 came around and Scream was released in theaters. The Wes Craven film brought life into a genre that had grown lackluster and needed a pulse. The horror craze reignited with Scream and soon after the Akkads’ wanted to resurrect the Halloween franchise again.
H20 sees the return of Jamie Lee Curtis back in the role that shot her to stardom, Laurie Strode. Originally, Curtis, John Carpenter and Debra Hill were supposed to return to act, direct and produce but Carpenter asked for a $10 million dollar payday and the studio said no. He left the project and the film was left in the hands of director Steve Miner.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later’s plot removes any continuity eliminating the events of Halloween 4, 5 and 6 and is a direct sequel of Halloween and Halloween II. This move was rare at the time as franchises usually attempted to continue where it leaves off in the prior film despite how good or really BAD they are.
At the time of its release, H20 was a highly anticipated horror release. With Curtis returning, and teen stars Michelle Williams and Josh Hartnett, there was no reason to think that the film would be a failure. Boy was I wrong. Despite enjoying it, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is a product of the time and comes off extremely dated. It seems like the film was created just to exploit the audience of their money since the resurgence of horror thanks to Scream.
The addition of Kevin Williamson’s script did nothing to revive the franchise and only aided to it falling flat upon its release. The lead teens’ dialogue was filled with adult vocabulary and conversation (similar to what you heard on his show, Dawson’s Creek) rather than teens just being teens and speaking in real teen language. Some of the film’s dialogue comes off pretentious at times and it hurts the overall enjoyment of the film.
Outside of the script, the two biggest deterrents of this film were its score and the Michael Myers mask. In my latest viewing of H20, I counted at least 5 different masks used throughout the film; not to mention the terrifyingly awful CGI mask that makes an appearance too. This is the least scary Michael Myers has looked in 20 years of existence. The mask, along with the worst score of the franchise, took away the feeling of watching a Halloween movie. The score felt ripped off of Scream which took away the feeling that I was watching a Halloween film and a just Scream 2.0.
Now, let’s look at some of the bright spots of H20. Jaime Lee Curtis is sensational in this film. She enters back into the role of Laurie Strode like if she never left it. She’s able to progress her character from an innocent babysitter to the dean of Hillcrest Academy, who will finally stand up to her monster. Adam Arkin is my personal favorite in this film. His chemistry with both Jaime Lee and the teens is underrated and should be commended. His delivery to Molly (Michelle Williams) and Sarah (She’s All That‘s Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) that he’s off to have his nipples pierced still remains to be laugh out loud funny. Josh Hartnett and Michelle Williams are also solid in the film and Hartnett and LL Cool J’s back and forth diatribe make for some of the funniest moments of the film.
The very best moment of this film and the most shocking since Halloween 4 is the finale. Laurie cutting Michael Myer’s head off while the original Halloween score plays is a nod to the original and a memorable scene.
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is a film that I am happy exists. Despite being extremely dated, its finale would have ended the Halloween franchise on a high note and given it well deserved closure. Regrettably, we don’t get to feel that end for long.
Reel Talk gives Halloween H20: 20 Years Later 3 Reels
