Cinema Crazed

1998

Rated: R for adult language, graphic violence, sexual content, and gore.

Genre: Horror Suspense Thriller

Directed By: Steve Miner

Written By: Robert Zappia, Matt Greenberg

Dimension Films

Running Time: 1:26

Review by: Steve Ward

Review Date: 11/17/10

HALLOWEEN H20

So This movie is a bit unique among the "Halloween" franchise as it tries to do two things: 1. Take the series back to the beginning by ignoring every movie after "Halloween 2," and bring Jamie Lee Curtis face-to-face with Michael. 2. Be just like all the other '90's "neo-slashers" by bringing in the popular TV doll faced actors, and having a contemporary rock soundtrack. 20 years after surviving the night "He Came Home", Laurie Strode attempts to live a normal life under her new name Keri Tate: a teacher at some hoity-toity high school in California.

Even after 2 decades, she is still haunted by thoughts of her homicidal brother Michael Myers still being alive and coming for her. On Halloween night, her worst nightmare becomes a reality. I generally like the outset of this movie, kicking things off right with the awesome Ice-skate to the face of the first dumbass teenager we meet. It feels pretty promising at this point, and Steve Miner does a nice job bringing a lot of the old "Halloween" suspense back in pretty effective fashion. For those of you who didn't know; Steve directed "Friday the 13th Part 2 & 3D," so the dude knows what he's doing. Jamie Lee Curtis' acting is immensely better than it was in the first film.

She does a great job being a likeable character who is suffering from a haunting past, raising a teenage son (and a yuppie one at that), and teaching high school students. Generally the acting is pretty good, even LL Cool J did a nice job. I like the slutty brunette played by Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, She is quite sexy and the gore effects for her unfortunate encounter with Myers is pretty heavy. The ending to this movie was pretty cool as well, Definitely entertaining.

Josh Hartnett, god damn this dude pisses me off! He is such a lousy actor, and always has been either overacting or under acting in the most annoying ways. Remember "The Faculty"? That would have been a cool movie if it weren't for this enema bag. The murders are all pretty weak, most of them happen off camera. That's the trouble with these "Halloween" movies, they aren't reliable when it comes to delivering a body count. If you want a good "hack em up" flick, the "Friday The 13th" movies have always been a better bet. I rolled my eyes a bit at Jaime Lee's bravado when it comes to her big showdown with Michael, she's way too gung-ho about the whole thing, literally calling him out at one point. She spends the whole movie being horrified at the thought of Michael coming back, and when it happens she suddenly goes all Sigourney Weaver on us. Not to mention that it kind of loses the luster of Laurie a bit. In the first movie she was scared shitless, and just did whatever she could to survive. Now she's a badass? Doesn't add up to me. Lastly, why is there no nudity in the movie? Especially with a hottie like Jodi Lyn in it. We need a naked girl or two in any good slasher flick. This is too much of that "Scream" influence shining through, and it does a number on my enjoyment. Damn teenyboppers.

Halloween H20 is a fun watch. Any fan of the series that hasn't seen it yet really should. A lot of fans put this one down and say it wasn't the best in the series. There are a lot of reasons why that are true, but it's still Halloween and it's still a fun flick to enjoy. H20 is a decent, enjoyable movie that respects it's predecessor and it's fans.

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