Halloween: Being The Adventures Of Michael Myers | Halloween: The Night He Came Home | Halloween II
Halloween III: The Season Of The Witch | Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers
Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers | Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers | Halloween: H20 | Halloween: Resurrection

Setting: Summer Glen, California, 29 October, 1998

Ignoring all films since Halloween II, this instalment sees Michael return to find and attempt to murder John Strode, the son of the now-alive-again Laurie Strode. He begins by ransacking the home of Dr Loomis's assistant, Nurse Chambers, stealing the file on Laurie - killing Chambers and her neighbours at the same time. He then travels to Summer Glen, now equipped with the knowledge that this is where Laurie Strode lives, having changed her name to Keri Tate and taken a job as Headteacher of Hilcrest School, an isolated boarding school in the middle of nowhere. Over the Halloween weekend, most of the teachers and pupils go on a school trip, leaving only Laurie, her son, three of his friends, councillor Will Brenan, and Ronny, the security guard.

Michael soon arrives, killing John's friends and Will (who Laurie was in love with) and attempting to kill John. Laurie makes sure John and his girlfriend Molly escape before grabbing an axe and returning to confront Michael.

In the ensuing fight, Laurie stabs Michael with a flag and is prevented from repeatedly stabbing him by Ronny, the security guard. Ronny had survived being shot by Will, who had mistaken him for Michael. When the police and medics arrive, Laurie steals Michael's body, drives off a cliff and chops his head off.

Deaths

Cast

Those with names in italics are recurring characters.

Review:

Ignoring everything since Halloween II, contradicting the previous plotlines and abandoning the characters from Curse, 1998's Halloween H20 is a disappointment. Although it brings back Jamie Lee Curtis's character of Laurie Strode, she lacks the charisma of Tommy Doyle and the others from Curse, and is accompanied by mere typical teen stereotypes.

Since Curse Of Michael Myers was made in 1995, a new slasher craze had swept the world, led by films such as Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Halloween H20 comes across as an attempt to cash in on that fashion, especially with the involvement of scribe Kevin Williamson, writer of both the Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer series. It should therefore come as no surprise that, abandoning the risky, original approach of Curse, Halloween H20 instead comes across as a mere remake of a remake, a carbon copy of I Know What You Did Last Summer which was in itself a copy of Halloween. This point is reinforced by the characters in Halloween H20 watching Scream, a film in which the characters watch Halloween.

Halloween H20 spends its time trying to make you jump, rather than actually scaring you. Although it has dispensed with the ridiculous death counts of the previous Halloween films, you still do not feel as if you connect with any of the characters at risk, all of which are no more than vague stereotypes. It would not have hurt if there had been more deaths (although Ronny was shot several times by Will, he survives, possibly motivated by PC concerns of not wasting a sympathetic ethnic character). The film would have been more realistic if he had died - and possibly more watchable, as his character can actually be more annoying than sympathetic.

The central idea, that Michael only kills his members of his family when they are 17 years old, is an interesting one, but little else. Although it ties in with Judith's death and his attack on Laurie 15 years later - and indeed why he has now returned to kill John - you are never told actually why 17 is such an important age. Nor are you given a satisfactory explanation of what Michael Myers has been doing for the past 20 years.

Halloween H20 spends its time trying to look clever, when in reality it isn't. The sweeping camera movements make you feel more seasick than scared.

The film also pays its dues to the history of the genre with a sweet scene involving Jamie Lee Curtis's real-life mother, Janet Leigh, who starred in Psycho. Leigh appears in a cameo, having a conversation with Laurie Strode that is as much about what happened to her in Psycho as it is about Laurie's experiences in Halloween. To hammer the point home, a sample from the soundtrack of Psychoplays in the background.

Although not as bad as Revenge, it is a disappointing sequel to Curse. In fact, the lasting impression the film leaves on you is to cause you to wonder: why, in a film set in 1998, why do none of the main characters own a mobile?

Further Reading

Halloween: Being The Adventures Of Michael Myers
• Halloween: The Night He Came Home
• Halloween II
• Halloween III: The Season Of The Witch
• Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers
• Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers
• Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers
• Halloween: Resurrection