Rated on a 4-star scale
Released in the UK October 9 1998
USA
Directed by Steve Miner
Written by Matt Greenberg and Robert Zappia
From a story by Zappia, based on characters created by John Carpenter and
Debra Hill
CAST.....
Jamie Lee Curtis.....Laurie Strode
Josh Hartnett.....John
Michelle Williams.....Molly
Adam Arkin.....Will Brennan
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe.....Sarah
LL Cool J.....Ronnie Jones
Adam Hann-Byrd.....Charlie
Joseph Gordon-Lewitt.....Jimmy
Janet Leigh.....Norma
Chris Durand.....The Shape
There are two versions of Michael Myers. One is the terrifying monster of John Carpenter's 1978 "Halloween", one of the greatest films ever made. He was unstoppable, and the fact that that was never logically explained somehow made it all the scarier. He was conscienceless, and could strike anybody from anywhere. He was patient, and would never stop until his prey had been taken. He was also a mystery -- his movement was mechanical, his eyes could not be seen behind his mask, he was silent. In short, he was one of the most effective horror characters in cinema. He still haunts, through sleepless nights, darkened streets, unidentified shadows and doors which are blown open by a breeze. He will never be forgotten.
Another is the laughable guy-in-a-mask of all the other "Halloween" movies, whose tricks and appearance we now know so well that he could not possibly be a terrifying force. He is unstoppable, but one is forced to apply logic to his resilience through twenty years' worth of cheesy sequels, and laugh at how the elusive Mr. Myers seems to be able to defy all known rules of human biology in withstanding every possible kind of fatal violence. He's conscienceless, but who cares anymore? He's not shocking, and we can see where he's coming from, because anybody with an I.Q. over 4 gets to sense what are the phoney cues and what are the real ones. He's not much of a mystery anymore, and his movements are getting clumsier. I'm surprised he hasn't started going "Raargh!"
In "Halloween H20", wouldn't you know it, the second version of Myers is present. The film is a much-hyped cinema release, unlike installments 4, 5 and 6, since it stars Jamie Lee Curtis, who resumes her role from twenty years ago, as Laurie Strode, now moved away from Haddonfield. Having assumed the name Keri Tate, she is now the headmistress of the high school of her son John (Josh Hartnett), where Michael Myers chooses to track her down yet again.
The screenwriters haven't really done their homework on the "Halloween" films, and take for granted, somehow, the ludicrous and nonsensical idea that Laurie is Michael's sister. But the stupidity of "H20" does, as you are probably expecting, go far beyond that. Example: The beginning of the film. Quite bizarrely, it opens with the song "Sandman, Bring Me A Dream". Then we see a woman go to her front door, enter her house, and for no reason whatsoever, start running round, in the dark, panting. Myers is in her neighbourhood, but she doesn't know that, and nothing is wrong with her house or preventing her from turning her light on.
In those early scenes I also noticed one of the key reasons so many modern horror films don't work, and that is that they don't take place in reality. Look at "Psycho", or the original "Halloween". Both take place in realistic, only slightly edgy, atmospheres, with characters who talk like normal people. Here, everything is too polished, lines and movements are too quick and flashy, going for the cheapest laughs to an audience which is probably made up of drunk American college kids on a Friday night.
There are some cute moments in the film, like some in-joke scenes involving the casting of Janet Leigh, Curtis's mother, as her secretary. But there are many more irritating moments, like the miscasting of Adam Hann-Byrd (who has done good work in "Little Man Tate" and "The Ice Storm") as a teen who thinks he's cool, but seems more like an irritating ten-year-old. And the horror scenes seem very slight after such a bloody long build-up.
"Halloween H20" is not really a bad movie, compared
with some in this series. It's competently photographed, edited and scored,
easy to watch and well-meaning. But it just isn't scary (how seriously can
you take a movie with the line "Well, they never found his body..."?), and
doesn't do much to help raise the "Halloween" series from its currently shameful
depths -- Myers may get his head knocked off at the end of the movie, but
I still have a sneaking suspicion that he'll be resurrected when the studio
finds it convenient.
COPYRIGHT© 1998 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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