“It’s Halloween. Everyone’s Entitled to One Good Scare.” “I’ve Had My Share.”
Legacy sequels are all the rage these days, bringing back original cast members but featuring new characters. The Halloween franchise was ahead of the curve since it did that decades ago with Halloween: H2O. This sequel to 1978’s Halloween was released in 1998 and marked Jamie Lee Curtis’s return to the franchise since Halloween II. And it’s my second favorite film in the franchise, behind only the original.
This movie takes place completely outside of Haddonfield, the site of the original massacre. It also ignores the events of Halloween’s 4-6. We open with Marion (Nancy Stephens), Dr. Loomis’s nurse in the first two movies. She comes home a couple of days before Halloween only to find that someone has broken into her house. Unfortunately for her, the intruder was Michael Meyers. Even worse, he’s taken the contents of a folder on Laurie Strode.
From there, the action moves to a posh, private academy in Northern California where Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) has a job as the head mistress. Her son John (Josh Hartnett) is one of the teens attending. As the holiday approaches, Laurie gets more and more agitated with memories of the attacks from twenty years ago. Unbeknownst to her, Michael is driving across the country to finish what he started. What will happen when he arrives?
This movie does borrow heavily from the original. Michael only attacks after dark, for example. That means we get lots of stalking in the first half before the horror really picks up in the second half. It can make the first half drag a little, but Michael pops up enough that you can feel the tension building.
Plus, this part allows us to get to know the characters. While the teens are fairly stock characters, we really see what has happened to Laurie as a result of her past. I like that character development and how it is explored, so I don’t mind at all. It makes the final part of the movie that much better for me. Kevin Williamson of Scream fame made an uncredited draft of the script, and I feel like the character development is his. As is the opening sequence.
And this isn’t to discount any of the acting. This is Josh Hartnett’s first role, and it is easy to see why he was cast. He shines opposite Jamie Lee Curtis. And Jamie is fantastic stepping back into the role that made her famous. Among the others in the cast we have Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michelle Williams, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, LL Cool J, and Adam Arkin. Like many horror movies of the day, you can see some big names here just starting their career, and a few big names from that period. Sadly, Donald Pleasence had passed away so he wasn’t back as Dr. Loomis, marking his first absence from the franchise.
I have to give a special shout out to Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis’s mother famous for her role in Psycho. There are several jokes in the script based solely on her character.
I can hear you now, “this is all well and good, but how is the horror?” While it doesn’t have the highest body count, by the time we get to act three when Michael shows up in full force, things get tense. There are plenty of jump scares throughout, and Laurie’s confrontation with Michael is outstanding.
And, let’s be honest, we watch these movies to see Laurie and Michael square off. If that’s the case, you’ll be very happy with this movie. And I love the ending of this movie. (Personally, I’m going to pretend that Resurrection never happened and stick with the original ending of this movie.)
On the other hand, I do have to ask what is up with that mask. It looks a little silly in some of the scenes, especially when we see his eyes. I’d say the original was scarier.
Keep in mind that this is an R rated film, with plenty of violence and language. It is free of nudity, which is surprising for a slasher.
If you like the original Halloween, you’ll be glad you gave Halloween H2O a chance. In an uneven franchise, it is a worthy sequel.
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