Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Director - Steve Miner (House, Friday the 13th Part 2)

Starring - Jamie Lee Curtis (The Fog, Halloween), Josh Hartnett (The Faculty, 30 Days of Night), and Adam Arkin (Full Moon High, The Twilight Zone)

Release Date - 1998

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "This summer, terror won't be taking a vacation"

Format - UHD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     When I was a kid I spent a lot of time with my grandmother while my dad was out of town for work. I liked staying with her because I had an uncle that was just a few years older than me so we played video games or watched movies together. My grandma was a movie fan as well so we would watch a lot of television shows that she liked like Red Dwarf, Lexx, Doctor Who, and so on. When we wasn’t watching television shows we would be watching movies that I had rented or the random movies that aired on cable. This was the first time that I had seen John Carpenter’s Halloween. This is a franchise that I believe has been played out but I’m still a huge fan of the films. Well, I love all the films besides the new Halloween Trilogy. Most fans of the franchise despise certain installments but I have a soft spot for almost all of them. One that catches a lot of hate is 1998’s H20. I can somewhat see why people are quick to hate it but I love it. I love the casting, the location, the direction the story took, and how it ends. I’ve defended this film for years and I will continue to do so every October. A few weeks ago I received a press release for the UHD steelbook release of the film. I try to watch this franchise every October but this release actually gave me a reason to check it out. I want to thank Paramount for sending over this beautiful steelbook for review. 

      The film picks up 20 years after the first film with Laurie (Curtis) adopting a new name in hopes of putting her past behind her. She is now the headmaster of a private school and has a 17 year old son. With Halloween approaching she is on edge but her son fails to understand the nightmare that she lived through all those years ago. Now, her worst nightmare is emerging as Halloween quickly approaches when Michael Myers escapes and starts making his way to her and her son who is the same age as she was when he first attacked. 

      MY opinions on films often draw criticism and I’m completely fine with that. I like what I like and a lot of time that goes against the collective. I love all the Halloween entries with the exception of the Blumhouse produced films. I prefer Rob Zombie’s Halloween to the original but I still love Carpenter's take. I think Season of the Witch is the best film in the series and the Danielle Harris saga is fantastic. While Resurrection is the weakest of the franchise I still prefer it over the Blumhouse trilogy. H20 draws a lot of hate from franchise fans but I have so much fun with it. The acting in this one is very campy but I love the characters and the late-90s characters. I always found it vaccinating that Jamie Lee Curtis is portraying the same person as the first film but with 20 years between the two films has hardened her character. Her character has grown a lot and she is still amazing in the role. I was a fan of Josh Hartnett in the late 90s and while I do prefer The Faculty to this film I still enjoy H20. His performance is far from award winning but it’s his hamming up each scene that makes it what it is. It reminds me a lot of the male characters in Scream and the sequels. I also liked the supporting cast. The performances are just as cheesy but if anyone watches the original Halloween and can say with a straight face that they are not just as cheesy is lying to you and themselves. The story for this one is extremely realistic when you consider what it is. The film is not overflowing with Halloween imagery and that’s because the headmaster of the private school survived a massacre on Halloween and associates the holiday with the bloodshed. Once you realize that you start to see other aspects that are a repercussions of the first film. We get the same silent and stealthy kills that Myers is known for, characters that are very well written and support the story, and the deaths are very memorable. Finally, the kills we get in this one use solid practical effects and camera tricks. The ice skate to the face is one of my favorite slasher kills. With that being said, I’m not a fan of the deaths taking place off screen. I want to see them so I can truly enjoy the characters demise and the amazing effects that go into making them look real. Overall, Halloween: H20 is not as bad as people claim it to be. It’s a very well thought out sequel with a great cast and some decent deaths. I highly enjoy it and the UHD release looks absolutely fantastic. Fans and collectors alike will need this one.