Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, Adam Arkin

Directed by Steve Miner

The Story:
Twenty years after surviving her fight with her psychotic brother Michael Myers, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) now goes by Keri Tate, lives in California, is the headmistress of a private high school, and has a son named John (Josh Hartnett).  The events that happened to her has shaped her into a paranoid, over-protective mother and a person who relies on drugs to keep the nightmares at bay.

Meanwhile, Josh wants to live his own life, and with his girlfriend Molly (Michelle Williams) and some other friends, decide to stay behind while the rest of the kids go on a school trip.  Michael - having found Laurie's identity and location - makes his way to California and Laurie's nightmare comes to life as she once again comes face-to-face with ultimate evil.

The Synopsis:
In 1978, John Carpenter brought to life an unstoppable killing machine named Michael Myers.  He set the foundation for the 80s slasher horror icons Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Chucky.  He was the original unstoppable force, a shape who never spoke and hid behind a plain white mask - made so you can incorporate your biggest fears into that mask.  In the first film, Michael stalks Laurie for unknown reasons, but it's revealed in the second that he is Laurie's brother, and wants to wipe out his bloodline.

After the second film, the series took a radical turn for the third, which has nothing to do with Michael, Haddonfield, or anything associated with the original "Halloween" concept.  After public outrage, they came out with a fourth "Halloween" film that once again centered on Myers, but Jamie Lee Curtis didn't have any involvement - rather, it centered on her young daughter Jamie, and the story went that Laurie had died in a car accident.  The subsequent two sequels further explored Jamie's story, and introduced the druid cult that wanted to control Michael and incorporated the whole Thorn side-story.

Thankfully, "H20" decided to retcon the franchise and made it so 3-6 never happened.  Jamie never existed, and neither did the stupid druid cult storyline.  Instead, we're given back the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis (who, in interviews, said this film was her idea as a way to thank the fans for starting her career) as Laurie Strode, who went into witness protection and was given a new name and location.  Even though she's thousands of miles from Haddonfield, the memory of her brother still haunts her, and she's essentially a prisoner in her own mind.

Yet, when Michael returns, Laurie finds the inner strength to stop running and fight, becoming one of the strongest female characters in horror movie history.  She knows she has to kill her brother, and will stop at nothing to make it happen.  She turns the tables and becomes the stalker, the one who hunts Michael, and this gives her an empowering spirit that's exciting.  The scene where Laurie and Michael first come face-to-face is goosebump-inducing, and it only gets better from there.

The film is essentially about Laurie bringing closure to her story, and everyone involved in the film shows a true admiration for Carpenter's vision.  They brought back Nancy Stephens, who played the nurse from the first film.  They kept the iconic music (albeit also edited it some for a more mainstream audience), and they returned Michael to the shadows.  He is a relentless stalker, an evil that bides its time until the perfect moment to strike.  Unlike most sequels, this one has a relatively low body count, instead focusing on the psychological aspect between Laurie and Michael.  For any true "Halloween" fan, this is a film that's on-par with the original.

"H20" also features the most well-known stars of our time.  It's the first film Josh Hartnett ("40 Days and 40 Nights," "Sin City") starred in, and also featured a cameo by Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Snowden," "The Dark Knight Rises").  Adam Arkin ("Knots Landing," "Chicago Hope") stars as Laurie's love interest, while future four-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams ("Manchester by the Sea," "My Week With Maralyn") stars as Hartnett's love interest.  Rapper LL Cool J plays a security guard, and Jamie Lee Curtis's mother - Janet Leigh, best known for her defining role in "Psycho" - stars as her secretary (with some amazing scenes between the two women, with several in-jokes and homages to "Psycho," a film Carpenter himself said he paid homage to in the original "Halloween").  Watching the film now, you see the true talent shining in Hartnett, Williams, and Gordon-Levitt, and everyone gives a terrific performance.

However, the other actors are just window dressing, while the main focus is the perilous pas de deux between Laurie and Michael, a sequel twenty years in the making.  It's the beatdown for the ages, the grudge match you've been dying to see.  Laurie vs. Michael, no holds barred. Winner take all.  And the ultimate winners are the "Halloween" fans, who still hold to this film as the series finale (and not the terrible, abysmal "Resurrection").

The Summary:
Reuniting Jamie Lee Curtis with the franchise that made her a star, "Halloween H20" is every part the original's equal, with great acting, a solid cast, and frightening scares.  It's what the fans have been dying to see, and it wasn't a dissapointment.

The Score: A+