Halloween: Resurrection

Halloween: Resurrection

Starring Bianca Kajlich, Busta Rhymes, Sean Patrick Thomas, Katee Sackhoff

Directed by Rick Rosenthal

The Story:
Years after the events of "H20," Michael Myers has returned to his old home to find it taken over by a reality show run by Freddie (Busta Rhymes) and Nora (Tyra Banks).  They've selected six college students to wear a camera and spend the night inside his home, in hopes of drawing up online scares for Halloween.  When Michael starts killing again, those watching think it's part of the joke, until it's too late.

The Synopsis:
"Halloween: H20" was a true gift to the fans.  It reunited Jamie Lee Curtis's Laurie Strode with her homicidal brother, and turned the tables on the masked villain.  It was the perfect way to end the "Halloween" franchise and allowing good to ultimately win over evil.  Unfortunately, in Hollywood, when a film ranks up the dough, they need to keep the franchise alive.  "Halloween: Resurrection" was the antithesis to "H20" in every way imaginable, and many diehard fans try to ignore it even exists.

First of all is the concept.  Sure, it was 2002 and the Internet was just taking off in major ways, but watching the film now appears so dated and lame it's laughable.  The cameras have a grainy quality you'd expect from the Internet in those days - you remember, when you had to use a phone modem to connect and hopefully no one called your house because it would turn your Internet off?  Yeah, it's basically like that.  It's a lamer version of "Big Brother," and the execution was excruciating to see.

Second is how this film totally takes a dump on its own history.  The beginning sequence alone makes any true "Halloween" fan cringe in disgust, and somehow it only gets worse from there.  The Myers house is turned into a clown house, with hidden rooms, passages, and even an underground tunnel that logically doesn't make sense in a house that size.  Michael Myers is supposed to target his family members, but here he is dispatching a bunch of youth for...reasons?

Third is the hilariously bad acting.  Like "H20," "Resurrection" actually features a bunch of big-name actors including Tyra Banks, Sean Patrick Thomas ("Save the Last Dance"), Katee Sackhoff ("Battlestar Galactica," and whose name is hilariously misspelled as "Sachoff" in the opening credits), Thomas Ian Nicholas ("American Pie"), and Ryan Merriman ("Final Destination 3").  Then there's rapper Busta Rhymes, whose character is so over-the-top it's actually humorous in a way that is actually entertaining.  He thinks he can fight Michael one-on-one using moves he saw from an old Asian movie.  It reminds me of the famed rooftop scene in "Friday the 13th Part VIII" when the boxer let Jason get his licks in, and ends up with his head in the dumpster.  I can't even remember any of their character names, I just associated them with other projects I've seen them in.  There's no depth, no excitement, no reason to care whether they all lived or died, because they'd easily not be remembered if any other sequels came about.

Fourth is the director.  Rick Rosenthal directed "Halloween II," which was so good it was on par with the original.  You would think with him behind the director's chair again, he'd treat the franchise with the respect it deserves, but it seemed he just wanted to make a quick buck on the back of a famed name that he knew people would go see.  It was a severe fall from grace for a man once hailed as a great horror director.

When you couple all the negative things, you'd think there would be a positive in there somewhere.  After seeing the movie several times, I'm still looking for it.

The Summary:
An easily forgettable, dark stain on the "Halloween" franchise, "Resurrection" proves that some things should simply just stay dead.

The Score: D-