Halloween H2O: Twenty Years Later

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, Adam Hann-Byrd, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Janet Leigh, Josh Hartnett, LL Cool J, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Directed by: Steve Miner
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: Twenty years after the original murders, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is still haunted by the memories of her homicidal brother, Michael Myers. She is now the headmistress of a private school attended by her son (Josh Hartnett) and his girlfriend (Michelle Williams). Michael pays Laurie a visit on, of course, Halloween. With the help of a school security guard (LL Cool J), Laurie must now confront her past and face Michael once and for all.

Review:

Tim: The Halloween franchise hasn't given us a legitimately good entry since 1981. That's pretty stunning. This was perhaps the greatest of the horror movie franchises, and yet, it has fallen far from its original heights. This is the film that should have turned it all around. It takes place 20 years after the events of the original movie, and it returns Laurie Strode, Michael's sister, and the heroine from the original. This should have been the one.

And you know what, it almost pulls it off. This movie is better than the last two films, but it's still not good enough. It's a decent film, but not a good one. I appreciated the effort, but I still felt disappointed in the end result. The film is way too short, running at only 86 minutes, and is over before it begins. I felt like this was a big mistake. Everything feels rushed. There is no character development save for Jamie Lee Curtis, there are barely any deaths and the ones that do occur feel lazy and half-hearted. There wasn't much to be excited about. The six death scenes aren't that spectacular, and we aren't shown much of anything new.

The end of the movie was by far the best part of the film. The final battle between Laurie and Michael is fairly noteworthy, but far from spectacular. The whole movie falls short of what it is capable of, and leaves the viewer feeling quite disappointed. I do think that despite the opportunity to be even better, I have to admit that this is one of the best finales in the history of the franchise. That's not exactly saying much, but at least it doesn't end with the typical stupid, same old conclusion.

I feel mixed about this movie. On the one hand, I love that Halloween: H2O is an improvement over the previous movies. On the other, I am disappointed that this is still not a good Halloween movie. With the elements present here, it should have been better. Still, this is at least a decent movie, and at this point, I suppose I should be happy with that.

*Note- When I first watched this movie, I originally rated it lower. That was before I watched all the other Halloween movies. In that regard, I rated this slightly higher.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Halloween, Halloween II, Scream 1-3, Scary Movie