Connection To HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE - Josh Hartnett
One note that is not really related to my opinion, Total Film, a magazine here in the UK back in 1998 gave the film the full ***** that as stuck in my head (similar to Empire giving Die Hard With A Vengeance the same score), so I think when I first saw it in the same year I had high expectations I remember not disliking it but I know it's not a 5* film, I think it was an example for me at the time of how reviews in magazines you like can already send you prejudging it in hope or negativity.
H20 is set 20 years after the first 2 Halloween films hence the title, it pretty much ignores 4,5,6 (no reason to ignore the 3rd one since it's not related) except for noting that she faked her death which is probably to account from the 4th movie saying she was dead but I'm actually not sure if it was intentional to be honest because why would they ignore everything but that.
So yeah 20 years later, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens, who appeared in the first two movies), Dr. Loomis' colleague, returns home to Illinois a few days before Halloween (in 1998) to see there's being a burglar, and she gets neighbour Jimmy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, then best known for being Tommy on 3rd Rock From The Sun - indie cred and film fame hadn't happened yet) searches the house but finds nothing, Mario discovers a medical file is missing the one of Laurie Strode (who remember because of the second movie is noted to be Michael Myers sister) and discovers in fact somebody is still in her house and rushes to Jimmy's where she finds him and a friend dead (Jimmy gets a ice hockey boot in the face) where Michael Myers attacks her and slices her throat.
On Halloween, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) as tried to get her life back together even faking death and moving to California and changing her name, she's now a headmistress at a boarding school and as a son John (Josh Hartnett) and boyfriend Will (Adam Arkin), the schools guidance counselor, she seems to have everything sorted but the events of 20 years ago still haunt her, and as you expect The Shape shows up again in her life.
Revisiting this movie made me realize the film at times is kind of well average, I mean it was cool there an Halloween sequel with Curtis but there just seemed way too many of that thing from the horror movie bag of tricks - the fake jump scare - after the opening death scenes, there seems to be about a 100 before it gets to Myers at the boarding school,
Curtis is strong in the lead role and it was cool seeing her share the screen with her movie Janet Leigh (obligatory Psycho reference goes here), I liked the idea of her character trying to rebuild her life but the past is just not that easy to escape mentally. Josh Hartnett, which I've noted as someone I'm not a fan particularly plays off well with Curtis, his love interest is placed by Michelle Williams, who like Gordon-Levitt at the time was best known for TV (Dawson's Creek for her) then the film career that would flourish in the years to come who doesn't really show (not pushed to I guess) the acting talent she proved she had, there 2 friends are played by Jodi Lynn O'Keefe and Little Man Tate and are really the only 4 teenagers in it for the films slasher time. There's also LL Cool J, who does a better job then the rapper-turned actor for the next Halloween movie Busta Rhymes mainly because there not a scene of LL doing kung fu on Michael Myers, he plays the schools security guard.
One thing I didn't remember his how short it was coming in at 85 minutes and it does zoom by to be fair - there's some good deaths and it's a step up from the the previous 3 Halloween films and miles in front of Resurrection. The ending was great just a shame it was literally undone in seconds by the film's sequel (the final in the series until Rob Zombie relaunched)
While Scream was indebted to the slasher genre the original Halloween helped launch, this is a Halloween film inspired by Scream's success (Scream's writer Kevin Williamson is a producer here) and it's too me better then Urban Legend and some others where the names completely escape me at the moment.
Overall, despite too many fake jump scares, it's film short running time means it doesn't wear and it's funny seeing Laurie and Michael go toe to toe one last true time. So I'm going with recommended but with faults.
H20 is set 20 years after the first 2 Halloween films hence the title, it pretty much ignores 4,5,6 (no reason to ignore the 3rd one since it's not related) except for noting that she faked her death which is probably to account from the 4th movie saying she was dead but I'm actually not sure if it was intentional to be honest because why would they ignore everything but that.
So yeah 20 years later, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens, who appeared in the first two movies), Dr. Loomis' colleague, returns home to Illinois a few days before Halloween (in 1998) to see there's being a burglar, and she gets neighbour Jimmy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, then best known for being Tommy on 3rd Rock From The Sun - indie cred and film fame hadn't happened yet) searches the house but finds nothing, Mario discovers a medical file is missing the one of Laurie Strode (who remember because of the second movie is noted to be Michael Myers sister) and discovers in fact somebody is still in her house and rushes to Jimmy's where she finds him and a friend dead (Jimmy gets a ice hockey boot in the face) where Michael Myers attacks her and slices her throat.
On Halloween, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) as tried to get her life back together even faking death and moving to California and changing her name, she's now a headmistress at a boarding school and as a son John (Josh Hartnett) and boyfriend Will (Adam Arkin), the schools guidance counselor, she seems to have everything sorted but the events of 20 years ago still haunt her, and as you expect The Shape shows up again in her life.
Revisiting this movie made me realize the film at times is kind of well average, I mean it was cool there an Halloween sequel with Curtis but there just seemed way too many of that thing from the horror movie bag of tricks - the fake jump scare - after the opening death scenes, there seems to be about a 100 before it gets to Myers at the boarding school,
Curtis is strong in the lead role and it was cool seeing her share the screen with her movie Janet Leigh (obligatory Psycho reference goes here), I liked the idea of her character trying to rebuild her life but the past is just not that easy to escape mentally. Josh Hartnett, which I've noted as someone I'm not a fan particularly plays off well with Curtis, his love interest is placed by Michelle Williams, who like Gordon-Levitt at the time was best known for TV (Dawson's Creek for her) then the film career that would flourish in the years to come who doesn't really show (not pushed to I guess) the acting talent she proved she had, there 2 friends are played by Jodi Lynn O'Keefe and Little Man Tate and are really the only 4 teenagers in it for the films slasher time. There's also LL Cool J, who does a better job then the rapper-turned actor for the next Halloween movie Busta Rhymes mainly because there not a scene of LL doing kung fu on Michael Myers, he plays the schools security guard.
One thing I didn't remember his how short it was coming in at 85 minutes and it does zoom by to be fair - there's some good deaths and it's a step up from the the previous 3 Halloween films and miles in front of Resurrection. The ending was great just a shame it was literally undone in seconds by the film's sequel (the final in the series until Rob Zombie relaunched)
While Scream was indebted to the slasher genre the original Halloween helped launch, this is a Halloween film inspired by Scream's success (Scream's writer Kevin Williamson is a producer here) and it's too me better then Urban Legend and some others where the names completely escape me at the moment.
Overall, despite too many fake jump scares, it's film short running time means it doesn't wear and it's funny seeing Laurie and Michael go toe to toe one last true time. So I'm going with recommended but with faults.
No comments:
Post a Comment