The Halloween franchise looked like it was dead by the late 90s. The original and sequel were released at a time when horror movies ruled the box office. The filmmakers of Halloween III: Season of the Witch wanted to turn the Halloween franchise into an anthology series, but they didn't follow MichaelMyers at all. The movie with the Halloween name received negative reviews and low box office returns.
Then came the Jamie Lloyd saga in Halloween 4 and 5, which was followed by the reappearance of Michael Myers and his method of stalking babysitters. When Halloween 4 was released, many reviewers said it wasn't as strong as the original. It brought in more money than Halloween III at the box office. The film is one of the best in the series according to many retrospective reviews. The movie gave birth to Danielle Harris, who played Jamie Lloyd.
The series began to decline after Halloween 5. The movie was a remake of every other horror movie of the ’80s. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was panned a lot. It is by far the worst film in the series and has a 9% rating on the website.
Jamie Lee Curtis reprised her role as Laurie Strode in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, two decades after the premiere of the original Halloween movie. This was the first appearance in the series since Halloween II in 1981 and it was her return to the role that made her famous. The world needed to know that Laurie Strode was still relevant to a new generation of viewers. Thankfully, H20 was great. There is a reason here.
After being away from films for four years, Jamie Lee Curtis came back for Halloween: H20. The series still had star power, even though H20 would be a return to form. In the movie, she reprises her role as Laurie Strode, who was killed off screen in a plane crash. She is the headmistress at a prep school that is secluded away from the world.
The series that had been missing for a long time was brought to a level of distinction by the performance ofCurtis. She has a history with the audience and they care about her. You don't care if Paul Rudd dies in Halloween 6 because he's just a random guy in the movie.
If he dies, you care. By 1998, she had become the ultimate Scream Queen, not just from Halloween, but also for starring in movies like The Fog, Terror Train, and prom night. It was great to see the return of the franchise that many thought was dead.
It was great to have Laurie Strode hiding out in a rural prep school for the movie. The original Halloween was a success because it was all about chasing. There was genuine fear and suspense in watching Michael Myers hide in a sleepy town. It was brilliant to give him free run of a remote prep school, which is completely deserted aside from Curtis and a few students.
The design of the school made it more interesting. The school was built into a series of mission style buildings. The Halloween franchise hadn't seen a movie like that in a long time.
The film uses a dumbwaiter in a clever way. A student working in the kitchen using a device that transports dishes or small packages from one floor to another makes it seem like a normal day at school. Once the killing starts, Michael uses it as a hiding place for a body, and Sarah has to shove herself inside the dumbwaiter to escape. H20's ability to realize and utilize its setting made the school come to life and gave the film a tangible feeling that had been lost in the previous sequels.
It was more than just a stunt to get people to see it. She is dealing with trauma and cannot let go of her fear that Michael will come back. It has ruined her romantic relationships and is making her son distant. Laurie Strode would feel the same way if she were her character.
The other characters are more than just bodies, they are also people. Ronny is the school's security guard, but he is also an aspiring novelist, John is Strode's son, and Will is the school's janitor.
The real action in the movie doesn't start until about 46 minutes into the movie and Michael's first kill isn't until 58 minutes in. When Michael finally shows up, a good chunk of H20 is about building the story.
JanetLeigh has a small part in the movie. It is an Easter egg for fans because of the fact thatLeigh is a horror legend and has starred in Psycho.
In the film, she had a rebirth, but she was already a notable scream queen and final girl. The man decided to fight Michael. Her son and his girlfriend are sent away from the school and locked up as they leave. In the first film of the new trilogy, H20, Curtis decided to stay and fight even though she knew it was her duty to kill Michael.
Laurie Strode's character changes when that shift occurs. The cat-and-mouse chase began when she went from hunted to hunter. It was the first time in horror history that a Final Girl decided to fight because she wanted to.
If she had left with her son, she would have given herself another year of freedom. She decided to remain. She wanted to give herself her life back and to make sure her son was safe. Strode has taken on a new role in H20.
Halloween H20 is 'The Boy Behind The Mask'.
H20 was a great film, but it also saved the Halloween franchise. The box office return for Halloween 6 was only a little over 15 million dollars, making it one of the worst box office returns in history. H20 went on to gross over 50 million dollars in the US and over 20 million dollars in overseas markets.
The series was reground by this entry. The idea of the killer being immortality was scrapped for a more realistic depiction of the killer. It felt more real and scary when it was brought back to its roots. Making Michael Myers mortal made him even more terrifying because he was now a human killing people.
There was a lot of suspense that was lost in previous sequels. The movie was less about being a brainless splatter fest and more about the fear of a killer.
After breathing fresh life into the franchise, the series once again destroyed itself with 2002's unbearably boring Halloween Resurrection, which featured a lackluster cast that couldn't act and killedCurtis off in the first 15 minutes It was supposed to be shocking to see the franchise kill off its star in the first scene, but it was actually an indicator of what was to come. There was no suspense or fun in Resurrection. The second life H20 had created for the reawakened franchise was destroyed by the release of a B movie.
The new trilogy ignores the past and claims that the movie will be out after Halloween II. It might have gotten away with turning the previous installments into bastard children, but with Halloween Kills only holding a meager 39% on the Tomatoes, the new series has no right.
Halloween H20 has got the raw end of the deal in other ways. In recent years, some fans have come to the defense of Halloween III and the other Halloween movies, because they were seen as black sheep in the franchise. H20 is too new to get the praise it deserves.
H20 is the black sheep of the Halloween franchise, a film that gets no respect because it is merely good, not great like the original, campy, or new version. H20 is one of the best sequels in the horror genre.
The film brought the series back from the dead and eliminated a lot of pointless mythology. It gave Jamie Lee Curtis a role that was worthy of her underrated talents, which had been wasted in family fare like House Arrest and awful comedies like Fierce Creatures.
With the release of Halloween Kills, it's time to pay proper respect to the film sequel that really legitimized Laurie's traumatic legacy and brought the series back to life.
You can watch Halloween H20: 20 Years Later on many streaming services.
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