ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

rickypop_uk This is my maiden voyage into reviewing for IMDB and after watching it just last night, 'Halloween H20: 20 Years Later' feels like a very odd place to start.My inexperience prompts me to open with something of a classic cliché by asking; "Is this a film that needed to be made?" Some have argued that very same question could be asked of any of the sequels after 1981's 'Halloween II', though it's true to say that many of those said sequels have come to be held dear to many a horror lover's heart. After the original Halloween, watching the rest of this film series (with the exception of Halloween III: Season Of The Witch) is like looking at a developing structure while holding the blueprints in your hand. You already have the general layout of all foundations (masked killer Michael Myers/screaming, frantic victims), pillars (false scares/red herrings) and joists (inventive/graphic deaths) but don't yet know exactly how the finished product will look. I held that same blueprint going into this film. After viewing, I read that this has been the most profitable film of the Halloween series so far, but I can't help but wonder how much of that box office score was made up of sheer curiosity. The return of Jamie Lee Curtis and Friday the 13th (parts 2 and 3) director Steve Miner at the helm, are two things that would understandably rouse a fans interest. It certainly did for me. What struck me before I even pressed play was the incredibly short eighty minute running time. Given that the decent and familiarly Autumnal opening set at the home of Dr Loomis - and its neighbouring house - in Langdon, Illinois took up a good ten minutes (the opening credits taking up another five), I was curious to see how the rest of the film would pan out over the finite sixty-five minutes. The film moves to sunny California where Laurie Strode (now going by the name Keri Tate after faking her death to escape Michael's rampage) is living a life of both mother and respected school headmistress. From here, the rest of the films characters are very quickly introduced while horror fans go about our usual business of predicting which of them will die first. This is all intercut with various scenes of Michael Myers gradually making his way from Illinois to California, which he manages to do in a remarkable (if even possible) two days. Still scarred by the past, Laurie/Keri spends most of the film in a jittery state thinking every shadow, reflection and person approaching her is Michael, until at just over the one hour mark, she actually does see him up close through a door window providing - for me personally - the best shot in the film. That leaves the last twenty minutes for the confrontation between Laurie and Michael, in which all the narrow escapes and 'Is he FINALLY dead?' moments are quickly crammed in, making it all seem a little rushed. This film almost seems like it should have been nothing more than an interesting bonus feature on a special edition of the original, rather than a film in its own right. Jamie Lee Curtis is very welcome back and does well, pretty much holding the film together. But aside from that first ten minutes and the final twenty minutes with its "Woh! I need to see that again" ending, the rest of the film seems to have spread itself incredibly thin. So after thinking back on it, it seems as if this was something of a missed opportunity. We had Jamie Lee Curtis. We had Steve Miner. We had a very decent supporting cast including Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, LL Cool J and even a cheeky cameo from Janet Leigh. We had in Michael Myers, one of the greatest characters in the realm of horror and not to mention John Carpenter's classic musical motif permeating throughout. The aforementioned foundations were most certainly there, but what covered them didn't seem to be made of the sturdiest material. As a big fan of the original, I tried hard to appreciate this film simply for what it is, but still ultimately came out of it feeling a little short changed. As my first review has been a little downhearted, I almost feel like I should finish writing, collect myself, watch the film again (while trying to forget that it exists because of a piece of classic horror made in 1978) and re-review it. Either that, or move straight on to Halloween: Resurrection? Hmm... maybe not...

Horror This is one of the stronger films in the Halloween franchise. It has strong acting, decent plot and a pretty good ending.

cheighlee H20 is probably in the hall of the worst movie names ever. Fortunately, it's not the worst movie ever.It actually does two things right.It actively ignores and erases Thorn trilogy from canon and continues 20 years after Halloween II. It brings back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode.We also get young Josh Hartnet and Michelle Williams. Which is kinda sweet. We get a bit of PTSD Laurie Strode that self medicates with booze while trying to run a school and raise a teenager and all that under a fake name. It's a competent revival, an homage a bit, a bit fresh stuff. Probably the worst thing I can say about it that it's forgettable as a movie but has some cool scenes and that it still clings onto Laurie is Michael's sister storyline that no one cared about.It's on par with Scream movies that were all the rage at the time, if that means anything to you. Ok, kinda popcornish experience.

ThiefOfStars As the title of the movie suggests, H20 takes place twenty years after the events of the original movie and is a direct sequel to the first two movies ignoring the 4th, 5th and 6th instalments of the franchise. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie Strode, who unable to cope with the memories of her ordeal on Halloween 1978, faked her death, changed her name to Keri Tate and became the headmistress of a private Northern Californian school.As Halloween approaches she becomes increasingly anxious which affects her relationships with new love interest and counsellor at her school, Will Brennan and her seventeen year old son, John (Josh Hartnett).John is tired of his mother's stifling, overprotective ways so when she forbids him from going on a camping trip with his friends, they instead decide to stay behind and have a private party of their own inside the school on Halloween night.The people around Keri are quick to dismiss her fears and write them off as paranoia, but little do they know that Michael Myers has come out of hiding, found out Laurie's new identity and is making his way from Illinois to California to finish what he started twenty years earlier...H20 came out post 'Scream' which was the movie attributed to the revival of the 'slasher' style horror movie, after it's decline in popularity in the early nineties and the influence is definitely there. From the opening scene that throws you into the heart of the action, it's willingness to defy/revamp horror clichés and it's vaguely meta/self-aware approach.