Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Steve Miner

Writers (WGA):

Debra Hill (characters) and
John Carpenter (characters) ...

Release Date:

5 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

This summer, terror won't be taking a vacation.

Plot:

Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time and now the life of her own son hangs in the balance.

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | School | Michael Myers | Nightmare | Death

Awards:

9 nominations

Cast

Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Laurie Strode / Keri Tate
Josh Hartnett	...	John Tate
Adam Arkin	...	Will Brennan
Michelle Williams	...	Molly Cartwell
LL Cool J	...	Ronald 'Ronny' Jones
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe	...	Sarah Wainthrope
Adam Hann-Byrd	...	Charles 'Charlie' Deveraux
Janet Leigh	...	Norma Watson
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Jimmy Howell
Nancy Stephens	...	Marion Chambers Whittington
Branden Williams	...	Tony Allegre
Beau Billingslea	...	Detective 'Fitz' Fitzsimmons
Matt Winston	...	Detective Matt Sampson
Larisa Miller	...	Claudia
Emmalee Thompson	...	Casey

Also Known As:

Halloween 7 (USA) (working title)
Halloween 7: The Revenge of Laurie Strode (USA) (working title)
Halloween: H20 (USA) (promotional title)
Halloween: H20 (20 Years Later) (USA) (promotional title)
Halloween: The Revenge of Laurie Strode (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for terror violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #36140) | Brazil:18 | Spain:18 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Canfield-Moreno Estate - 1923 Micheltorena Street, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

During the scene where Norma is leaving, she stands in front the car from Psycho (1960). The music playing in the background at this part is also from Psycho. Janet Leigh, who plays Norma, played Marion in Psycho. The license plate on the car is also the same as the second car Marion buys in Psycho, NFB 418, which are Norman Bates' initials.

Goofs:

Factual errors: An ice skate through the face would not be a clean stab, it would shatter the skull.

Quotes:

Tony: Hasn't anyone ever told you that second-hand smoke kills?
Nurse Marion: Yeah, but they're all dead.

Movie Connections:

References Carrie (1976)

Soundtrack:

HAPPY

Surprisingly Good

"Halloween: H20" makes an obvious effort to return to the franchise's roots and recapture the qualities that made the first one so good. It doesn't come close to succeeding, but it does manage to become, in my opinion, the second best of the series, though that's pretty faint praise.

There are some creepy scenes early on in this film (the one in the deserted rest stop bathroom, most notably), but this movie really exists for the sole purpose of having Jamie Lee Curtis kick Michael Myers's ass, and the catharsis in watching her do so is worth the price of admission. There are some obligatory killings, but they go for gruesome rather than frightening, which was not John Carpenter's approach. But when Laurie Strode takes matters into her own hands and comes after Michael with guns blazing (so to speak), hold on to yourselves--violent tendencies seem to run in this family.

The producers of this movie use a bigger budget to add some modern "scary" sound effects for atmosphere and fill out John Carpenter's original score with a sweeping orchestra--it's like John Williams' version of the Halloween theme. The whole thing feels like it's running on an I.V. drip of pure adrenaline. But fans of the series, or at least of the first two films, should enjoy it.

LL Cool J is totally wasted in the token black character role, and Janet Leigh makes a pointless appearance as well, but listen for the brief strain of Bernard Herrman's "Psycho" score in one scene with her.

Grade: B