Some may be turned off by this film because it is the 7th installment of the Halloween series. However, the filmmakers of this feature seem to treat it as the third since they totally disregard 3-6. Too bad 4 had to be in that group of forgotten movies because it was actually quite good and better than this sequel in my opinion. The main highlight is that it takes place 20 years after the original and it brings back one of the greatest horror heroines to ever grace the screen, The original scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis. Essentially this is a project made for her and in that aspect it totally works, however as a Halloween film it feels out of place. It seems to have picked up on the new millenium horror trend of adding hot teen actors into the mix and is basically shot like an episode of Dawson's Creek. Kevin Williamson even did some polishing on the script. In this aspect it doesn't work too well, but for the 7th installment in the series i guess it could've been worse.
As i said this is a showcase of Jamie Lee Curtis. It's very interesting to see how her character has changed in 20 years. Her performance is very good and is much more assertive than she was in the first 2 installments of the series. The problem is she is one oft he few characters worth any interest. Josh Hartnet as her son, and Michelle Williams as his love interest are the only 2 teen actors in the film worth mentioning. Josh Hartnet and Jamie Lee Curits share a very good mother/son chemistry that is vry effective in the film. Michelle Williams is more believeable than most potential teen slasher movie victims in her role. The rest of the cast is DOA. The supporting characters are vastly under-written. LL Cool J is funny in his scenes but they are too far and in between for him to become very interesting character. The other teen actors are just there to be slaughtered. The only oher interesting cast choice is Janet Leigh(shower victim from Psycho) in a Cameo. very cool to see mother and daughter together on screen. Michael Myers just isn't scary in this film. No because his presence is wearing thin because this is the 7th installment but because he isn't portrayed well by the actor/stuntman.
There are good things though that raise it above most of the sequels. The second half comes at you with full force. After a rather long set-up things move into high gear once Michael begins to wreck havoc. His showdown with Laurie is good but i wish it could've been longer. Another interesting thing this sequel does is gives us some closure. you'll see once you view the film. It's very rare that a series does this and it's very effective in this film.
I recommend this film based on the performance of Jamie Lee Curtis. If you want to see how she has been in the last 20 years than this is a film for you. Fans of the series should see this. I just worry that Halloween Ressurrection will ruin the semi-good note this film ended on, when it's released this summer. I hope to god they have a reason to bring Michael back for THE 8TH TIME. Evil never dies apparently and neither does this series even when it does have a fairly good finale.
