Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Night Busta Was There: Halloween Resurrection

After H20 seemingly brought the franchise to a close, Dimension proved that they still had more to come. They had placed a loophole in Jamie Lee Curtis contract where it said she couldn't kill Michael. Even though the ending seemed very definitive, they managed to write the ol' switcheroo with a paramedic so that Michael still lived. 

The whole reasoning for Michael still being alive felt cheap. It felt lacking the gravitas that was in the H20 ending. While interesting having Laurie at the asylum, it made some semblance of sense. It's a nice touch that she has a raggedy ann doll as that was a callback to the original film. However the fact that they kill Laurie Strode off is a severe problem. It was such a terrible way to go out on. And the fact that it was Rick Rosenthal who helmed this installment was a let down. 

Now Rick Rosenthal was the one that directed the much loved Halloween II. I'm guessing Dimension and the Weinsteins were hoping that it would be able to capture that lightning in a bottle that made the second installment so well liked. Well, unfortunately that was not meant to be. 

Resurrection is the one that a lot of fans immediately hate. Again, it's a cheap cash in at that point. They just wanted to push a sequel out but because Jamie Lee Curtis didn't want to be in it, they had to figure out what to do. "Hey, let's make a film that calls upon that found footage type of film. It was success before. Let's see if throw Michael in it, if it'll work.". 

No. No it does not work. One of the huge reasons it doesn't work is because it fails to commit to the found footage approach. Yeah, there are many times when we see what the characters see. But it's just mishandled and rushed. So it ultimately led to a bit of a cheap gimmick feeling with it. Now don't get me wrong, the found footage approach doesn't work. However on the DVD release, there is a ton of footage that was shot by the actors. It was one of the big highlights of the DVD because it was pretty interesting. However it was still very early on and the found footage craze wouldn't resurface till Blumhouse hit with Paranormal Activity. Imagine what could have been if they would have doubled down on the interactive element of the footage. That could have been impressive. 

This is also the film that brought Busta Rhymes into the franchise. "Trick or Treat mutha" before kicking Michael back into some wires seemingly ending our villain. Well, honestly villain is a strong one for Michael in this installment. Yeah, he kills Laurie. But outside of that, he's defending his childhood home. These new characters are trespassing on his property. That seems to me like they the bad guys. Looking it through that lens, it makes the film a little better. For the most part, the characters are okay but ultimately a bit forgettable. They just seem like generic stereotypes to fill the body count and runtime. 

There's a reason why after Resurrection, they went to Rob Zombie to reboot it. Resurrection is a forgettable slasher that tries to tap into 'found footage' to absymal results in the theatrical. That DVD feature with all the footage is least kinda neat. There's probably some people that only watch it that way. 

Rating: 1.5 out of 5. 

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