However that all changed once again in 1998, the year She Returned. When it was first mentioned that Halloween would be returning to theaters, word got out that it would be written by Kevin Williamson. That made sense given that Scream was a huge hit and had been in the zeitgeist by that point. Plus his love for the franchise was very evident in the first Scream with its easter egg when Casey's Dad tells her mom to go down to the Makenzie's. It felt very much like Laurie telling Tommy and Lindsay to go down the street.
After securing Williamson, Dimension and the Weinsteins would later secure Steven Miner for directorial duties. This was after the initial option had been passed by their ideal director. Steven Miner was most known for helming entries in the Friday the 13th series. So far, it seems like it'd be a good fit.
Once that had happened, they reached out to someone the fans would come to see return to the franchise - Jamie Lee Curtis. Fans missed Jamie Lee Curtis and her character so much. That's part of the reason why there was some backlash initially to Halloween 4 for 'killing off' her character. It was also approaching the twentieth anniversary of the original film. What better way to celebrate than to reunite Jamie Lee Curtis with the franchise that had started her career.
By having Jamie Lee Curtis return, the attention turned to what this new installment would be about. They just decided that it would pick up after Halloween II and send The Thorn Trilogy off to the wayside. For me, I get it. I get why they did this. Personally, it could have been handled a little differently. But hey, who am I to say what works or doesn't work.
Now, we would finally find out what happened to Laurie twenty years after the second film. Turns out she managed to make a bit of a life for herself. She's a mom and has a job working at a prep school. Not bad for someone that is terrified every year just by the Halloween season. I understand eliminating connections to the previous three films but come on - we couldn't have Danielle Harris return to play an older Jamie. Nah instead we get John played by the upcoming Josh Hartnett at the time. Hartnett later would go on to some really great roles as evident by his work on the show Penny Dreadful. There has also been some speculation as to who his father is. Personally, I find it interesting that it's the paramedic from II. Honestly, I consider that to be Jamie's father in the Thorn timeline and Karen's in the Blumhouse timeline. Multiple timelines yet sharing the use of that same character. MCU going with a multiverse, nah Halloween did it first.
Unfortunately because of Donald Pleasance's passing, Loomis couldn't return. But in the beginning of the film, there's a distinct voice over performed wonderfully by Tom Kane. Tom Kane is most well known for his role as Yoda in The Clone Wars among other characters. He captured the essence so beautifully that there's times where I forget that it's not Donald Pleasance. Plus Kane had been close friends with Donald as well.
We also had another returning member in Nancy Stephens as Nurse Marion. It was very welcoming seeing her return to reprise the role. Ultimately, it would be nothing more than a cameo. But hey, it's the thought that counts at least.
Michael somehow escaped after the events of II and is ready to track down Laurie. So he returns to Loomis house (that correct?), which Marion had been looking after. He breaks in and manages to get the information needed and finish the job with Marion. Thus it kicks off the film.
This beginning was good. I remember going to see this film in the theater at the age of 10. I loved it. I love the opening credits with Tom Kane resurrecting Loomis in style. It's a very powerful way to pay tribute to the character. With everything else, I don't know. The film feels a bit by the numbers slasher. Honestly, that's overall how I have come to feel bout the film.
The film then immediately sets up how the events of that night is still haunting her. It's very much still a PTSD feel to it. She's one that's been on the defensive and ready to run at a moments notice. That's definitely very much evident in a throwaway line how she faked her death. She is completely haunted by everything. And it's taken such a toll on John as well. He's ready to go away so can find himself. It's ultimately because he can't understand what happened to his mother years ago.
Michael ends up finding and successfully infiltrating the prep school. Lots of slasher fun ensues as a few of John's friends are killed. This should be more striking. However again it feels by the numbers. One of the biggest reasons is because of the score in the film. It was very much in the vein of Scream. It worked for Scream, so should work for Halloween too right?
One of the biggest hits the film took was Michael's mask. It was something that was very hard apparently to get right. The original mask was hard to find or too expensive to get hold of. I don't remember what the story was exactly. But it led to one film having multiple versions made and even a CG mask. However none of them could touch the original or replicate it. It was lightning in a bottle at that time. And fans very much noticed.
The ending with Laurie stalking Michael. It was a very good flip on the usual. It was nice to see Laurie done running and stand up for herself. Her success was a bit hit and miss though. And then it ultimately came down to her stealing a van with Michael's corpse in it and crash it. Then successfully behead him. Ending the series of films once and all. Wait, that didn't happen? You kidding me right? How could they keep going? Oh, okay guess find out in the next one.
H20 is a nice anniversary film. It pays tribute to what came before. Sometimes successfully. Sometimes not. But it's nice seeing where things went for Laurie. There's some likeable characters (Security Guard LL Cool J being an example). And some that made me happy to see where they ended up (obnoxious Joseph Gordon Levitt). Love some of the callbacks. It all leads to a memorable finale that we had been waiting for. It's also a bit of a popcorn slasher film.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5.
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