Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later [DVD]

Halloween is one of the great modern horror films, but as a franchise its track record has been spotty at best, painfully bad at worst. Halloween H2O: Twenty Years Later, directed by horror vet Steve Miner (Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, House), won't displace John Carpenter's original but it might help you forget the films in between. Miner certainly has: the film begins as if sequels 3 through 6 never happened. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role for the first time in almost two decades) faked her death and is now a single mom and headmistress of an exclusive California private school. She's also a secret alcoholic who lives in fear of her homicidal brother-bogeyman Michael Myers. Guess who decides to show up for a family reunion? The film begins with classic horror-movie exposition (the deserted college campus, Michael's escape, Laurie's waking nightmares) accomplished with some humour and style, but it's all set up for the second half, a driving roller coaster of stalk-and-slash thrills. There's little of the self-conscious genre referencing of Scream and at times the film is a little far-fetched--it is a slasher movie about a knife-wielding homicidal maniac who won't stay dead, after all--but Curtis transforms Laurie from a shrieking victim into an empowered, determined horror-movie heroine who's learned a thing or two from the previous films. Adam Arkin, Josh Hartnett, and TV cutie Michelle Williams (Dawson's Creek) co-star, and the script received uncredited polish from Scream writer Kevin Williamson; Curtis's mom, Janet Leigh, pops up in a cameo. --Sean Axmaker

Effectively bypassing the largely rubbish slew of sequels, Halloween H20 picks up 20 years after the second movie, with Laurie Strode now hiding out as the head mistress of a posh boarding school in the California hills after faking her own death and changing her name. She is an emotionally traumatised alcoholic wreck, still struggling with the memories of her near fatal encounters with her psychotic brother Michael Myers years earlier, and so is over-protective of her 17-year-old son John. Just when she thought it couldn't get much worse, Myers reappears after laying in hiding for the last 20 years. His target is now Laurie's son who, along with a few teenage friends, ditches a school camping trip for a private Halloween party in the now-deserted school, forcing Laurie into a climactic battle with Myers. Halloween H20 is a terrific film for both newcomers and series fans alike. Cleverly bringing events full circle, the movie is packed with enough scares and insider references to keep all audience levels engaged. Director Steve Miner delivers a lean and pacy film, with Curtis delivering a great turn as the scarred and drained horror movie survivor who finally realises the only way to rid herself of her demons is to go up against Michael one last time. There's plenty of shocks and scares and some great set pieces (the rest-stop scene is particularly unnerving). And although the ending seems to bring the series to a definitive close, Myers will soon be back in action in Halloween 8.

On the DVD: There's a crisp widescreen picture and good sound quality, but little to shout about in the way of extra features: a short feature exploring the Halloween legend with very little that fans wouldn't already know, a pointless music video and banal trivia game. This is a great opportunity wasted. --Jon Weir

DVD Special Features:

Unmasking the Horror--Making of featurette
Music video
Trivia game
Languages: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired
Widescreen 2.35:1

This smart suspense thriller stars original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies, Halloween I & II) alongside a hot cast of hip young stars. Now the headmistress of a private school, Laurie Strode (Curtis) is still struggling with the horrifying, 20-year-old memories of the maniac killer Michael Myers ... when he suddenly reappears with a vengeance! And this Halloween, terror will strike a whole new generation. Laurie's rebellious son (Josh Hartnett--The Faculty), his girlfriend (Michelle Williams--TV's Dawson's Creek), and the school security guard (LL Cool J--Woo, B.A.P.S.) will become Michael's newest victims unless Laurie can conquer her greatest fears and put evil in its place once and for all.