Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (dir. Steve Miner, 1998)
Since H20 was intended to be the final film in the franchise (which hardly ever works in the slasher universe) it actually feels classy. It has a big budget, a nice pace, a professional directorial job, a low body count, and a sense of closure. It was also released after Scream kind of revolutionized horror, so it feels a lot more casual and hip than any of the previous chapters. The young characters now talk more cleverly in the Kevin Williamson mold, and, get this, there are actually black characters, perhaps the first in the series. Well, okay, there’s one. LL Cool J is in the movie. But H20 is tonally unique in the series, and while it may not feel like a grand finale to the series (Freddy’s Dead, by contrast, felt like an event. This is more of a wrap-up), it might (objectively) be the best one since the original.
H20 returns to Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) not seen since Halloween II. In Curse, it was wrongly established that Laurie was Jamie’s mother, but H20 seems to be ignoring movies 3 – 6 and going back to the origins. It’s not said where Michael had been hiding out, or where he got his new svelte mask, but he has returned to finally murder his sister. The film opens with Michael (Chris Durand) pillaging the files of the deceased Dr. Loomis, looking for where Laurie might be. This seems inappropriately calculating for Michael, but whatever.
Laurie is now an energetic and cautious schoolmarm, heading up a ritzy private Catholic boarding school in California. She still has flashbacks about Michael and frequently sees his reflection in mirrors. She also has a teenage son (Josh Hartnett) who attends her school, and who wants to go on the school’s senior trip with his girlfriend (Michelle Williams, looking very much like a mini-Marilyn), and two horny best friends (Adam Hann-Byrd and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe). Laurie is also having a secret and very sweet affair with the school’s guidance counselor (Adam Arkin). The four teens, the two adults, and LL Cool J will eventually be locked in the school with Michael stalking them.
The body count is low. I think four people die in this film. It’s not interested in elaborate killings, but actual scares. The film is a little too flip to be actually scary, but I’ll certainly take that over whatever Curse was supposed to be. Indeed, at 86 minutes, H20 is the shortest film in the whole series. It knows what the fans want to see, and it doesn’t waste any time. It’s smart, and I don’t care if it’s an echo of ’90s slasher trends, I like the flip and clever dialogue. There’s no sense of ineffable evil coming off of Michael, but Laurie’s dread feels real.
And, yes, Laurie is too smart to let Michael stay dead. When the paramedics have Michael’s “body” all zipped up, Laurie knows it will lurch back to life. She steals his body, of course he sits up, she crashes the van, and lops off Michael’s head with an axe. And end to a satisfying series.
Had the series actually ended here, I would have been at peace. No more sequels. No remakes. Just leave it. Seven is enough.
Eight is not enough. Eight is too many…
