Rapid Review: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

“If you want to stay handcuffed to your dead brother, that’s fine. But you’re not dragging me along. Not anymore.”
– John

SYNOPSIS: Laurie Strode, now the dean of a Northern California private school with an assumed name, must battle the Shape one last time and now the life of her own son hangs in the balance. – via IMDB

Heck yeah! I really liked this one. I feel that the sequels in this canon have been okay, but I outright loved this one again. I had a total blast. Michael Myers was sort of a different kind of beast here, different than what we have seen from him so far, but creepy as heck. I liked the story and the plot progression, even though I feel there were flaws. It took a moment to get used to this working in a different timeline from the last, but in a way I thoroughly enjoyed it because it meant no messy explanations trying to shoehorn Jamie in, or how Laurie wasn’t around, or why the son got preference. It just makes for neater storytelling. I really didn’t like Michael’s mask in this one – it made him look super stupid. It was the eyes. The pacing was good for this, and keeps you hooked from the off. The setting was also fantastic – rich boarding school? Heck yeah! I was also a fan of the throwbacks that were in this film, always worth it, and I enjoyed the little bit of humour that was mixed all about in H20. A lot of focus is placed on the emotional issues of actually surviving Michael (explored using Laurie), and how her trauma has affected those around her (son and relationships). It was quite something to see her come out of her shell a bit and fight back against Michael. Goodness knows this is a showdown we have been holding out for! Anyway, I thought that H20 looked good, it was entertaining, had all the relevant tributes, was creepy and had more scares, was pretty well acted, and most importantly, it was fun. Worth a watch, and an awesome memorial movie.