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Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
5 August 1998 (USA)
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Tagline:
This summer, terror won't be taking a vacation. more
Plot:
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. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
9 nominations
more
NewsDesk:
(42 articles)
Halloween 3-D Director and Screenwriter Confirmed
(From ReelzChannel. 22 September 2009, 9:35 AM, PDT)
Exclusive: Patrick Lussier Confirmed to Direct Halloween 3D
(From Dread Central. 18 September 2009, 9:17 PM, PDT)
(From ReelzChannel. 22 September 2009, 9:35 AM, PDT)
Exclusive: Patrick Lussier Confirmed to Direct Halloween 3D
(From Dread Central. 18 September 2009, 9:17 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Forget "Resurrection"--the series ends here.
more (544 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) more
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Halloween 7 (USA) (working title)
Halloween 7: The Revenge of Laurie Strode (USA) (working title)
Halloween: H20 (USA) (promotional title)
Halloween: H20 (20 Years Later) (USA) (promotional title)
Halloween: The Revenge of Laurie Strode (USA) (working title)
more
Halloween 7: The Revenge of Laurie Strode (USA) (working title)
Halloween: H20 (USA) (promotional title)
Halloween: H20 (20 Years Later) (USA) (promotional title)
Halloween: The Revenge of Laurie Strode (USA) (working title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for terror violence/gore and language.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
86 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Canada:13+ (Quebec) |
Canada:14A (Alberta) |
Canada:18A (British Columbia) |
Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) |
Canada:AA (Ontario) |
Canada:R (Manitoba) |
Iceland:16 |
USA:R (certificate #36140) |
Brazil:18 |
Spain:18 |
Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) |
Singapore:PG (cut) |
Italy:VM14 |
Philippines:R-18 |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-16 |
France:-12 |
Germany:16 |
Hong Kong:IIB |
Netherlands:16 |
Norway:15 |
Peru:14 |
Portugal:M/18 |
South Korea:18 |
Sweden:15 |
Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) |
Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) |
UK:18
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The line "everyone is entitled to one good scare" is said by Norma to Laurie. Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cypers) originally said it in the first Halloween.
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Goofs:
Continuity: In the classroom on the blackboard, the spelling of W.B. Yeats' name changes from the (wrong) spelling "Yates" to the correct "Yeats."
more
Quotes:
Tony:
Hasn't anyone ever told you that second-hand smoke kills?
Nurse Marion: Yeah, but they're all dead.
more
Nurse Marion: Yeah, but they're all dead.
more
Movie Connections:
References Friday the 13th Part III (1982)
more
Soundtrack:
MR. SANDMAN
more
FAQ
How old is Michael Myers?Which characters fall victim to Michael Myers ?
Was Halloween H20 supposed to end the Halloween series ?
more
more (544 total)
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Back before Lions Gate (now Lionsgate) held the monopoly on mainstream genre pics, Dimension Films was the go-to place for horror and suspense of the 'indie' sort. In 1998, with Wes Craven's 2 "Scream" films maintaining the public interest to great financial success, Dimension decided to put their acquisition of the "Halloween" franchise to good use (especially after the atrocious "Curse of Michael Myers") by making a sequel to end all sequels (at least until the atrocious "Halloween: Resurrection" turded up multiplexes).
In addition to being one of the most instantly-recognizable titles in all of horror, "Halloween: H20" came to screens with an added incentive: it marked the series return of original protagonist/victim Laurie Strode (played with cat-like veracity by Jamie Lee Curtis). Curtis' presence, in addition to the reliable skill of director Steve Miner (who cut his teeth on two "Friday the 13th" sequels), plus a story that wisely disregarded the incidents of all the sequels past "II," set "H20" up as the series payoff I was so eagerly awaiting. After leaving the theater, I was more than satisfied with the end result.
Years go by. Dimension becomes a notorious den of re-cuts, re-shoots, and re-castings (just ask Wes "Cursed" Craven) still trying to mine the 'Fresh-Faced-Teen' demographic that doesn't seem to exist anymore. Upon re-examination of "H20"'s box/poster art, I noticed a recurrent motif (from "Scream" to "Phantoms" to "Nightwatch" to "Rounders") in design: the proliferation of airbrushed faces looking Deeply Concerned about something, in addition to an over-reliance on bold, exclamatory blurbs from dubious sources (WWOR-TV, anyone?).
But I'm not reviewing the marketing tactics of a company whose former glories (namely Tarantino and Rodriguez) are now its only source of revenue.
"Sin City" notwithstanding, "H20" might have been the last good movie to come out of Dimension. At its core, it is a surprisingly compact (86 minutes, including credits) horror-thriller that moves so briskly we are never able to get too cozy with the characters. Miner goes for the subtle compositions that marked John Carpenter's original, and is fairly successful: the film refrains from the obligatory sex and self-referential attitude that would have been profitable at the time. From frame one, "H20" feels like a continuous, flowing set-piece...but the way it sidelines its characters leaves a hollow echo when it's all finished. Also unfortunate is that the suspense is so heavy-handed it seldom creates tension; this might be attributable to Chris Durand's overly self-conscious portrayal of the menacing Michael Myers. The relationship between Curtis, her son John (Josh Hartnett), and Myers is the film's intriguing familial triangle, but is disappointingly underdeveloped (though for the sake of the series, it wraps things up well enough).
In the end, "H20" is Curtis' show. She imbues her character with as much straight-faced commitment as she did in '78, in addition to a toughened exterior bent on preserving family values at any cost. The denouement, which contains a moment as touching as it is creepy, gives new meaning to the phrase, "tough love."