Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

Director:

Steve Miner

Writers (WGA):

Debra Hill (characters) and
John Carpenter (characters) ...

Release Date:

5 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

This summer, terror won't be taking a vacation.

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.

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | School | Michael Myers | Death | Nightmare

Awards:

9 nominations

Cast

Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Laurie Strode / Keri Tate
Josh Hartnett	...	John Tate
Adam Arkin	...	Will Brennan
Michelle Williams	...	Molly Cartwell
LL Cool J	...	Ronald 'Ronny' Jones
Jodi Lyn O'Keefe	...	Sarah Wainthrope
Adam Hann-Byrd	...	Charles 'Charlie' Deveraux
Janet Leigh	...	Norma Watson
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Jimmy Howell
Nancy Stephens	...	Marion Chambers Whittington
Branden Williams	...	Tony Allegre
Beau Billingslea	...	Detective 'Fitz' Fitzsimmons
Matt Winston	...	Detective Matt Sampson
Larisa Miller	...	Claudia
Emmalee Thompson	...	Casey

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)

MPAA:

Rated R for terror violence/gore and language.

Runtime:

86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

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:

Canfield-Moreno Estate - 1923 Micheltorena Street, Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

P.J. Soles was originally approached for the role of Keri Tate's/Laurie Strode's secretary. Soles never gave a straight answer as to what she wanted to do, skeptical about returning to the series as someone completely different then her character Lynda, originally killed off in Halloween. She eventually lost the role to Jamie Lee Curtis's mother, Janet Leigh, who was approached after not getting an answer from Soles.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the opening scene, a woman holds up a knife before she stabs it into a pumpkin. There's a sound effect of the knife coming out of its holder, however, the knife is in the air the whole time.

Quotes:

Laurie Strode: My name's not Keri Tate.
Will Brennan: Oooh, what is it?
Laurie Strode: Laurie Strode.
Will Brennan: [laughs] Strode?

Movie Connections:

References Psycho (1960)

Soundtrack:

MR. SANDMAN

Better than all the other sequels – average first half, good second half.

20 years on Laurie has moved on, changed her name and is now the headmistresses of a private school and has a 17 year old son. However she drinks, is over protective and can't shake off the memories. However with Michael Myers tracking her down from her original home she has plenty of reason to be afraid. When the time comes she must confront her fear and end Michael's control of her life.

This is better than all the other sequels put together - although that isn't saying much. But, on the back of the post-ironic horror revival of Scream etc (Scream 2 is even on TV in the film!) this is able to make up much of the credibility it lost between part 2 and 6 - `The Curse of Michael Myers'. The story is the usual mix of teens in terror stuff but the inclusion of Laurie spices it up. The film starts well with a pre-credit sequence but then goes into a long 40 minute build up that is quite dull. Every two minutes someone bumps into someone else and they and the audience jump - literally this happens lots. However when Myers turns up to find a group of teens having a party and to reunite with Laurie it actually gets good.

The last 30 minutes is enjoyable and scary and hopefully sees the end of the series. Curtis is good as the paranoid wreck that has to stand up and the cast of teens are pretty cool. Talking of cool, the best role is LL Cool J as a security guard, he doesn't have much to do but he's really funny and, hey!, it's LL Cool J! What more does he need to do?

Overall I'm not a fan of the Halloween films and always though Myers was a poor bogeyman but I did enjoy this. My advice would be to find some chores to do during the build up and then start paying attention again for the last 30 minutes.