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Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) More at IMDbPro »

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543 comments in total

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37 out of 38 people found the following comment useful :-
Back to the basics, 24 November 2003

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is the sequel we have been waiting for! After a little slump with Halloween 5, I think a lot of Halloween fans were worried that the Halloween franchise was going to be like the typical Friday the 13th series, that as the sequels went on the stories would just get worse and worse. Why is Halloween H20 different and better than the other sequels? Because they went back into their roots, most sequels loose touch with what the original movie was trying to produce and get into goofy characters. This movie delivers in perfect scares, the story is awesome, and we have Jamie Lee Curtis back! What more could we ask for? I do have to admit that there was a disappointment that they killed the original nurse from the first Halloween movie, but the way Michael did it was classic. This is my favorite Halloween sequel because Michael is back and he's scarier than ever. We have some new great actors like Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams and even LLCoolJ was fun to have around, they were all great additions to our Halloween story.

The movie features the return of Laurie Strode, now revealed to be living under the assumed name "Keri Tate". As Tate, Laurie has a seemingly perfect life with an intelligent son and a boyfriend, a great career; however, Laurie is far from happy. The tragic events from 20 years previous still haunt her mind, and strongly take effect on her parental capabilities. To everyone, this is "just another Halloween," however Laurie still lives in constant fear. But this year is different. Marion Chambers and her neighbors are murdered by Michael after he steals a file on Laurie Strode. Michael leaves to find Laurie. To mark the 20th anniversary of the happenings of 1978, her brother, Michael Myers, appears, and starts killing off her co-workers and students one by one. And for the first time in two decades, they meet again. Laurie escapes, but chooses to go back to the school to challenge Michael in a fight to the death. She finds him and attempts killing him several times. But after all, this is Michael Myers, after several sequels you know it isn't going to be that easy.

Halloween H20 is a great sequel that is sure to give you good scares, laughs, and it keeps you interested. This is one of those rare movies that made me cover my eyes in terror, I know it sounds a little cheesy, but when Laurie is having a bad flash of Michael coming towards her and she keeps trying to close her eyes and say it's just a dream, but she opens them and he's still walking towards her, yikes! Also I absolutely LOVED the ending, this was a great closure to the series, even though sadly they created another sequel, I just have to forget about that one because this is the way they should just leave the Halloween franchise. So not only would I recommend this movie if you were looking to complete the Halloween series, but just watch it in general, this movie goes back to the basics and is just a great movie. It was a lot of fun to watch and see Michael terrorizing the new cast, even after 20 years he's still got the touch to even make us sympathize with him, ooooo, Michael, where will you take us next? Well, hopefully a much better sequel then what I had to put up with in 2002.

8/10

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48 out of 63 people found the following comment useful :-
Finally a worthy sequel!!, 9 December 1998

Author: Plissken-4 from USA

Halloween was, is, and will likely remain the greatest horror movie of all time. None of its sequels or imitators could even come close. Until now. Halloween H20 is a fantastic film. Unlike other films of this genre, it realizes that you need to care about the characters in order for the film to scare you. Gore does not equal terror. The original Halloween knew that and H20 knows it. It allows you to get to know the characters so you can root for them in the end. Unlike the Scream-type movies of today, teenagers are not the only ones with brains here. Jamie Lee Curtis gives a performance superior to her one in the original. Her character was destroyed from the events of the first film. We get to see her rebuild herself as she finally faces the fear that has haunted her for 20 years. Kudos to director Steve Miner. He creates a perfectly creepy atmosphere, allows Michael Myers to move like a person instead of a robot, and throws everything but the kitchen sink at us in a white knuckle ending. This is the first horror movie I went to in a long time where the audience SCREAMED with regularity. There were more screams in the last half hour of this movie than there were in SCREAM 1 & 2 combined. My only complaint is the over use of false scares. But other than that, this is a first class thriller that FINALLY does justice to the original HALLOWEEN. I give it ***1/2 out of ****.

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22 out of 25 people found the following comment useful :-
Pretty good,but nothing really groundbreaking., 11 January 2003

Author: HumanoidOfFlesh from Chyby, Poland

"Halloween H20:20 Years Later" made by Steve Miner("House",the second and the third part of "Friday the 13th" series)is quite good,especially if you liked John Carpenter's classic "Halloween".The film disregards Parts 4-6,which is not necessarily a bad thing.Luckily it has plenty of suspense,and a good amount of scares-especially the prologue is quite terrifying.There is only a little bit of gore,so gorehounds will be disappointed.Jamie Lee Curtis is pretty good as a Laurie Strode,but the other characters played by the supporting cast are shallow and empty.The score by Marco Beltrami sounds exactly like the one from "Scream" and this is surely big mistake.All in all I enjoyed this one and you should too if you are a fan of "Halloween" series.7 out of 10-a solid horror flick!

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20 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
A Very Good Franchise Movie, 30 October 2005

Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland

Don't ask me why but I couldn't help being involved in the pre title sequence of H20 . I mean how many times have we seen a madman stalking his victims in a dark house ? Too many you say ? I couldn't agree more but director Steve Miner has managed to make this sequence tense and exciting

The story is held up slightly after this as we're introduced to the characters . Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode who having survived the previous encounter with Michael Myers now has a drinking problem . Perhaps not the most radical or original example of character development but character development of a sort . Obviously Michael Myers is just as you'd expect him to be . He says nothing and goes around killing horny teenagers

Interestingly enough while horny teenagers having sex are expected to be bumped off in this type of movie there is no on screen sex in this movie and there's nothing to indicate that none of these teenagers have lost their virginity . They're no angels but they're not promiscuous sex pigs either . Deliberate post modernism on the part of the writers ? Possibly since we see two teenage girls watching a clip from SCREAM on TV so make up your own mind and it's good to see a horror film with some lighter moments which come from a performance by LL Cool J as a cop while at the same time the humour never becomes OTT

By no means a classic example of cinema H20 is a fairly impressive movie for what it is - Yet another sequel in a horror franchise but one that kept this sometimes demanding viewer entertained

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20 out of 27 people found the following comment useful :-
Change of pace for the series...., 7 July 2001

Author: Paul Hackett (PAUL-344) from Banbury, England

With the success of "the new" horror film genre started by Kevin Williamson's Scream, it was inevitable that it would Halloween H20. With Williamson in an unacknowledged, co-producer role, H20 added a bit of hip teen class to the Halloween series, with Dawson Creek's Michelle Williams, Jodi Lynn O'Keefe, and the debut of Josh Hartnett heading the cast along with scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis. Fans of the series have been let down with disappointing sequels soiling the reputation of the classic original, so it wasn't all bad when the producers of H20 made a controversial decision to ignore films 3-6 in the series. Set in a California posh secluded high school as opposed to Haddonfield, H20 is a taught film lasting no more than 80 minutes if you don't include the credits. In the short running time the film manages to pack in suspense and drama to satisfy both fans of the series and of the genre, with the film managing to keep both traditional and "new age" horror fans happy. In all, a healthy addition to the classic horror series, watch out for Halloween 8: Homecoming.

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12 out of 18 people found the following comment useful :-
A Lot of Fun For Fans of Carpenter's Halloween, 3 July 2007

Author: dogstar21 from United States

I love Carpenter's Halloween and, frankly, wish there had never been any sequels. Halloween is a near-perfect horror film: very suspenseful, stylish, subtle, and loaded with amazing, spooky atmosphere. None of the sequels even come remotely close to duplicating any of the qualities that make Halloween so amazing. H20, however, - while not similar in style to the original - is the only Halloween sequel to display any sophistication and wit. There are lots of knowing and witty allusions to the original and the film actually doesn't insult the audience's intelligence. I love the ending to the film; it is very gratifying to see Laurie finally confront and defeat her monster, both figuratively and literally. And the final image and sounds of the film demonstrate an intelligence nowhere to be found in any of the other Halloween sequels: just as the original ended with the ominous panting of a disembodied Michael, H20 ends with the victorious panting of Laurie as the credits roll.

The other sequels are for the most part embarrassments. This entry, however, is a lot of fun for anyone who loves the original. Of all the sequels, it's the only one worth checking out...

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15 out of 24 people found the following comment useful :-
Better than all the other sequels – average first half, good second half., 18 February 2002
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

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.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
One awesome sequel, 9 September 2007

Author: ged_white72 from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I loved this film. I had seen the original when i was 12 years old and now I'm 14 but when i was 13 i decided to buy them on DVD and watched them in a row. When i saw 6 i was hurt inside and when i put this disc in i thought this was going to be a poor movie but i was so wrong and great acting and directing. John Carpenter would be so pleased with Steve Miner for an awesome Halloween.

I liked the way that Michael had to break into Marion Chambers house and steel a file that said where she was. I thought it was gonna be that curse of thorn and he just knows where she was. But its finally the human Myers back.

I give this a 10 out of 10.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Awesome Sequel That's Pretty Creepy With Top Notch Performances!, 21 August 2004

Author: (callanvass@hotmail.com) from victoria b.c canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This was an awesome sequel that's pretty creepy with top notch performances!,and it's the 5th best in the series!. The Score is very creepy, and Jamie Lee Curtis gives an outstanding performance in this!. I know a lot of Halloween fans despise this movie, and quite frankly i can't see why,people complain it's too much like scream (it's not) and it's way better then the Extremely overrated Scream, and plus the last 15 to 20 minutes are full of scares and suspense!. The ending was pretty cool, and i thought they should have stopped the series with this one!. most of the characters, were really cool except for a couple and,the 3 main leads were awesome!. The Direction is great!. Steve Miner does a great job here, with great fade to blacks, very good zoom in's creating a lot of spooky atmosphere, and some cool camera angles, plus the pace was very good!. There is bit of blood, but not much. We get Skate In The Face (ATF), bloody slit throat, slit throat (ATF), quite a few bloody stabbings, leg bashed ,courtesy of an elevator (Cringe inducing), bloody corpses, decapitation, impaling with a knife, minor bloody cuts, and an Axe in the shoulder. The Acting is GREAT!. Jamie Lee Curtis gives an OUTSTANDING performance here, she is very likable, however she is not the Laurie Strode we once knew, this Laurie Strode is always tense, worried, and Obsessed with Michael she does a great job playing that role, and her chemistry Josh Hartnett is excellent! (Jamie Rocks!!).Josh Hartnett, is awesome here, he is very likable, had very good chemistry with Jamie Lee, and Michelle Williams and overall i just dig this guy! (Hartentt rules!). Michelle Williams, is pretty, and does what she has to do well, as Johns girlfriend. Adam Arkin annoyed the crap out of me, and the chemistry between her and Jamie was off. LL Cool J, is a funny guy and plays the comic relief here. Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, is pretty good looking, and did what she had to do adequately. Adam Hann-Byrd, does okay but annoyed me at certain times. Janet Leigh, is a classy lady and it was great to see the gal again!. Nancy Stephens, is good here again, wish she didn't die so soon.Overall this is a great sequel that is a must see! **** out of 5

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Surprisingly Good, 1 November 2005

Author: brocksilvey from United States

"Halloween: H20" makes an obvious effort to return to the franchise's roots and recapture the qualities that made the first one so good. It doesn't come close to succeeding, but it does manage to become, in my opinion, the second best of the series, though that's pretty faint praise.

There are some creepy scenes early on in this film (the one in the deserted rest stop bathroom, most notably), but this movie really exists for the sole purpose of having Jamie Lee Curtis kick Michael Myers's ass, and the catharsis in watching her do so is worth the price of admission. There are some obligatory killings, but they go for gruesome rather than frightening, which was not John Carpenter's approach. But when Laurie Strode takes matters into her own hands and comes after Michael with guns blazing (so to speak), hold on to yourselves--violent tendencies seem to run in this family.

The producers of this movie use a bigger budget to add some modern "scary" sound effects for atmosphere and fill out John Carpenter's original score with a sweeping orchestra--it's like John Williams' version of the Halloween theme. The whole thing feels like it's running on an I.V. drip of pure adrenaline. But fans of the series, or at least of the first two films, should enjoy it.

LL Cool J is totally wasted in the token black character role, and Janet Leigh makes a pointless appearance as well, but listen for the brief strain of Bernard Herrman's "Psycho" score in one scene with her.

Grade: B

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