Although I’ve seen some of the “Halloween” films, I haven’t seen them recently enough to remember them. So this watch/rewatch of the saga marks my first time thinking about them as a movie reviewer. Armed with categories suggested by “Halloween” superfan Michael (Olinger, not Myers), here’s my review of the eighth entry, “Halloween: Resurrection” (2002).
OVERALL THOUGHTS
By most accounts, “Halloween: Resurrection” is garbage, but I had a lot of fun with it. Back from “Halloween II,” director Rick Rosenthal gives us one last blast of Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) versus Michael (Brad Loree) in the cold open, then takes the saga in a new direction as college students are cast in an internet reality show where they explore the Myers house.
While it gets a bit claustrophobic by the time it’s over, “Resurrection” makes scary use of the abode while also delivering more laughs than most “Halloween” films along with some commentary about glamorizing real-life horrors.
“Halloween: Resurrection” (2002)
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writers: Larry Brand (story, screenplay), Sean Hood (screenplay)
Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Busta Rhymes, Brad Loree
BEST CHARACTER
The Myers house. Rundown and dark, the architecture seems more or less correct on the inside (for some reason, we don’t get a clear look at the outside), and I love the revelation of the underground tunnels where Michael has been living.
Among human characters, Busta Rhymes brings a fun and humorous energy to the proceedings as reality-show producer Freddie, starting with his passion for old kung-fu movies.
And Freddie ends up getting a complete redemption arc, which doesn’t happen a lot in “Halloween” movies – although how he survives getting stabbed, apparently without a scratch, needed more explanation. I wonder if that was a late rewrite.
BEST SCARE
Bill (Thomas Ian Nicholas) thinks Jen (Katee Sackhoff) has been grabbed by Michael. So everyone looks for her, and they find her in one of the bedrooms, hiding for the sake of giving them a scare. The group mostly thinks it’s all in good fun, but if you look closely, Michael’s white mask can be seen in the background of the dark room.
BEST DEATH
Jen gets decapitated by Michael and her head bounces down the stairs to the feet of her friends and castmates. They are caught between thinking this is brilliant practical effects, since Freddie had just revealed he had staged previous scares, and the fact that what they just witnessed looked disturbingly real.
FUNNIEST MOMENT
Michael is stalking through the house … followed by another Michael! The first one is Freddie, trying to put a scare into the members of the cast. He thinks the other one is a production worker, and he goes off on a rant. I was surprised that Michael didn’t kill him then and there, but Michael wisely lets him live a bit longer, as having a double works to his advantage.
THAT SEEMS FAMILIAR
A haunted-house reality show is a common horror movie/TV trope. Just recently, I re-read the “Angel” novel “Haunted,” also from 2002, and earlier this year, I watched “Demon House” (2018) and “American Horror Story: Roanoke” (2016).
I wasn’t seeking out this subgenre, but that’s how ubiquitous it is. To be fair, “Resurrection” is among the earlier cracks at it, and the way it cuts to teens at a Halloween party totally engrossed in the internet program – and wondering if it’s fake or real — is good for a few chuckles.
THAT DOESN’T AGE WELL
Freddie attacking Michael with kung-fu moves is reminiscent of the girl using gymnastics skills to kill a velociraptor in “The Lost World” (1997). It’s not exactly cinema’s finest moment, but for the sake of apologia, this is not something Michael has encountered before. And besides, it’s not like the amateur kung-fu moves are the killing blows; there’s still a requisite final showdown with fire and electrocution.
MOST SURPRISING ELEMENT
I’m not totally shocked that Laurie killed an innocent man at the end of “H20,” but I am surprised at how well the opening of “Resurrection” works despite that cop-out. We still get one last rooftop confrontation between the siblings, and while Michael has to win for the sake of the story’s continuation, Laurie gets a good parting shot: “I’ll see you in hell!”
HOW OVER-THE-TOP IS DONALD PLEASENCE?
Not applicable. Dr. Loomis died shortly before the events of “H20.”
THE MASK
It strikes me as the same as the previous film. In Freddie’s knock-off version, though, the mouth moves a bit when he talks. Maybe that’s true of Michael’s mask, too, but of course he never talks.
NEW REVELATIONS ABOUT MICHAEL
Based on clues in the house such as a high chair that tucks into a closet, it’s suggested that Michael was emotionally and physically abused by his parents.
“Resurrection” answers (or strongly implies) that, for those 20 years between “Halloween II” and “H20,” Michael was living in the Myers house in Haddonfield, particularly in secret tunnels beneath it. In my review of “H20,” I had surmised that maybe he was magically resurrected just before that movie’s events, but it makes more sense that he was alive the whole time.
Why officials thought him dead in the wake of the 1978 fire remains unexplained in these movies, although I assume spinoff materials explain it.
It turns out Michael didn’t die at the end of “H20”: Laurie killed an innocent man who was wearing the mask. The logistics of how Michael pulled off the switch are a bit wonky, but not impossible.
FORGOTTEN THREADS
After dispatching Laurie, you’d think Michael would target his nephew, John (Josh Harnett in “H20”). On the other hand, California is a long way to go to kill a nephew you barely know, especially since he recently returned to Illinois from a trip to murder his sister. Besides, he has all the time in the world, and he has to clear these pesky college kids out of his house first.
Freddie gets stabbed by Michael, but later he’s fine, without explanation. He perhaps has the same Thorn-cult powers as Michael. But there’s no Thorn cult in this timeline. So who knows.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT?
If this wasn’t the final film on this timeline, I’d guess Michael would go after his nephew next. I’m looking forward to learning more about his upbringing, though, in Rob Zombie’s take on the mythology.
