Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

This is the best Halloween movie since the original came out. It starts as it means to go on with action and nods to the past that will have horror fans glued. It's so fast paced it needs to almost slow down for a rest half way through before the thrilling climax. An excellent sequel.

Great sequel to the original, it's true what they say great things come to those who wait.

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 ****.

source: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

One of the worst of the many slasher films made recently, and a poor addition to the enduring "Halloween" series. Director Miner doesn't seem to possess even the elementary skills that are needed for a good horror movie; his tactics are unbelievably primitive and his insistence on "false scares" becomes ludicrous after a while. John Carpenter's famous creepy music score is barely used; what we get instead are stupid musical cues every time a friendly character "unintentionally" scares someone else who then says "Don't ever do that again!". The first hour of the movie, extremely low on gore and genuine scares, is practically useless; it plays like a third-rate TV drama. In the final 15 minutes, the pace finally picks up, with a gruesome murder and a fairly well-shot chase scene, but by then it's too late. Overall, a highly overpraised film that could be mistaken for a Disney production if one or two gory sequences were trimmed. (*1/2)

Halloween H20 is a solidly crafted, chilling piece, a suspenseful collage of well-mounted set pieces that will have audiences transfixed.

There are 3 basic timelines in the Halloween franchise. The first & longest timeline brings in ancient curses & stupid bloodlines. The newest one ignores all the previous entries except the Carpenter original, making Laurie's paranoia & vengefulness unbelievable. This one (my favorite) excepts only the first 2 films & the 2 at the turn of the century. It gives Laurie & Michael arcs & motivations that make sense. So despite some horror clichés & stupid characters, H20 is the best Halloween outside the first 2.

On what should have been an exciting sequel, i found Halloween H20 to be a big disappointment. What makes Halloween really is Jamie Lee Curtis, and i think thats the reason why the Halloween films without her have been so poor. The storyline is really messed up, according to some Michaels dead in the fourth then back in the seventh... it really is stupid but finally Halloween H20 clears up all the misconceptions. The film starts of really tense with a good storyline and lots of surprises but when we see Michael in the flesh its like taking a step backwards. The mask is completely different as well as the actor who's like half the originally actors size... I wish they planned a better ending but all in all it wasn't too bad and it definitely was a treat after the other films...

Halloween H20 may have fractured the Halloween timeline, however the series had gone off the rails anyway. This sequel puts things back on track and gives us a straightforward slasher flick. The scares aren't exactly original, but it includes some amusing references to the previous Halloween movies as well as some other film franchises. Welcome back, Laurie Strode.

For 22 years they had not made Michael scary. This is the one where he kills in the shadows again. The movie is very short but it's worth every second of the suspense. Michael Myers is back and the reason why everyone is so suprised in the movie is because it is supposed to be that H3-6 never occured. It's scary, funny, and suspenseful. Rent it over the other ones. My MPAA rating: R for non-stop terror violence/gore and some brief language.