Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

For those keeping score, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later takes place, appropriately, 20 years after the events of the original Halloween and Halloween II. H20 ignores the events of Halloween III, 4, 5 and The Curse of Michael Myers. H20 suggests that Michael and Loomis survived the hospital explosion in Halloween II, with Michael going MIA after the explosion and Loomis dying sometime in the years that followed. Laurie Strode, having faked her own death, has assumed the name Keri Tate. With Laurie/Keri now living with her 17 year old son in California, where she is the headmistress of a boarding school. In this continuity, Laurie and Michael are still siblings. H20 begins with Michael tracking Laurie down in California right before everybody leaves the boarding school for a big camping trip. Halloween H20 is kinda slow. It takes almost half the movie's running time for Michael to make it to California. The movie's body count is also pretty low. H20's portrayal of Laurie is pretty interesting though. She's wounded but a lot more proactive than we've seen her in the past. It's almost a precursor to the version of Laurie seen in the David Gordon Green Halloween trilogy. H20 has a pretty impressive cast, along with Jamie Lee Curtis there's Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Janet Leigh and LL Cool J. There's a Creed song given prominent placement in the film, which seems appropriate for a movie released in 1998. And even though this little pocket of Halloween continuity will be dropped after Halloween: Resurrection, H20 manages to be a decent entry in the series.

 

Rating: 69%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: At one point, Scream 2 is seen playing on a TV in a dorm room.

Lake Placid

The first Lake Placid movie reminds me a lot of Joe Dante's 1978 movie Piranha. They're both unabashedly Jaws ripoffs, but they have sense enough to throw in some colorful characters and humor to offset all the people getting eaten. Having been made by a legit movie studio means that Lake Placid has some decent actors in it, including Betty White (kids love Betty White). The special effects from Stan Winston Studios hold up well considering they came about during the early CGI era. It's a better movie than the string of SyFy sequels would have you believe.

Rating: 60%

(Image from impawards.com)

Friday the 13th Part III

When the cops arrive to clean up after his last killing spree, Jason hightails it away from Crystal Lake to nearby Higgins Haven (killing a few people along the way). Lucky for him, a young lady and her horny stoner friends have flocked to the same area for a weekend getaway. With a group of angry bikers hiding out in the barn and a hockey masked killer lurking in the shadows, will any of our horny protagonists survive? Come for the lousy 3D gimmicks, stay for the... um... did I mention he wears a hockey mask in this one?

Rating: Shot with a spear gun%

(Image from moviemonsters.net)

Friday the 13th Part 2

Some time has passed since the killings at Camp Crystal Lake, enough time that someone thought it would be a good idea to open a new summer camp on the same lake. A new group of horny teens descend on the area to begin their camp counselor training. Unfortunately for them, some sack wearing hillbilly is living in a shack on the grounds of the old camp. Could it be Jason Voorhees, the boy who drowned at Camp Crystal Lake, come back for revenge? You wouldn't think so, since he drowned and whatnot, but here we are.

Rating: Spear through the back%

(Image from macguffinfilmblog.wordpress.com)