Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

This Halloween sequel is good, very good. (30.12.2010)

The only sensible move, to say goodbye to the previous installments and build on the ending of the second film, turned out to be quite an intelligent deliverance from the screenwriting retardation of its predecessors. The psychological dissection of Laurie’s character is quite interesting, but not revelatory, although the return of J.L. Curtis to the scene is another bull’s eye. Unfortunately, the director messed it up in the end. Atmospherically, the murders are very charming, a pleasant sense of déjà vu á la Carpenter caresses the viewer's libido, and the scene when Laurie picks up the axe and goes to meet Michael is phenomenal. But who did they put in overalls and a white mask? Michael was, is, and always will be perceived as robust and not as a bore whose creatine-fueled biceps have dissapeared six months after leaving the gym. However, the absolute "WTF?!" moment comes (sorry, spoiler!) when the director makes one camera detail at Michael’s eyes. Those two empty holes, hiding absolute evil, have taken shape and form, and Michael has thus definitively relegated himself to the position of a killer without secrets, who is then impossible to root for. There were some ideas here, and effort, but the result is a contradictory notch in the Halloween series. (03.08.2007)

"Halloween: H20" is a continuation that ultimately gets very boring because even the new setting doesn't overshadow the fact that Michael is returning just to kill. It doesn't have a deeper meaning, the screenwriters are just going through the motions and don't really bother with why things are the way they are, they just are. Yes, in terms of the horror atmosphere, there is some, it can't be denied, but as part of the series, the film is basically unnecessary. (07.08.2014)