It's beyond me as to why this film is as loathed as it is. "Halloween: Resurrection" impressed me upon its release late last year for the simple fact that it was actually atmospheric. The "Halloween" series began to put Michael out in the open in front of lights and in plain sight. He lost his creepiness in "Halloween II" due to this but was regained in "Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers." The problem that was blatantly noticeable was that he became a draw for the box office therefore made it a necessity for him to be seen. With that being said the character lost a lot of his mysterious persona and became more of a recognizable face rather than one that was created to stay hidden. There is a point to this, however, and that point is "Halloween: Resurrection" succeeds at making him frightening again. It's nowhere near comparable to the first "Halloween" film but it's an underrated entry none the less.
Don't expect this installment to appear at an awards show for originality. It's clichéd and formulaic; I wouldn't take a Halloween film any other way. The same can be said about the simple albeit ridiculous plot. Apparently Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) decapitated the wrong man in "H20" as Michael had the bright idea to switch looks with an EMT. While investigating his corpse, Michael suddenly sprang back to life, crushed the EMT's larynx,
and disguised him as our family-obsessed serial killer. The excuse utilized to bring Michael back may not be as ridiculous as those found in the "Friday The 13th" films to resurrect Jason thankfully. It doesn't get to the point where an electrical charge from an object restarts his heart.
We learn that internet entrepreneur Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes) is starting a reality show based on an investigation of the Myers house. The goal is to put six contestants in the abandoned, re-decorated house to discover clues as to why Michael kills. Mayhem ensues as we learn that Michael stills lives in the house (or under it if you want to get technical) and he doesn't take to kindly to uninvited visitors. Not original by any means but then again would you expect that?
One of the main aspects of this film I enjoyed was the great usage of lightening. The atmosphere was regained greatly as we don't see Michael too often but rather see the glow of his mask in patches of darkness through the periphery of our vision. John Carpenter knew this was the prefect way to present Myers and director Rick Rosenthall ("Halloween II") knows this as well. The dark, gloomy set pieces create the atmosphere well but Brad Loree (this film's Michael Myers) is the true talent here. He takes the character to new dimensions and actually made him terrifying. He has the walk down to a "T" and can actually be called creepy.
The real surprise is how well Loree portrayed the psychopath as a whole. His slow movements were convincing and he seemed to get a real kick out of moving through the shadows. You truly believe Michael is a madman in this film and when a movie can have you questioning reality, an actor is finally doing his/her job.
It's rare to find good actors in the "Halloween" series films but this is a pleasent exception. Although it's sad when a stunt man with no dialogue gives the best performance out of the whole cast, that’s more of a pro than a con if given enough thought.
As the heroin Sarah, Bianca Kajlich gives a believable performance. Even with some corny line readings you can't help but feel she enjoyed playing this part. She gives the character a personality rather than a screaming, nervous wreck which is something I commend.
The co-stars are as one-dimensional as you would expect, however. The likes of Rudy (Sean Patrick Thomas), Jen (Katee Sackhoff), Jim (Luke Kirby), and the remaining fodder are just that. The only likeable character of the bunch was Rudy simply based on the fact that Sean Patrick Thomas is a talented actor on all accounts. The remaining characters are either sex obsessed, simply stupid, or annoying to the point where you wait for them to bite the dust. This works to the films advantage mostly due to the fact that the lack of acting was seemingly done purposely. The bad performances were utilized for camp I'm guessing and therefore can't truly be dissed based on a lack of "artistic merrit." Have a good time is what I say.
You don't need acting in a Horror film (I'm sure you've figured that out by now). What it comes down to is the elements of actual atmosphere and scares. It won't evoke true terror from the viewer but it can be called, if anything, suitably creepy. Thanks to Brad Loree's acting as The Shape the scare factor is upped a level. Although the level of atmosphere found in the first film is absent here Michael is used to excellent effect. The great lighting and equally as good set will certainly crawl under your skin. The actors do an above average job of acting terrified to the point of speechlessness and that's all that's needed for this film to succeed.
A lot of decent jump scares are brought in to bypass slow moments but are done correctly. Rosenthall knows how to build tension and he puts it to good use. More than once I found myself slightly nervous (this coming from a season Horror movie fan).
But a "Halloween" film wouldn't be a "Halloween" film without the absence of blood. Yes, you read that correctly. The original "Halloween" was relatively bloodless and relied more on subtle, psychological horror. I can't say the same for this film, however, as it's a violent, bloody affair. For those who have said it suffers from a lack of gore, I wonder if they watched the same film. A knife through a head, a tripod through a throat, an impaling, someone gets their head crushed, another character gets pinned to a door with knives (a tribute to the first film), throats are slit, etc... It may not be the goriest Horror film of all time ("Dead Alive" anyone) but that's not to say you don't get your money's worth.
What we come down to is a fun Horror film that doesn't take itself too seriously. The atmosphere is laid on thick like Slim Fast on a Weight Watchers diet and the death scenes are more than fun to watch. The acting, though it's not needed, is as far from annoying as the "Halloween" film gets and the dialogue is actually above average. This isn't a perfect slasher movie by any means but if you're looking for an atmospheric, more original "Halloween" film, you could do a lot worse than "Halloween: Ressurection."
[Rated R for strong, bloody horror violence, language, some drug use, and some sexuality.]
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Production Year: 1998 - Horror - Director: Steve Miner - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Michelle Williams, Adam Arkin, Adam Hann-Byrd, Janet Leigh, L.L. Cool J.
Production Year: 1980 - Horror - Director: Paul Lynch - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen, Casey Stevens, Anne-Marie Martin, Antoinette Bower
The eighth entry in the series,Halloween Resurrectionmaintains connections to John ... more
Carpenter's original. A prologue picks up the thread ofHalloween: H2O, with poor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) now in a psychiatric hospital and determined to shut do...
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Original Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween, H20, True Lies) is back and joined by ... more
Busta Rhymes (Shaft) and Tyra Banks (Coyote Ugly) in the terrifying Halloween; resurrection - the latest in this electrifying horror film series! The reality pro...
The eighth entry in the series,Halloween Resurrectionmaintains connections to John ... more
Carpenter's original. A prologue picks up the thread ofHalloween: H2O, with poor Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) now in a psychiatric hospital and determined to shut do...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Freddie Harris arranges for a group of six local students to spend the night in the ... more
childhood home of Michael Myers and broadcast all the events in real time over the internet. Little does he know that Myers is returning home for Halloween...
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Advantages: Amazingly brings some new ideas to the series, quite intriguing for an hour, second best in the series Disadvantages: slasher movies are so...'80s', blood and gore seems somewhat minimal, does the world need more of these movies?