Review of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) by Wayne L — 03 Feb 2012

Now we come to a horror series that, in my opinion, long overstayed its welcome in the sequel and remake department. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later is probably one of the best attempts at a true sequel while at the same time being entertaining in and of itself.

This time around, we get to know Laurie Strode (who has been in hiding) and her son, spending time in their lives before the eventual build-up to the clash between Laurie and Michael. Unfortunately, this film feels very tired and doesn't really bring anything new to the table.

Despite bringing back Michael's sister, it feels weak. Michael isn't all that interesting in this one either and, to be fair, hasn't really been so since the original film. This is also yet another retroactive sequel that takes place after the events of the first two films and ignores sequels 4-6.

This could have been a great opportunity to tie together the contuinity of the series for a change, but they screwed the pooch on that and made the selling point and ultimate focus of the film the battle between Laurie and Michael.

The murders aren't all that interesting, the score is pretty lame and the overall length of the movie feels much shorter than it actually is. It's not too bad, but it could have benefitted from a little more bloodshed, a bit more of a build-up, a better actor to play Michael and a better continuity for the series as a whole.

I have a feeling that someone should have taken this away from Moustapha Akkad early on and this series wouldn't have been such a mess, but oh well. It's ok for what it is, but like most of these movies, it could've been better.