Review of Halloween: Resurrection (2002) by Bryan G — 10 Oct 2009

I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that even getting his head completely chopped off in the last film would stop Michael Myers from coming back for another sequel. Of course the film cheaply explains how this is possible, but only reaffirms my belief that this series has become more about making money than substantial, quality horror film-making. Even being directed by Rick Rosenthal, who directed Halloween II (one of the few sequels I like from the series), wasn't enough to bring life to Halloween: Resurrection.

I did like the opening sequence to this film, and consider it to be among the stronger scenes of the entire franchise. Jamie Lee Curtis returns for her final performance as Laurie Strode, who is now in a mental institute. Naturally this isn't going to stop Michael from getting to his sister and finishing what he's been trying to do for a little over two decades now. Sorry to ruin it if you haven't seen this already, but he finally kills his sister. It's a pretty shocking moment and a fantastic way to start the film. This intro would have worked better as a short film though, since everything following this opening is as standard as it gets with a slasher film.

You know your film is in trouble when the two biggest stars you have to fill the rest of the film are Busta Rhymes and Tyra Banks. The two play a pair of reality show producers who gather a small group of people, put them in a haunted/scary location and have them film from a first person perspective what they see. The current group of people, all college students (of course!), have been put in the childhood home of Michael Myers. Unbeknownst to them, Michael has come home.

At this point in the series I think I would have enjoyed a film that shot Michael Myers into space, or was a self-parody of itself. The film takes itself seriously, but offers up nothing new to enhance the series. The reality television concept does spark some interesting ideas and funny moments. I did like that a small group of people watching the show online were yelling at the participants (in the fashion that many audience members yell at horror films), only in a more ironic way since the people they are watching were actually being killed.

Ultimately Halloween: Resurrection falls into the category of pointless sequel, much like the majority of this series ends up feeling like. This one isn't as frustrating as Halloween 4, 5 and 6 ended up being, but it doesn't recreate the same impression that Halloween: H20 crafted. Pity that if it weren't for Rob Zombie's two films, Halloween: Resurrection would have been the last time we had to be disappointed with this character.