Ghost Upon the Floor

   For the 31 Days of Scary Movies project, I tried not to repeat too many different types of movies, and was careful to avoid series. The “Halloween” films being the exception. With last weekend’s “Halloween Kills” having just been released this year, I wanted to at least revisit the original 1978 film, because I never wouldn’t at least once in October. And with the hype around the 2018 film and its now sequel, I wanted to revisit Jamie Lee Curtis’ original return to the franchise, in 1998’s “Halloween: H20.”

Set twenty years after the origial film, Halloween: H20 is, still for the Ghost, one of (if not the) strongest of the sequels. Right off the bat, it gets the look of Haddonfield right and matching the first film, with the late Dr. Sam Loomis’ house resembling most of the homes in the first film, as well as the iconic Meyers house. The opening montage— where Joseph Gordon Leavitt in celebrity cameo is dispatched as Meyers ransacks Loomis’ files clearly looking for information on Laurie Strode, does a tremendous job of explaining away the convolutions of the films that followed without Curtis, in which she was apparently killed in a car accident. Laurie has gone into hiding under a new identity, now teaching at a seculted private boarding school in California; in symmetry to the first film, that took place in Illinois but was filmed in California. Laurie teaches English and has a terrific scene with a class whiel she teaches Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” harkening back to when young Laurie discussed similar topics of fate in an English class during the first film.

In addition to the homages and call backs to other “Halloween” films, “H20’s” cup runs over with the inclusion of Curtis’ real life mother, Janet Leigh, in a small supporting role at the school. Immortal in horror film for her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho,” Jane Leigh’s call backs (dirivng home on Halloween in the car from Hitchcock’s film) are a delight, and seeing Curtis and her mother act together is such a gift from the horror gods. This film is also otherwise filled with 1990s nostalgia; including young heartthrob Josh Harnett as Laurie’s son, and Michelle Williams as his girlfriend. Comparisons are often made to the “Scream” films, as they were huge success in the 1990s; but aside from the celebrity making a cameo and quickly getting killed off in the film’s openings, the conparisons aren’t really there. Of course, Janet Leigh’s “Psycho” invented that, and the film seems to be having great fun with that.

 

This film also gets right Michael Meyers’ portrayal. In so many of the seuqels, he is often stalking random teenagers; but what “H20” reminds us, is that the “Halloween” films are at their strongest—and most tension filled— when he is stalking Laurie Strode, and she is fighting back. In this film we get Michael driving again as he does in 1978, and the way he is constantly coming toward Laurie is so affective, and something many horror films in more recent years have followed. Among my favorite things about this movie is Laurie and Michael’s final confrontation, that is no less powerful and empowering today as it was when first watched over twenty years ago. Also of note is John Ottoman’s score, that smartly uses much of Carpenter’s original music, and expands orchestrally on the basic themes for the perfect ambiance of a “Halloween” film.

 

For too many years, I have not included “H20” as necessary October viewing. We are going to change that going forward.

 Tonight, we did something different for the film project. The Ghost and the Witch got together and watched the brand new “Halloween Kills,” the sequel to 2018’s David Gordon Green sequel/reboot of John Carpenter’s immortal classic “Halloween” from 1978. I was a huge fan of the 2018 film, and watched it as part of our film series in preparation just a few nights ago. And so the Ghost was super excited to see what the sequel would be like. What could be better than a new, Jamie Lee Curtis led Halloween film in October?

 The high point for the film for me was the opening flash back to the very ending of the 1978 film. These events are newly created for these new films, but the feeling, atmosphere and the look of the film are amazingly believable as part of the 1978 film. The actor who briefly plays Donald Pleasance’s Dr. Loomis is amazing; we thought it had to be some kind of computer-generated trick. I also loved the flashback’s concluding shot and call back to the film’s opening.

The other good here come from the sequences early on; any scene Jamie Lee Curtis touches is fantastic, and while her character is in the hospital recovering from her injuries of the first film and she can’t believably run around as much, the side lining of her in the film nonetheless hurts the movie as a whole. It’s fantastic to see Kyle Richards back as Lindsey; her sequences in the film are great, and help justify its existence. While Brian Andrews unfortunately couldn’t play Tommy Doyle, I actually loved the casting of Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy, and thought he was used interestingly in the film. Other good comes from some of the jokes this movie has; noticeably dialed back from 2018, the humor in here—such as the kids running around on Halloween night stealing candy and unphased by Michael Meyers or the gay couple that has rehabbed the Meyers house—is organic and good.

What I didn’t like so much about the film was the ending. The last sequences are very weak, and commit the sin so many of the mid-franchise sequels did, in explaining too much about Michael, and taking the mystery away from him. Without his mystery Michael is so much less scary, and the very last shots of the film don’t even seem to be from the same movie.

Is “Halloween Kills” woth watching? Absolutely. It is far from my favorite of the franchise, however, and I do think that the 2018 film maybe should have been left to stand on its own.

John Carpenter’s 1978 film “Halloween” stands large over most other horror films in my opinion. It is, far and away, my favorite slasher film, and one of my most loved scary movies. The atmosphere, the anxiety, the fear—it is all as Halloween night should be. Last night I watched not that film, but it’s 2018 sequel; the sequel which disregarded all the sequels that came before it, choosing only the original 1978 film as its jumping off point. While I love the original, and enjoy the sequels—most notably the 1998 “Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later”—I was game for a sequel that started fresh. I loved 2018’s “Halloween,” and revisited it last night.

 David Gordon Green’s “Halloween” is, as the tried saying goes, a love letter to the Halloween series. Callbacks and references abound, and, in all the best ways, this film is a reworking of the original. The attention to detail put in each frame shows, as the film pays tribute even to the sequels its timeline ignores; Halloween masks from “Halloween 3: Season of the Witch,” a sequence in a gas station restroom that calls to mind “H20.” The film is not perfect, but what it gets right it gets right and its such a treat that it exists.

 Among its best assets is, unquestionably, Jamie Lee Curtis returning as the heart of the series Laurie Strode. So much of the original’s success is due to Curtis’ appeal and performance, and while “H20” gave us a Curtis who was dealing with the trauma of the events of 1978, this film delves even further into a trauma survivor’s psyche, exploring the life and nuances of someone who narrowly escaped being murdered by a psychopath along with all her friends in high school. While “H20’s” Laurie showed us a woman who has her life together and was suppressing trauma, 2018 shows us a Laurie who’s life has been devastated by what she lost as a teenager. She still wears her hair the same, has the things from her high school bedroom on the walls of her bedroom all these years later, and has spent her life in a survival mode that led to her losing her daughter to the foster care system. While Laurie is devastated, she is not broken, spending her days training—with target practice and home security systems—for the day that is inevitable: when Michael Meyers breaks free and comes after her and those she loves again. Curtis excels here, and gives an amazing performance, which carries the film and delivers huge payoffs the likes of which many thought would never again come from the series. As her daughter, Judy Greer is excellent, providing one of the best lines and moments of the film.

I don’t think I watched this last year; it absolutely will feature on the rotation of years to come.