Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

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Halloween H20

Original 1998 theatrical poster
Directed by Steve Miner
Produced by Paul Freeman
Written by Robert Zapia (story and screenplay)
Matt Greenberg (screenplay)
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis
Josh Hartnett
Adam Arkin
Michelle Williams
LL Cool J
Chris Durand
Music by John Ottman
Cinematography Daryn Okada
Editing by Patrick Lussier
Distributed by Dimension Films
Release date(s) Wednesday August 5, 1998 (United States)
Running time 86 min.
Language English
Budget $17,000,000
Preceded by Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Followed by Halloween: Resurrection

Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (or Halloween: H20) is the seventh film in the Halloween film series. Initially released in the United States on Wednesday, August 5, 1998, it was released in several European countries as well as Singapore, Israel, Australia, and Mexico in the months that followed.

This is the first film in the series not to feature Donald Pleasence. Pleasence had died shortly before the release of Halloween 6 thus off-setting one of the key components of the series. This chapter is meant to be a direct sequel to the first and second films with the idea being that sequels 4-6 never happened.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The movie features the return of Curtis's character from the first two Halloween films, Laurie Strode. Laurie is now revealed to be living under the assumed name "Keri Tate". As Tate, Laurie is living a seemingly idyllic life, complete with boyfriend and career (as a head mistress at a private boarding school in Northern California). Laurie's life is turned upside down, once again, when her brother, serial killer Michael Myers, tracks her down and starts killing off her co-workers and students one by one. Eventually Laurie manages to escape, but instead chooses to go back to the school to engage Michael in a fight to the death once and for all. Laurie decapitates Michael with an axe in the film's final sequence.

[edit] Production

Before H20 was even released, Dimension Films had plans for a follow-up sequel already in active development. It was appearenly entitled Halloween H2K: Evil Never Dies. H20 takes place twenty years after the original 1978 Halloween installment. H2K would have taken place in the year 2000.

Kevin Willamson, creator of Dawson's Creek and Scream, was involved in various areas of production on this particular sequel including coming up with the treatment that the film was based on. Although not directly credited, he provided rewrites in character dialogue, which is seen heavily throughout the teen moments. Willamson was not credited as a co-writer, but Miramax/Dimension Films felt his involvement as a co-executive producer merited being credited. There are various cues throughout the film that are similar to the Scream films: In Molly and Sarah's dorm room, they are watching Scream 2 before School Counselor Mr. Brennan stops by to check on them. The scene showing on their television set is when Cici, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, is talking on the phone with the killer thinking it's her boyfriend.

[edit] Writing

[edit] Casting

During the prologue credits, Dr. Samuel J. Loomis' dialogue from the first Halloween about Michael's incarceration is spoken. The studio, instead of opting to get the original audio, decided to use a sound-alike actor named Tom Kane to provide the voice over.

Jamie Lee Curtis' mother also has a role in the movie as Norma, the secretary of Curtis' character. Originally the character, Norma Watson, was to be played by P.J. Soles, who was featured in the original Halloween (film) as Lynda. Soles also played a character named Norma Watson in the film Carrie, and the role was conceived as an in-joke referencing the two films. However, Soles (or her agent) never accepted the role, and instead the producers brought in Janet Leigh. The name "Norma" also worked as a nod to Leigh's role in Psycho, in which she fell victim to the murderous Norman Bates, which harkens back to the original Halloween films which featured Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), whose name was taken from the character in Psycho played by John Gavin. In Norma's final scene in the movie the theme from Psycho can be heard as she walks over to a car which is an exact duplicate of the car she drove in the Alfred Hitchcock film.

Director Steve Miner has an uncredited cameo as the School Financial Advisor.

[edit] Direction

John Carpenter was originally in the running to be the director for this particular follow-up since Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to reunite the cast and crew of the original to have active involvement in it. Carpenter, himself, opted out since he wanted no active part in the sequel.

Director Steve Miner has experience with another particular slasher, Jason Voorhees. He was involved in the first film and directed the second and third Friday the 13th films.

Structurally, H20 is set-up almost exactly like the original Halloween.[citation needed]

[edit] Music

This film features Creed's What's This Life For during the party sequence. The music video is featured on the Dimension Films Collector's Edition DVD.

[edit] Tagline

The film's original tagline was supposed to be "Blood is thicker than water". A reference to the H20 in the title. But when it was decided to release the film in August the tagline was changed to "This summer, terror won't be taking a vacation".

[edit] Reception

Halloween: H20 is the biggest box office hit in the Halloween series to date. It was released on August 5th 1998 in the US and later in many other countries. It's opening weekend gross was $16,187,724 and over all gross $55,041,738. It preformed moderately well oveseas, picking up around $17m abroad.

[edit] Continuity

The movie offers two possible explanations for the fact that Laurie has supposedly died some time prior to the fourth film. In this film, it is established that Laurie had faked her death many years prior, thus her assumed name. But additionally, there is dialogue which suggests that Michael Myers has not been heard from in the twenty years since the night depicted in the first two films. This conflicts with the events of the fourth, fifth and sixth films and suggests that this film occurs in some separate continuity, apart from the three previous sequels.

The movie also features the return of Nurse Marion Chambers-Wittington, who appeared in the first two films as an associate of Dr. Loomis. In Halloween, she was the nurse who drove with Loomis to the asylum when Myers made his escape, and in Halloween II, she returned as a character.

The Halloween comic book series, published by Chaos Comics in 2001, attempted to bridge the continuity between Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and Halloween H20, but in doing so made the plot of Halloween: Resurrection (unreleased at the time) impossible.

Additionally, "Halloween: Resurrection" established a retcon that changed the ending of Halloween: H20 somewhat. The writer of the sequel suggested that it was not actually Michael Myers who was decapitated in the conclusion of H20, but rather a paramedic with whom Michael switched clothes and the mask.

[edit] Trivia

  • In the beginning, in one point, if you pause, you can see the teenager's hockey mask clearly, a reference to Jason Voorhees of Friday the 13th fame. Steve Miner also directed the first two sequels to the original Friday the 13th.

[edit] External links

The Halloween movies
John Carpenter/Debra Hill-conceived: Halloween | Halloween II
Sequel not featuring Michael Myers: Halloween III: Season of the Witch
First continuity: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers | Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Second continuity: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later | Halloween: Resurrection
Remake: Halloween
Comic book continuity: Halloween (comics)
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