Title: Halloween: Resurrection
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writer(s): Larry Brand, Sean Hood
Release Date: July 12, 2002
Cast: Bianca Kajlich, Busta Rhymes, Katee Sackhoff, Sean Patrick Thomas, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Tyra Banks, Jamie Lee Curtis
Halloween: Resurrection Cliff’s Notes
Michael Myers spends 75 minutes killing a bunch of annoying people who are making a reality tv show in his house. Busta Rhymes makes a mockery of the series. And Jamie Lee Curtis cuts bait at the right time.
Lecture
That’s right! I’m taking on all of the Halloween flicks! This time we’re going from worst to best, which means we have to start with this mess. Sadly, this puppy can’t even compete with the worst of some of the other franchises.
Halloween is one of my favorite films and this puppy does nothing but spit all over the memory of it. Gone is the story that’s held the series together. Instead, we get a prologue that is by far the best part of the flick, followed by a massive waste of time while Myers takes out a bunch of folks trespassing on his home turf. Sadly, the entire affair seems to be a desperate cash grab with what little effort there is getting lost in a series of terrible ideas.
The prologue itself isn’t terrible; but once it’s over, we’re left with an aimless sad piece of film. Sadly, none of the flick has any depth; everything is surface level at best. There are entire sequences that are so poorly thought out that they appear completely funny.
Any good here? Eh, not really. Some of the actors add to the quality of the film and there are a few nice directing touches. Too bad really, cause those all get lost in the Kung-Fu section, which occurs in this flick. This was, luckily, the last of the direct sequels before the reboot.
But if we’re talking about the biggest mistake Halloween: Resurrection tries to shove down our throats, it has to be the reveal of the actual happenings at the end of H20. What a massive punch in the back of the head to anyone who enjoyed – hell, even watched – the previous film. Fact of the matter is that I could have stopped watching the flick right then and there. I knew this puppy wasn’t going to pull out of the nose dive that it had so stupidly slid into.
Acting
Kajlich, Sackhoff, and Nicholas do what they can with the steaming pile they’re given. The best of the youths is Thomas, who takes his one note character and adds enough charm and humor to make it work.
Banks cashes a pay check. Busta Rhymes is in a whole other flick. He’s fine in other pieces, but seems at ends with everything going on with the flick. Lastly, Curtis gets to give Strode a send-off and brings plenty to the time she has. Got out at the right time.
Directing
Rosenthal does what he can with what he’s working with. Alas, the script for Halloween: Resurrection isn’t helping. He gets creative with some of the split screens and manages a few cool moments, but really needed to step in to control some of the awful that comes out of this script. However, he gets almost no tension out of the piece, which is sad for a series that usually rocks the tension hard.
Script
The script for this piece of dreck is, literally, laughable. Using the term loosely, the “plot” is non-existent and does nothing to further the series. Where’s John Tate? Oh that’s right, who cares, the Halloween: Resurrection sure doesn’t. None of the characters are interesting in the slightest, and the dialogue goes from barely adequate to literally terrible to hilariously bad. But the biggest sin here is the ret-con that they try to pull with H20. Talk about spitting on the intention of your previous entries, not to mention the viewer.
Effects
The violence is the best part of this puppy and good old Michael doesn’t hold back. Stabbings, smashings, a crushed head, all much better than the flick would suggest.
Highlights
I dug the kitchen fight. All in all, easily the best bit in flick.
Lowlights
Busta Rhymes fights Michael Myers with terrible Kung-fu. Read that sentence again, realize how wrong it is, and then let the tears fall.
Halloween-iness
So… Michael is in this, so that’s awesome. And we get a little Laurie Strode, which add plenty of flavor to the dish. As a result, this is really Diet Halloween: shinier, less delicious, and way too sweet.
Final Thoughts
After about fifteen minutes in, this entire thing becomes a poorly crafted, hastily devised piece of shit. They can’t even get the number of people Michael kills in the original correct.
Grade: F+