Halloween: Resurrection

Halloween: Resurrection is a 2002 American slasher film directed by Rick Rosenthal, who had also directed Halloween II in 1981. Larry Brand and Sean Hood devised the screenplay. The film stars Busta Rhymes, Bianca Kajlich, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Ryan Merriman, Sean Patrick Thomas, Tyra Banks and Jamie Lee Curtis. The eighth installment in the Halloween franchise, it follows Michael Myers continuing his murderous rampage in his hometown of Haddonfield, when his old, derelict childhood home is used for a live internet horror show.

Halloween: Resurrection
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRick Rosenthal
Produced by
  • Paul Freeman
Screenplay by
Story byLarry Brand
Based onCharacters Created
by Debra Hill
John Carpenter
Starring
Music byDanny Lux
CinematographyDavid Geddes
Edited byRobert A. Ferretti
Production
company
Distributed byDimension Films
Release date
  • July 12, 2002 (2002-07-12)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]
Box office$37.6 million[1]

Halloween: Resurrection was released on July 12, 2002 to largely negative reviews, with many considering it to be an unnecessary sequel to Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. Despite the film's negative reception, Resurrection was a minor box office success, earning $37.6 million. Although another sequel was planned to follow Resurrection, the next film in the franchise would be Halloween, a 2007 remake directed by Rob Zombie. In 2018, a new Halloween film was released that served as a direct sequel to the original 1978 film, effectively retconning all other Halloween sequels and remake, including this film.

Plot

Three years after the events at Hillcrest Academy, Laurie Strode has been confined to a psychiatric facility after she killed a man whom she had mistaken for her brother Michael Myers. Flashbacks reveal that a paramedic had found Michael's body in the school; Michael attacked the paramedic and crushed his larynx so that he could not speak, and switched clothes. As Laurie drives the coroner's van out of the school, Myers in the paramedic's clothing leaves the school grounds and goes into hiding for the next three years. The fates of Laurie's son John, his girlfriend Molly Cartwell and security guard Ronnie Jones, who were present at the scene, is unknown.

A guilt-ridden Laurie is now an inmate at Grace Andersen Sanitarium. On October 31, 2001, Laurie prepares herself for the confrontation with her brother. Michael appears and kills two security guards before he makes his way to Laurie. After a chase, Laurie lures Michael into a trap on to the institution's rooftop. Laurie's fears of again killing the wrong person get the better of her, and when she tries to remove his mask, Michael stabs her in the back before sending her falling off the roof to her death.

A year later, college students Bill Woodlake, Donna Chang, Jen Danzig, Jim Morgan, Rudy Grimes, and Sara Moyer win a competition to appear on an Internet reality show Dangertainment, directed by Freddie Harris and his friend, Nora Winston, in which they have to spend a night in Michael's abandoned childhood house in order to figure out what led him to kill. On Halloween, equipped with head-cameras as well as the cameras throughout the house, they enter the house and separate into three groups. Sara's messaging friend Deckard watches the broadcast during a Halloween party. Michael, who has returned to Haddonfield, suddenly appears and kills Bill, and cameraman Charlie.

Donna and Jim discover a wall filled with fake corpses and realize that the show is a setup. Myers kills Donna; at the party, Deckard and other partygoers witness the murder, and only Deckard realizes that the murder was real. Later that night, Freddie goes through the house dressed as Michael, but is secretly followed by the real Michael. Freddie, mistaking Michael for Charlie, tells him to go to the garage and help Nora out; he goes to the garage and promptly kills Nora. When Rudy, Sara, and Jim find Freddie in the Myers costume, he reveals the scheme to them and begs them to cooperate, telling them that he has set up a nice payday for all of them. When he leaves, the trio decides to gather up the other three and leave. Jen discovers the body of Bill and is decapitated by Myers right in front of Rudy, Sara, and Jim. Michael kills Jim and Rudy before chasing Sara upstairs.

Locking herself in a bedroom, Sara begs for Deckard to help her. The other party goers realize that the deaths were real. With Deckard messaging her Myers' location, Sara escapes and is found by Freddie. Myers finds and attacks them. Michael stabs Freddie and Sara makes her way to the tunnels. She finds an exit near Donna's body and emerges in the garage, where she discovers Nora’s body, Michael then finds her and after a fight an electrical fire stars in the garage. Freddie appears and begins fighting Michael hand-to-hand, before finally electrocuting him, and carrying Sara out of the burning garage. Michael's house burns to the ground, as Sara thanks Deckard for saving her life. Michael's body and the bodies of his victims are taken to the morgue. As the medical examiner begins to examine Michael's body, he awakens.

Cast
Main article: List of Halloween characters

Production

The writers of Halloween H20: 20 Years Later were left with a dilemma when Jamie Lee Curtis wanted to end the series, but Moustapha Akkad had a clause that legally wouldn't allow the writers to kill Michael Myers off. According to the Blu-ray released by Scream Factory, Curtis almost left the project just weeks before filming, until Kevin Williamson came up with the paramedic storyline and presented it to Akkad. Curtis finally agreed to be a part of the film under the condition that no footage hinting toward a sequel would be presented by the film, and that the audience would believe that Michael was dead until the inevitable sequel was announced. Resurrection's first shot of Michael in the paramedic uniform was filmed the day after H20's principal photography ended, according to H20's editor, Patrick Lussier.[2]

Both Whitney Ransick and Dwight H. Little were approached to direct the film but turned it down. Later Rick Rosenthal, the director of Halloween II, was chosen to direct. During the casting period of the film, producers considered Danielle Harris (who played Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers) for a role in the film. In post-production, Bianca Kajlich's screams had to be dubbed because of her inability to scream. The film's trailer was delivered on April 26, 2002, with the release of Jason X. Principal photography began in Vancouver, British Columbia on May 14, 2001 with the opening scene filmed at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, BC.[3]

Originally known as Halloween: Homecoming, Halloween H2K, and Halloween: MichaelMyers.com before the producers chose the final title as they wanted one that let audiences know Michael Myers was alive. [4]

Music

For this eighth installment of the series, Danny Lux created a genuine score relying upon the original instead of generating something new. He approaches the score with an electro-acoustic feel that dates back to the synthesizer scores of the '80s.[5] The film also features several rap and hip-hop songs.[6]

In direct contrast to general critical reviews of the film, some assessments of its sound and theme music have been praising. For example, critic Steve Newton complimented the film's "creepy" and "unsettling" revival of the original iconic theme, while criticising the film itself, as well as the rap tracks included.[6]

Reception

Box office

Halloween: Resurrection was released on July 12, 2002 in the US to moderate reception which did not change in its later international release. The film peaked at #4 on its opening weekend on US screens raking in $12,292,121 behind Reign of Fire, Road to Perdition and Men in Black II. It grossed $30,354,442 domestically and a further $7,310,413 for a $37,664,855 worldwide gross.[7]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 11% based on 63 reviews, with the site's consensus being: "The only thing this tired slasher flick may resurrect is nostalgia for when the genre was still fresh and scary."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 19 out of 100, based on 17 reviews, indicating “overwhelming dislike”.[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[10]

Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said, "It's so devoid of joy and energy it makes even Jason X look positively Shakespearian by comparison." Dave Kehr of The New York Times said, "Spectators will indeed sit open-mouthed before the screen, not screaming but yawning."[11] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said, "Every sequel you skip will be two hours gained. Consider this review life-affirming."[12] Joe Leydon of Variety said, "[Seems] even more uselessly redundant and shamelessly money-grubbing than most third-rate horror sequels."[13] Glenn Lovell of the San Jose Mercury News was paid to give a positive review: "No, it's not as single-minded as John Carpenter's original, but it's sure a lot smarter and more unnerving than the sequels."

See also

References
  1. "The Numbers Halloween Resurrection". The Numbers. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
  2. Wallace, Amy (August 4, 1998). "Horror Comes Full Circle in 'H20'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  3. "Halloween Resurrection Behind The Scenes". HalloweenMovies. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0220506/trivia
  5. Halloween: Resurrection Music Review at Music from the Movies Archived 2008-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Newton, Steve (February 8, 2014). "Horror Review: Halloween–Resurrection". earofnewt.com. The Georgia Straight (published July 18, 2002). Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  7. Halloween: at Box Office Mojo
  8. "Halloween: Resurrection". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  9. "Halloween: Resurrection Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 6, 2018.
  10. "ELEKTRA (2005) B". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on December 20, 2018.
  11. Halloween: Resurrection Movie Review at New York Times
  12. Travers, Peter (July 8, 2002). "Halloween: Resurrection". Rolling Stone.
  13. Leydon, Joe (July 14, 2002). "Halloween: Resurrection". Variety.
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