Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) Review – Laurie Strode Strikes Back
Twenty years after the first time Michael Myers terrorised Haddonfield, Halloween decided to bring things full circle with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. This brought back Jamie Lee Curtis to play Laurie Strode as she battled with her murderous brother again. The premise of the film was great. Rather than continuing the complex mythology from Halloween 4, 5 and 6, the film ignores those movies completely and instead takes place directly after Halloween and Halloween II.
Laurie has survived her nightmare from 1978 and has faked her death. She now plays the headmistress of a private school in California, and has a teenage son. However, Michael Myers has other plans. The film begins with the return of Marion Chambers (played by Nancy Stephens), who helped Dr. Loomis in the first film. This was a great way to tie the film back to the beginning, and the opening scene was effective.
Marion returns home to find her house has been ransacked. It does not take long for us to realise Michael Myers is lurking nearby. We also get an early introduction to a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has a horrific death involving an ice skate to the face. The whole opening scene was great at getting us back into the Halloween mood. We get the feeling that Michael is stalking his victims, waiting for the perfect time to strike. This is the kind of Halloween I love.
This film was directed by Steve Miner, who also directed Friday the 13th Part 2 and Part III. As I love those films, I was instantly drawn to this film. Miner does a decent job. Unlike some of the more recent sequels, this isn’t really about killing lots of people and being very creative with how they die. Instead, this was a more contained horror film. Most of the action takes place on the school grounds as Michael stalks Laurie and those close to her. The film focuses more on suspense and building up to the final confrontation. Overall this worked well.
The younger actors bring some fun moments to the film, especially Josh Hartnett as Laurie’s son John. Who is one of the only people to physically hit Michael and live. Michelle Williams plays his girlfriend Molly. Then there is Adam Hann-Byrd as Charlie and Jodi Lyn O’Keefe as Sarah. Whilst these aren’t the most well fleshed out characters in the franchise, they are still likable and give Michael a few more potential victims. Sarah gets particularly brutal when she attempts to escape down the dumbwaiter and Michael catches her and crushes her leg in it before killing her. This was a really gruesome scene. I loved the feeling of helplessness you get from being stuck in such a tight space. It was one of the more memorable deaths. Whilst the film wasn’t very violent overall, this scene was really impactful.
Jamie Lee Curtis was the best thing about this film. This wasn’t just Laurie returning to bring back nostalgia. Instead, the film tried to delve into how the events of the first two films had affected Laurie. She had spent the last twenty years living in fear that Michael would return. Whilst she has changed her identity and moved away, she hasn’t been able to escape her fear. I really liked this. It felt like a natural progression for Laurie, and it allowed Jamie Lee Curtis to play a character who had gone through unimaginable horrors but was struggling to cope. Although this idea would be revisited years later in Halloween (2018) and its sequels, creating another timeline, I feel this film handled Laurie’s return well.
There were also some great cameos. Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis’ real life mother) had a great cameo as Norma. This was a lovely nod to Psycho and her role in horror history. LL Cool J also had a great role as Ronny, the schools security guard. Whilst he wasn’t used to his full potential, he was an entertaining character. He was stuck on the sidelines for most of the film, but provided some great comedic moments. He gets dragged into the madness and there is a great tense moment when Laurie mistakes him for Michael and begins shooting. Luckily, it doesn’t go as badly as it could have.
However, there was one issue that annoyed me. The mask! What the hell happened?! The original Michael Myers mask was scary because it was so simple. The pale, emotionless face combined with him not saying anything made him really creepy. However, it seems like they forgot how important the mask was. In this film, it looked ridiculous at times. They were known for experimenting with different masks, including using CGI for a short while. This meant that sometimes Michael looked really intimidating, and other times he looked like he bought his mask from a cheap Halloween shop.
This really took away from the atmosphere. Whilst the film was trying to create suspense, the mask looked ridiculous. Whilst you can have the best stalking scenes in the world, if Michael looks ridiculous when he finally appears it takes away from the suspense. Luckily, this film had another great aspect. The ending.
Spoilers.
The final act of this film was fantastic. After twenty years of running from Michael Myers, Laurie has finally had enough. She is no longer going to live her life in fear. She tells everyone to run to safety and grabs an axe. She goes looking for Michael. I loved this! It was an important moment for Laurie. She isn’t suddenly turned into an unstoppable action hero. She is still scared but has decided she is no longer going to let her fear control her. She is taking back control of her life.
The final showdown between Laurie and Michael was satisfying. There was twenty years of build up. It wasn’t just another final girl fighting to survive, it was Laurie Strode finally facing her nightmare. After Michael has been defeated and placed in a coroner’s van, Laurie takes matters into her own hands. She steals the van and drives it off the road, leaving Michael trapped. As he reaches for her, for a moment you wonder if Laurie will hesitate. However, she knows better. She grabs her axe and chops off Michael Myers’ head.
This was such a great ending! After all these years of Michael surviving bullets, explosions and seemingly impossible injuries, Laurie finally gives him what appears to be the final ending. We aren’t left with him lying on the floor, hoping he doesn’t get up. We aren’t left with Laurie turning her back whilst we wait for another jump scare. Instead we get to see Laurie chop off his head! This was such a satisfying ending to Laurie’s story. Whilst we all knew deep down Michael Myers probably wouldn’t stay dead forever, Halloween: Resurrection would eventually come along and undo the ending. However, this is a different review. I feel the filmmakers gave Laurie Strode the ending she deserved.
Overall, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later was an enjoyable sequel. It was great to have Jamie Lee Curtis return. Steve Miner created a more contained, suspense filled film. The opening scene was effective and the film focused on Laurie’s trauma, giving it real emotion. The supporting cast were great, although some characters didn’t get much to do. The lower body count wasn’t an issue as the film was focused on the atmosphere. However, Michael’s inconsistent mask was a huge disappointment. As so much of the film relied on Michael being scary, it was an issue. However, when Laurie finally decides to stop running and face her brother, we get one of the most satisfying endings of the franchise.
Whilst Michael Myers may never stay dead, Laurie Strode finally got to finish the job.
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