Halloween: H2O DVD: Review By Vamp

Ah, this has to be one of my three all time favorites in this series, and since it took a while for this seventh installment to come out, it wasn't rushed, and all of it was done nicely, and of course, it was nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis's character return for another main role, as we all know, she was the actress that made her career from Halloween, so it's cool to see her back, and trying to survive the horrors of Michael. I think the first time that I saw this particular installment, I was at my Grandmother's house flipping through the channels, and this had been the only one i hadn't seen, then I found out that I also hadn't seen Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, but that's another story. Anyway, I was flipping through the HBO selections, and came across this, and immediately, I had to watch it because it was Halloween. I was blown away by this one, it's definitely one of my favorites. It's a fresh return from the long wait that I wasn't alive for, for this movie!

The director of this movie was Steve Miner, and though I don't know his work as a director, besides this film and Friday the 13th: Part II and III, he does an excellent job returning to this incredible slasher series. His directing skills are shown at what must be one of his all time highs, because this certainly was an awesome movie to see. The writer of this movie also did a wonderful job, and his name is Robert Zappia, and he does wonderfully adapting Debra Hill and John Carpenter's characters from the original Halloween, and making a new story out of them. It seems the director gets botched around alot, but they always tend to do a good job, and such is the case in this one. Together the director and the writer bring us one of the best slasher films there ever has been, and they worked together great because we got an awesome film!

The visuals in this movie are great, and are also very fun to see. First off is the scenery that you get being in Southern California, and that's always very pretty to see at times. Then there's the whole school to see, which is a really neat thing altogether, one of those uniformed prep schools, that've always seemed to be nice. You know you live there an everything. Then of course, there's the fact that Michael's got some new ways to kill, and they're interesting to see. That's what makes these slasher flicks so creepy, is the fact that it's weird to see all the ways you could kill someone with a knife or your hands. It's what makes horrors these days so creepy, is that there's so many different ways that you can kill the teenagers in these movies, which for me, being a teenager, is very creepy. The visuals in this movie were done and directed by people who definitely know what it is they are doing.

The storyline of this movie, though using someone else's characters, is an original one, and very fun to watch. It's a story that kind of returns to it's origins in a way, even though it doesn't take place in Haddonfield, Illinois, but rather in Southern California. It's one that's definitely a thriller, and one that was thought out and done carefully, which is good because the long wait tells us that they needed time to think it over, and come up with something good, instead of just rushing into sequels over, and over, and over, and having them slip, much like in the Friday the 13th movies, which I of course liked, but were merely comedy slashers after about the sixth or seventh one, anyway, I digress. This movie's story is one that'll get your attention right away. Laurie Strode is found to be alive, and not dead as is thought, and living at a school with her son, whom she overprotects, but soon some bad sh*t begins to happen, as it seems that Michael has found his sister, and has come for her boy as well. Now she must fight for her life, as well as her son's life, and finish off this evil demon that was once her brother, once and for all. The storyline was one that gets your attention right away, and you're hooked because it's so nice to see Laurie back, and have it sort of return to what the original movie was all about. The fight between Michael and Laurie.

Chris Durand, whom I'm not familiar with at all, but does alot of stunts in movies, stars in this movie as Michael Myers. Michael has just returned to Haddonfield, Illinois thinking he'll find his sister, Laurie, and her son, John, but instead finds it void of her, and the fact that she's dead doesn't register because inside of him, he knows it's not true. He finds papers in the home of Dr. Loomis's old nurse, and finds her whereabouts and travels there by cars, and I say car(S) because after he runs out of gas, he finds a new one. He finds Laurie at a school, teacher, and dean, as well as her son, student, and bachelor of sorts. He arrives at the school, after carefully planning to wait for the other students to leave for a trip, and what he finds is, that besides Laurie and her Son, there are some other kids there, and soon Michael's back, and killing more and more. It's been twenty years for Laurie, but it seems that this nightmare will never go away. Chris Durand does an excellent job at playing Michael, which is a character that is constantly shifted from actor to actor, but still all of these actors seem to do a great job with this character. The man's movements, and gestures all point out, and make Michael all the more realistic, and make the features of the face show anger, or confusion, or sorrow, whatever. Chris Durrand really brings the character out and makes it believable and convincing. He was a great casting choice for this role.

Jamie Lee Curtis returns to this series as Keri Tate. I know what you're thinking, "Keri Tate? Her character was Laurie Strode," but just read on, I'll explain. Keri Tate is actually Laurie Strode, who went into hiding pretty much straight away after she was attacked by Michael, and she feigned her own death, the only one knowing that she truly lived was the man that tried to help her so many years ago, Dr. Samuel Loomis, whom is now dead. Anyway, as Keri Tate, Laurie has started anew, and has become a successful person, even the Dean of a prep school in Southern California, and all life seems to be going well, there's just one hitch. It's now Halloween, the Holiday that Laurie hates above all others, and who could blame her? When she finally decides to let her son go to a park and camp out alone, she tries to brush it aside. However, she realizes that her son, John, is now 17, the same age as Laurie's sister was when Michael killed her, and the same age as Laurie was when Michael came after her. Soon she finds out that Michael has arrived at the school and is searching for her and John, whom she finds to have not gone to the park, but stayed behind. Now Laurie must confront her greatest fear, and hopefully live to tell the tale. Jamie Lee Curtis is the only person that could play this character in my eyes, and she does wonderfully in this movie, she really captures Laurie's problems, and all her psychiatric things, needing pills and overall just paranoid, and makes it all so realistic, as well as making the movie and character all the more convincing and believable. She was another great casting choice for this movie.

Starring in this movie as Laurie Strode/Keri Tate's son, John Tate, is Josh Hartnett. An actor whom I don't really care for, but has had a couple of good movies, this being one of them. John is a kid who knows all about his Mom's problems, why they're in hiding, and why she is so overprotective, and sometimes overall scared sometimes and he understands, however, her overprotectiveness is starting to get on his nerves, and he cannot take it much longer, especially after she wouldn't let him go to Yosemite Park on a class trip, he wanted to go and spend some time with his two best friends, who are dating, and his girlfriend, but when he can't go, and neither can his girlfriend, their friends ditch the trip, and they all have a big Halloween Party all to themselves. However, something begins going horribly wrong as one of their friends turn up dead, and soon John knows what's going on, and has to eat the words he told his moter("Michael is dead!") because Michael Myers is the one behind all this, and soon John realizes that Michael is after him. Josh Hartnett does an awesome job in this movie, and really gets John's emotions down. The emotions of a Senior in High School, who is finally sick of being pushed around by his overprotective mother. He has all these character's emotions and worries down, and makes it a very convincing and believable ccharacter. He was ANOTHER great casting choice for this movie.

Michelle Williams, whom I'm not too familiar with as an actress, stars in this movie as John's girlfriend, and lover, Molly Cartwell. When Molly's father tells her that he will not pay for her to go to Yosemite Park for the trip, she begins to worry, but as John begins to talk to her, she realizes that he can't go either, also because of parents related problems. So she decides to stay with him so they can spend some time together, and then their two best friends decide that they'll stay behind too, and have a big old Halloween Party, with booze and food and sex, and all out fun. Soon though, Molly finds out that John actually got permission from his Mom to go to Yosemite, but after he decides to stay, she is happy again. That's when the sh*t hits the fan, and they find one of their friends dead, and soon she finds out about John's awful past, or rather his Mother's, and figures out who is after them, but is, of course, flabbergasted, and unbelieving. Now she must fight along with John and his Mother to survive the Horror that is Michael Myers. Michelle Williams does an excellent job in this character, and makes all of her worries, emotions, and love for John, just pop, and seem so realistic. It really helps to make the movie all the more believable. She was yet another great casting choice for this movie.

All in all, this is one of the best, as well as one of my favorite installments in this most awesome of Horror/Slasher movies. This movie takes us back to the beginning, where Michael was after Laurie, but now Laurie has grown up and she is more of a threat to Michael. It's a story that's fun to watch, and is very gripping. It's got tons of action, horror, and thrills. This movie definitely makes itself known in this awesome series of slashers, and has only furthered my opinion that Michael Myers is the best Slasher out there, along with his movies, you know? Being the best movies out there. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, "WATCH THIS!!!!!" Watch this because it's an awesome movie, and one that will bring a good scare to you, and one that all Halloween, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Josh Hartnett fans will definitely love, as well as all the fans of Michael Myers. This is definitely one of my all time favorite movies, in one of my all time favorite series!!!!!

THIS CONCLUDES THE THIRD REVIEW IN MY NINE PART SERIES OF REVIEWS FOR THE HALLOWEEN MOVIES: STAY TUNED FOR MY REVIEW OF HALLOWEEN (6): THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS, COMING SOON!!!!!