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DVD Review
Halloween: Resurrection
By Lee Tistaert Published March 26, 2003
US Release: July 12, 2002
Directed by: Rick Rosenthal
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis , Busta Rhymes , Sean Patrick Thomas , Thomas Ian Nicholas
R
Running Time: 94 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $30,305,912
Directed by: Rick Rosenthal
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis , Busta Rhymes , Sean Patrick Thomas , Thomas Ian Nicholas
R
Running Time: 94 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $30,305,912
D+
137 of 143
Uses every clich?d horror film tactic
Halloween: Resurrection is all a matter of perspective; if you watch it in hope to get scared, then you will most likely have wasted money (and time) in renting it.
On the other hand, if you view it with the ambition to laugh hard at its awful attributes, you may very well be rewarded.
Even mentioning the word "attribute" may be too higher class of a term for a review as such, as the movie is so fundamentally challenged that even attempting to include strong vocabulary in response to the film is almost a joke of its own. The seventh sequel in the Michael Myers franchise is one of those really bad films where if you don?t buy into the cheesy filmmaking, you?re bound to have a hell of a lot of fun laughing throughout the duration. And so the question a moviegoer or even a critic may face when trying to review this flick is whether they?re going to rate it by how much fun they had slamming the feature, or how much it lacks in everything a good scary movie should offer on the table. I?ll go for the latter despite it being totally transparent. After all, a bad movie is a bad movie; mocking it just allows the experience to not be as dreadfully painful.
The sequel loads up when our original protagonist, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is locked up in a mental institute; however, she is not alone. Michael Myers, the everlasting villain who?s managed to survive oh-so-many death sequences over the course of the installments, is within the perimeters of the building and has one objective: to kill. It doesn?t take much guessing to figure out what unfolds next, as Michael must get rid of the woman who he?s failed to murder for over six sequels; now that is a long time!
The opening segment is one of the most poorly directed introductions I?ve seen in recent memory, and points toward straight-to-video storytelling techniques. It is so bad that it makes little bits and pieces of the movie later on feel rather decent only because we?ve seen it so much worse in the past. This doesn?t come as a huge shock, as director Rick Rosenthal has been behind such television series? as "Smallville," "Witchblade," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He obviously comprehends the notion of campy moviemaking and masters that incredibly well here; only thing is, if you?re one who?s in need for an actual solid entertainment piece, you?ve found the wrong title.
But anyone who even has the nerve to pick up a copy has either got to be a Halloween fanatic, or someone with nothing to lose. The franchise has gotten to a point where only the hardcore folks are prone to show their faces at additional episodes, and the more intelligent folks will likely stand back and let the less fortunate take the journey and be stupefied. As for me, I wanted to see how bad this sucker really was. And in one view, that could place me in an awkward position as any harsh critiquing I embark on ends up being what I asked for from the simple thought of watching this feature. However, films are meant to be watched and observed; some will be good, and some won?t. And you will never find out the honest truth until you take the risk and find out for yourself, which can allow the act of reviewing films to be an intriguing process, for one sometimes doesn?t know whether it?ll be a good or sour experience. Halloween: Resurrection is no surprise in the quality field, but without viewing it I wouldn?t have known for sure.
The horror flick centers around a group of high school students who agree to spend a night in Myers? childhood palace with video cams following their every move; it is a take-off of Survivor and other such reality shows, yet it is years too late. The film attempts to create its awe and amusement through such and the discovery of the web-cam, but forgets to realize that society has been well aware of that technology for quite some time. But wait, maybe I?m looking too into this film, as deep is everything but what this story went out to accomplish. We are met with the typical stupid teenagers who are convinced they?ll come out unharmed, but the viewer knows something they don?t: we?re watching a horror film. Do I really need to justify what unfolds from here on out?
Halloween: Resurrection was pretty much born to be a disaster from the minute a cast was announced, for any time a black rapper is cast in the (somewhat) leading position of such a genre flick, it is never a bright sign. And especially if his name is Busta Rhymes, you know Dimension Films is not taking the installment seriously. Or maybe they are (which would be frightening), but they?re more so looking at it in an economic standpoint, for the more tickets they can sell to the urban marketplace, the larger the appeal will be from a universal ethnicity angle. And in Hollywood today, if you can manage to reach a demographic through whatever illogical decision, your studio will be grateful for it in the long run.
The sequel uses every clich?d horror film tactic to lead the feature to its oh-so-surprising climax. There are no shocks to behold and the direction from Rosenthal is on the level of your average WB sitcom. The flick does get away with a few reasonable moments in a visual league, as there are a couple solid camera set-ups and about one or two sequences that are surprisingly decent between suspense and the jump itself. I admit to twitching once toward the beginning segment, which has partially helped me stray away from more of a D rating which the intro was hinting at. But so much else is absolute crap that awarding Halloween with any higher rating would not only be an injustice, but practically a crime.
In terms of a film that handed over a scary good time and left me worrying about what in fact was within the dark shadows late at night, I did not get that here. What I got was a poorly constructed slasher flick that sends a pretty clear message: until moviegoers stop paying $7+ bucks at the ticket window, Myers? official death may never be set until the world reaches its climactic apocalypse.
On the other hand, if you view it with the ambition to laugh hard at its awful attributes, you may very well be rewarded.
Even mentioning the word "attribute" may be too higher class of a term for a review as such, as the movie is so fundamentally challenged that even attempting to include strong vocabulary in response to the film is almost a joke of its own. The seventh sequel in the Michael Myers franchise is one of those really bad films where if you don?t buy into the cheesy filmmaking, you?re bound to have a hell of a lot of fun laughing throughout the duration. And so the question a moviegoer or even a critic may face when trying to review this flick is whether they?re going to rate it by how much fun they had slamming the feature, or how much it lacks in everything a good scary movie should offer on the table. I?ll go for the latter despite it being totally transparent. After all, a bad movie is a bad movie; mocking it just allows the experience to not be as dreadfully painful.
The sequel loads up when our original protagonist, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), is locked up in a mental institute; however, she is not alone. Michael Myers, the everlasting villain who?s managed to survive oh-so-many death sequences over the course of the installments, is within the perimeters of the building and has one objective: to kill. It doesn?t take much guessing to figure out what unfolds next, as Michael must get rid of the woman who he?s failed to murder for over six sequels; now that is a long time!
The opening segment is one of the most poorly directed introductions I?ve seen in recent memory, and points toward straight-to-video storytelling techniques. It is so bad that it makes little bits and pieces of the movie later on feel rather decent only because we?ve seen it so much worse in the past. This doesn?t come as a huge shock, as director Rick Rosenthal has been behind such television series? as "Smallville," "Witchblade," and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." He obviously comprehends the notion of campy moviemaking and masters that incredibly well here; only thing is, if you?re one who?s in need for an actual solid entertainment piece, you?ve found the wrong title.
But anyone who even has the nerve to pick up a copy has either got to be a Halloween fanatic, or someone with nothing to lose. The franchise has gotten to a point where only the hardcore folks are prone to show their faces at additional episodes, and the more intelligent folks will likely stand back and let the less fortunate take the journey and be stupefied. As for me, I wanted to see how bad this sucker really was. And in one view, that could place me in an awkward position as any harsh critiquing I embark on ends up being what I asked for from the simple thought of watching this feature. However, films are meant to be watched and observed; some will be good, and some won?t. And you will never find out the honest truth until you take the risk and find out for yourself, which can allow the act of reviewing films to be an intriguing process, for one sometimes doesn?t know whether it?ll be a good or sour experience. Halloween: Resurrection is no surprise in the quality field, but without viewing it I wouldn?t have known for sure.
The horror flick centers around a group of high school students who agree to spend a night in Myers? childhood palace with video cams following their every move; it is a take-off of Survivor and other such reality shows, yet it is years too late. The film attempts to create its awe and amusement through such and the discovery of the web-cam, but forgets to realize that society has been well aware of that technology for quite some time. But wait, maybe I?m looking too into this film, as deep is everything but what this story went out to accomplish. We are met with the typical stupid teenagers who are convinced they?ll come out unharmed, but the viewer knows something they don?t: we?re watching a horror film. Do I really need to justify what unfolds from here on out?
Halloween: Resurrection was pretty much born to be a disaster from the minute a cast was announced, for any time a black rapper is cast in the (somewhat) leading position of such a genre flick, it is never a bright sign. And especially if his name is Busta Rhymes, you know Dimension Films is not taking the installment seriously. Or maybe they are (which would be frightening), but they?re more so looking at it in an economic standpoint, for the more tickets they can sell to the urban marketplace, the larger the appeal will be from a universal ethnicity angle. And in Hollywood today, if you can manage to reach a demographic through whatever illogical decision, your studio will be grateful for it in the long run.
The sequel uses every clich?d horror film tactic to lead the feature to its oh-so-surprising climax. There are no shocks to behold and the direction from Rosenthal is on the level of your average WB sitcom. The flick does get away with a few reasonable moments in a visual league, as there are a couple solid camera set-ups and about one or two sequences that are surprisingly decent between suspense and the jump itself. I admit to twitching once toward the beginning segment, which has partially helped me stray away from more of a D rating which the intro was hinting at. But so much else is absolute crap that awarding Halloween with any higher rating would not only be an injustice, but practically a crime.
In terms of a film that handed over a scary good time and left me worrying about what in fact was within the dark shadows late at night, I did not get that here. What I got was a poorly constructed slasher flick that sends a pretty clear message: until moviegoers stop paying $7+ bucks at the ticket window, Myers? official death may never be set until the world reaches its climactic apocalypse.
Lee's Grade: D+
Ranked #137 of 143 between Runteldat (#136) and Half Past Dead (#138) for 2002 movies.
Ranked #137 of 143 between Runteldat (#136) and Half Past Dead (#138) for 2002 movies.
Lee's Overall Grading: 3025 graded movies
| A | 0.4% | |
| B | 30.0% | |
| C | 61.7% | |
| D | 8.0% | |
| F | 0.0% |
