“It’s a dead man’s party, who could ask for more? Everybody’s comin’, leave your body at the door… Leave your body and soul at the door.”- Oingo Boingo song by Danny Elfman

Halloween History…

John Carpenter’s Halloween is without a doubt one of the most iconic horror movies ever released.

There is no denying it.

In fact, when you look back at some of the most successful horror franchises, Michael Myers and Halloween are always among the very top with iconic film franchises like Friday The 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw and Scream to name a few.

It is not only an effective horror film franchise that continues to scare people to this day, but it introduced the world to Michael Myers who still sits very prominently atop the horror genre and pop-culture in general as an iconic movie character.

To date, there have been 13 (almost in honor of Jason) Halloween films with a fan base in the millions which watch his movies every October.

You cannot kill the boogeyman, at least not forever and the 13 film franchise stands as one of the best in the horror genre.

In fact, legendary actress Jamie Lee Curtis reprised her role of Laurie Strode, some seven times in the Halloween franchise in addition to the 1978 classic Halloween that she first starred in with Halloween II (1981), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills (2021), and Halloween Ends (2022).

Unfortunately, she told producers back in 2002, that she wanted out of the Halloween franchise, and the only way she would get billed for this film, was to kill off her character in the opening moments of the film.

So they did.

Jamie Lee Curtis in her iconic role as Laurie Strode throughout the Halloween Franchise. 1978 — 2022

Jamie went on to return to the franchise many years later and headlined the new reboot trilogy, which was also a mixed bag with many fans.

Some of these films are not like the others…

John Carpenter aged 76 in 2024, is generally recognized as a master of the horror genre.

There are three levels of quality in the horror genre, all of which are represented in the Halloween series.

Great horror movies deliver characters worth caring about and keep viewers on the edges of their seats with scares aplenty.

John Carpenter’s first Halloween is unquestionably in that category.

Halloween spawned a film franchise comprising 13 films which helped construct an extensive backstory for Michael Myers, sometimes narratively diverging entirely from previous installments, novelization, video games and a comic book series that have also been based on the film.

Then there’s the middle ground and mediocrity of the horror movie entries that typically offer very simple two-dimensional individuals trapped in stale narratives, but the film may still be able to deliver the occasional scare and a decent amount of quality horror.

The Halloween films two, four, and seven fit that description perfectly.

And then there’s the absolutely bad horror movies- where it’s boring and equally effective as a sleep tonic, with stiff, uninteresting stereotypes to go along with an utter lack of shocks, chill or surprises, if any at all.

This is the division in which Halloweens 3, 5, 6, and 8 belong.

Dutifully panned by critics and sentimentally adored by hardcore fans.

13 films… 13 different variations of the boogeyman mask.

The Halloween franchise is most notable for its multiple timelines, continuities, remakes and reboots, which can make it confusing for new viewers as well and after 13 films, it seems like the franchise has concluded after some 45 years later.

Over the years, the Halloween films collectively have grossed well over $884 million at the box office worldwide and the film series is ranked first at the United States box office horror films with film franchises like Friday The 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street not far behind.

It’s central character, Michael Myers is regarded as one of the most recognizable and most iconic horror villains, alongside Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th, Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Ghostface from Scream.

Since Nick Castle and Tony Moran put on the mask in the original film Michael has been portrayed by many other actors each unique in their portrayals.

In short, the Halloween franchise is a long and well storied horror film collection comprised if some movies that were absolutely outstanding… and a few that weren’t.

And like my Grandmother used to say, “They can’t all be winners…”

Jamie Lee Curtis — Halloween:Resurrection- 2002.

So the other night when I sat down and prepared myself for what I already had billed as the worst movie in the Halloween franchise: Halloween: Resurrection… I tried to keep an open mind and view the film as though I never saw it.

Recently I’ve been on a Halloween films kick, given the fact that it’s the season and Halloween is quickly approaching.

Usually every year, I watch all of the Halloween movies in my home theater as it’s horror movies month and I have the collection of movies that I enjoy watching over and over again.

I’ve always liked the cover art on the movie poster and thought it was really intriguing in its design.

This time when I rewatched it… and I didn’t find it all that bad.

In fact, I was a little shocked… I originally didn’t like this film at all… as it still paled in comparison with the other strong entries in the series, but, this time, I rather enjoyed it.

Somewhat.

Let me explain.

If you haven’t seen it… Halloween: Resurrection, was directed by Rick Rosenthal who also directed Halloween II and it takes place some three years after Halloween H20 (20 years later) from 1998.

It follows a group of university students who volunteer to be a part of an online reality program called Dangertainment where they spend the night in the childhood home of Michael Myers.

And to everyone’s surprise…Michael doesn’t like that to much and pretty much has to kill everyone in the house.

I have to say… even though the film is campy, silly and at times a little over the top… I actually like the concept of this movie and the laughs that come with it.

The issue wasn’t so much about the quality of kills, lack of jump scares or tone of the movie, as anything with Michael Myers is pure entertainment for me… but rather its execution of the narrative at times during the film was so unique with the way it was filmed and the humor kept me entertained through most of the movie.

Actress Jaime Lee Curtis was the Ultimate Scream Queen and Final Girl in the horror genre. Curtis made her film debut and rose to prominence with her portrayal of Laurie Strode in John Carpenter’s slasher film Halloween in 1978.

I mean let’s just get this out of the way… the film is rather ridiculous.

But sometimes that’s just what I’m looking for in a B style horror.

Sure, Halloween is a triple A franchise in terms of its reputation, but sometimes… even the stinkers are fun.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want to sit and watch six idiots run around in a house for 90 minutes of screen time.

However, that’s what we get in Halloween: Resurrection.

When I watch horror films, I want bloody murder steeped in chilling chase sequences, backed by a haunting score … all which we have had in some of the previous entries of the Halloween films.

But that’s not this movie.

Katie Sackhoff — Halloween: Resurrection- 2002.

In fact, this movie was brilliant only in the fact that it made us root (if you weren’t already) for the killer (Myers) as the supporting characters were all pretty much annoying and foolhardy at every single moment in the film, even though Katie Sackhoff is a cutie.

The film goes on to take the form of those awful B-level horror flicks that filled the VHS laden shelves at any given Blockbuster and local video rental store back in the day.

I know, because I used to rent them by the boatload.

Vintage VHS copy of Halloween: Resurrection- 2002.

Now, while it’s important for a good horror movie to almost perfect its execution of its narrative and character performances in the most compelling way to promote tension, not all horror movies are made that way.

Films like Sinister, The Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre are those types of films.

The ones with extreme violent moments steeped in dark and malevolent rage set to eerie soundtracks and dark wide angle camera shots that have us sitting on the edge of our seats.

That’s true horror.

But, this is not that film.

Fodder for Michael… The cast of Halloween: Resurrection- 2002.

Rather, it’s an insane 90 minute jaunt in a house that should be no bigger than the average 3 bedroom house in any given suburb which is in the film, the childhood home of Michael Myers.

Instead, we are made to believe that the house is the size of Buckingham palace, and constructed in a way that resembles a medieval torture chamber.

All which are jarring to say the least when watching the film, as it’s so obvious that none of it is authentic to the character and obviously planted by the characters in the film.

It doesn’t aim to be more with crazy motives or supernatural plot lines and at its heart, Halloween: Resurrection remains what it was meant to be… a simple and uncomplicated slasher movie.

Michael Myers goes home, he finds people in his house, he kills them, they fight back, some live, some die. That’s it.

And that’s where the simplicity of some horror movies excel as pure entertainment.

Some movie’s just aren’t meant to be all that serious.

That’s this movie.

Ignore that smoke alarm, Michael- it’s stabby time.

With a genre like horror, it’s sometimes not that difficult to be just simple, and sometimes that’s a winning formula.

That’s exactly what we get with Halloween: Resurrection.

Throughout the film, there are some suspenseful chase scenes, a few good kills (including Jen’s decapitated head bouncing down the steps), and a finale that sees Sarah going after Michael with a chainsaw and The Boogeyman outlandishly electrocuted (seemingly to death).

Kiss from a rose… Final Girl in her final scene.

Even though Michael would open his eyes at the morgue right before the credits roll, setting up another sequel, this version of The Shape was never seen again.

Michael wouldn’t return to the big screen until many years later, when Rob Zombie’s Halloween reboot would bring him back for a two movie run.

Those films had mixed reviews and emotions as well from fans, and the franchise was rebooted again in 2018, with Jamie Lee Curtis returning in yet another Halloween timeline as a sequel trilogy to the original film from 1978, which I rather liked alot.

(Above) My review article on the new Halloween trilogy. (Below) Halloween Resurrection — Fangoria promotion material for Brad Loree’s portrayal and the Michael Myers Mask which was really fantastic, soundtrack and DVD.

But Resurrection, remains the bastard child of the Halloween franchise still… and the movie is just plain awful.

But that’s okay.

It’s okay because it’s awful in a good way, as Resurrection is downright hilarious and campy as well as awfully entertaining.

It’s full on 1980’s style cheesiness with an early 2000’s horny teenager stupidity slice thrown in for good measure.

Combined with the over the top action and the shaky POV cam tight shots, I just can’t stop laughing halfway through the film at how stylistically bad this film is.

In fact, on more than one occasion during this last viewing, I actually caught myself laughing aloud and saying to myself…

“This fucking movie can’t get any worse… oh it can, this is hilarious.”

To put the so called icing on the cake, we have rapper turned actor Busta Rhymes hamming it up on screen while using Kung-fu on Michael Myers in a ridiculous end battle which includes electrocuting Michael in the groin for what is one of the funniest death scenes in the franchise.

Busta vs. Michael… hilarious and instantly classic.

The Myers mask is also something worthy of mention.

In my opinion, it’s the best one we’ve had since the first Halloween film in terms of the original run of films before the Zombie films and the new trilogy.

The way it appears in the low light is really great with excellent detail and a more pronounced and menacing look when compared to some of the other masks from the previous films.

Danny Lux and Marco Beltrami’s musical score and soundtrack for Halloween: Resurrection -2002.

I also really like the musical score, composed by Danny Lux and Marco Beltrami.

The 2002 rendition of the Halloween theme is a rather good one, and sounds fantastic at certain points in the film.

My favorite part of the film though is the outstanding performance by Brad Loree as Michael Myers despite the weak narrative.

In a better film, he would have been really outstanding, as his mannerisms and angry demeanor are perfectly suited for the Michael Myers character and Loree plays this out in perfect fashion on screen.

It’s just a shame, that we never got to enjoy his performance again in this role.

Overall though… Halloween: Resurrection is just a good time.

It’s a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is one that you don’t have to take too seriously either.

It benefits from a solid score, some great kill sequences and a great portrayal of Michael Myers, and that’s sometimes just what you need in a Halloween film.

A good old fashioned campy, B-level horror comedy that keeps you entertained on those popcorn flick nights when nothings on TV and you need something a little more lighthearted than a more serious slasher film.

Newspaper ads, advertising materials and lobby posters for Halloween: Resurrection- 2002.

Overall, Halloween: Resurrection was a pretty enjoyable watch, if only for highlight reel of Busta Rhymes and his Sho’Nuff karate fight against Michael that will go down in history as one of the funniest scenes in a Halloween film.

So give it a watch, pass the popcorn… and don’t take it too seriously.

I didn’t.

Halloween: Resurrection

Directed by Rick Rosenthal -2002 — Dimension Films

3/5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The Halloween franchise could have either ended at H5 or H20. But, like Michael Myers, this series doesn’t know when to die and the producers love the money.

This movie is a relic and came out during the era of the early internet, cell phones, and rappers starring in movies.

I found this to be one of the more entertaining entries in this franchise and it just feels fun.

It’s a slasher flick with a host of young adults served up to Myers on a silver platter for the slaying.

The first act with Jamie Lee Curtis ends too quickly, and it would’ve been a far better film had she carried the movie right until the end.

Pass the popcorn. It’s worth a watch and laugh or two.