Movie Review

Halloween: Resurrection (R)

Guylaine Cadorette

Photos| Movie Info

Hollywood.com Says
The first 15 minutes of Halloween: Resurrection, complete with Jamie Lee Curtis' extended cameo appearance, almost makes the rest of it worth sitting through

Story
Fans of the Halloween horror franchise will undoubtedly be wondering how Michael Myers--who got decapitated at the end of 1998's Halloween: H2O by his sister Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis)--managed to replace his head. The chilling first 15 minutes of Halloween: Resurrection not only fills the audience in on the last seven sequels, but it also explains how Michael managed to stay alive-and why he's out for revenge. Laurie is now in a sanitarium for the criminally insane, and instead taking her medication, she is stuffing the colorful capsules in an old Raggedy Ann doll. She must remain alert; she knows that Michael is coming back for her. Meanwhile, six teenagers are selected to spend the night in Myers' childhood home. They will be equipped with cameras, and their every move will be shown live on an Internet site in what producers Freddy (Busta Rhymes) and Nora (Tyra Banks) dub "dangertainment." Their goal is to try to find clues about Michael's past that could explain why he became a serial killer. They find several disturbing ones in the house, including disfigured dolls and bizarre coloring books. Have producers planted the evidence to increase viewership--or is Michael Myers still living there?

Acting
One of the biggest drawbacks of Halloween: Resurrection is that it does not really have any leading roles. Busta Rhymes--who was awesome in Finding Forrester--plays the part of Freddy Harris, the man who orchestrates the Web cast. His character could have been interesting had it been properly developed, but we only catch a brief glimpse of him at the beginning and end of the film. He goes from being a shallow jerk to the film's protagonist, yet the audience never really connects with him. The same can be said for Sara--played by Bianca Kajlich--one of the six teens. The film seems to focus on her character more than the other five, but it's hard to relate to her and her predicament. The rest of teenagers are pretty lame: the men seem to spend the entire time thinking about sex, while the woman either lob back smarty-pants remarks or flash their breasts. In a small role as Freddy's partner in the Internet venture, Tyra Banks spends most of her screen time making cappuccinos and dancing around, oblivious to the carnage. Jamie Lee Curtis, the mother of the Halloween franchise, proves to be the best performer here, disturbingly reminiscent of the character she portrayed more than 20 years ago.

Direction
Director Rick Rosenthal is no stranger to Halloween; he helmed the first sequel in 1981. In fact, the first 15 minutes of Resurrection is almost an homage to Halloween II: Laurie is in a psychiatric hospital again, night-shift guards are slaughtered, and Michael closes in on his prey. The halls are dark, damp and eerie--without a fluorescent lamp in sight. Up to this point, the film has that creepy John Carpenter feel to it, helped in part by the original Halloween score. But once we move on to Resurrection's storyline involving the six teens holed up in Michael's childhood home, the film takes on a tinsel quality made even worse by the shaky and grainy shots mimicking on the kids' portable cameras. There is not an intelligent line of dialogue muttered in the film, and we are forced to listen to the six moronic teens screeching and doing dumb things that inspire spoof flicks like Scary Movie. For example, the heroine at one point actually runs back into the house after she has spent half the film trying to get out.