Halloween: Resurrectionwas critically lambasted and its failure hurt the franchise, but it was ahead of its time in one key way. TheHalloweenmovie franchisehas been running for nearly 40 years, having survived multiple reboots and waning horror trends.
DespiteHalloween Ends, ummm, endingwith Michael Myers getting ground into meat, there iszerochance the series is permanently done. The saga is somewhat infamous for hitting the reboot button constantly andthere are aboutfive differentHalloweentimelinesto keep track of, with some sequels ignoring others.
What’s interesting about the eighth movie,Halloween: Resurrection, is that it represents the end of the original continuity. This saw Michael returning to his old home, and disrupting the intruders there who are making a TV show about his exploits.
Halloween: Resurrectionis considered the worst of the franchise, and with good reason. It’s impressively low on tension or scares, the acting is largely terrible and the script feels like a first draft that was never refined. The sequel sits at a paltry 10% onRotten Tomatoes, and feelings towards it haven’t warmed since 2002.
Halloween: Resurrectionfeatured an early role forLongmireandBattlestar Galacticastar Katee Sackhoff.
Still,the one thingHalloween: Resurrectiondoes right is its reality TV concept. AfterResurrectioncontroversially kills Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the opening, the real story kicks in and involves a reality TV show streaming from Michael’s house on Halloween. The show’s producers planned some fake scares, but they obviously didn’t count on Michael actually turning up.
As Michael picks his way through the movie’s irritating cast of characters, those livestreaming the show can’t tell what’s real or what’s staged. In some ways,Halloween: Resurrection’stake on reality television has aged poorly, but it still manages to make some valid critiqueson the format and its inherent unreality.
It felt like a hip pitch back in 2002, but the concept may have worked better had the sequel been produced five years later, when reality TV had become more ingrained in pop culture. Still, it does give Halloween: Resurrectionan interesting edge, even if its satire isn’t that subtle.
Resurrection ironically killed the original Halloween continuity
Curtis had agreed to return for 1998’sHalloween H20: 20 Years Lateron the understanding that, in the finale, Laurie would kill Michael Myers for good. When the movie was gearing up for production, however, she learned the franchise’s producers refused to let that happen.
Michael’s survival is a terrible twist that sets the tone for Halloween: Resurrection, a movie that feels reluctant to even exist.
Instead,a compromise was reached where Laurie believed she had killed Michael inH20’sfinal scene, only forResurrectionto reveal Myers had switched placeswith a medic. It’s a terrible twist that sets the tone forHalloween: Resurrection, a movie that feels reluctant to even exist.
The sequel still grossed over $37 million theatrically, making it a modest hit. That said,Resurrectionwas so reviled by critics, viewers, and fans that it left producers little option but to reboot the entire saga.
That’s why the next movie, Rob Zombie’sHalloween, started from scratch. The ultimate insult toResurrectioncame with Blumhouse’sHalloweenlegacy sequels. Not only did they wipe the film from the timeline, but they brought back Curtis' Laurie to great acclaim, finishing her story on a far more satisfying note.
Halloween: Resurrection
Cast
Halloween: Resurrection was released in 2002 and is the eighth film in the Halloween franchise. Directed by Rick Rosenthal, the film is a direct sequel to Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later and sees the return of the murderous Michael Myers to Haddonfield when his childhood home is exploited as a horror attraction.
Halloween
TheHalloweenfranchise, created by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, is one of the longest-running horror franchises in cinema. Debuting withHalloween(1978), it introduced audiences to Michael Myers, a masked killer terrorizing the fictional town of Haddonfield on Halloween night. Spanning over 13 films, including sequels, remakes, and reboots, the franchise centers around Michael’s relentless pursuit of his original target, Laurie Strode.Halloweenhas become a cultural staple, inspiring the slasher genre and generating comics, novels, and video games, with a new television series currently in development.
