Every Halloween Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

8. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Halloween Kills
Dimension Films

Plot: This film ignores the events of the fourth, fifth and sixth films and is a direct sequel to Halloween II (1981). 20 years after Michael's rampage, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) battles him again at the private school where she is now a headmistress.

For some reason, Halloween H20 has been described as the best of the sequels prior to the 2018 film but it really doesn't hold up very well at all now. It feels dated anyway, since (like many other 90s horror films) it feels so totally 90s but there are other huge problems with it too.

The film is devoid of atmosphere, the direction is messy and the tone is all over the place - it's unsure whether it wants to be a straight horror or something more Scream-like. As well as this, it's far too short at barely 80 minutes (excluding the end credits).

The performances are good, especially from Jamie Lee Curtis and the always-delightful LL Cool J (although Chris Durand is a terrible Michael Myers) and it's also quite interesting to see early performances from Josh Hartnett, Michelle Williams and even Joseph Gordon Levitt in there.

The final half-hour is pretty fun too, so it's not a total loss. But, on balance, the film isn't that great and people go too easy on it.

Contributor

Film Studies graduate, aspiring screenwriter and all-around nerd who, despite being a pretentious cinephile who loves art-house movies, also loves modern blockbusters and would rather watch superhero movies than classic Hollywood films. Once met Tommy Wiseau.