Quint reviews HALLOWEEN: H20

Hey folks, here's Quint's review of H20, and Father Geek's review is coming soon. So stay tuned. I'm ceasing all email reading and beginning my review right now. So Here's Quint...

Quint here, this time with a review of the brand-spankinÕ new addition to the Halloween series, H20.

To start off, IÕm a really big fan of Halloween, the original. I own it on DVD and am going to buy the video special edition in late August so I can get that cool as hell Michael Meyers snow globe, with blood gobs instead of snow. IÕve seen Halloween II a couple of times. I dig it. Not as much the original, but I dig it. I refuse to see a non-Michael Meyers Halloween flick, so number three is the only one I havenÕt seen.

I met Danielle Harris at a Toys For Tots autograph event about 4 or 5 years ago. On her autograph she told me to go watch HalloweenÕs 4 and 5. She plays MMÕs little niece in the movies. You might remember her as Bruce WillisÕ daughter in The Last Boy Scout. So I did watch them. I thought they were pieces of shit, but fun pieces of shit. I dug watching them, but they were so terrible compared to the original.

My point is that while I like Halloween 4, 5 and 6, I donÕt worship them. I like the simplicity of the original two. So, if I didnÕt care that in H20, they donÕt explain who that man in black who busted MM out of jail in H 5 was. I donÕt care if the new movie doesnÕt address the question of origin that was brought up in H 6. I just care if itÕs a cool movie or not. I wasnÕt disappointed.

Ok. I was really anxious to see this movie because one of itÕs stars happens to be one of the stars of The Faculty, which I worked on as an extra. During my stint as an extra, I got to know most of the younger cast pretty well. Included is Josh Hartnett, who plays Jamie LeeÕs son in H20. This is his first movie, I believe. So I hadnÕt been able to see exactly how good an actor he was. I knew he was a cool guy, but I could only guess on his acting talent. I hoped he didnÕt suck is pretty much what IÕm saying. I was also hoping to see the trailer for The Faculty. HarryÕs been telling me that there was a good chance that itÕd be before H20.

Well, no Faculty trailer, but one hell of a cool movie. HallenbeckÕs full of shit on this one. I canÕt believe he said this movie sucked. I can see not liking certain parts of the film, but not liking it as a whole, especially if youÕre a fan of the Halloween movies, is just something I canÕt imagine. I think the reason for his not liking the movie was because of his admiration of Halloweens 4, 5, and 6. H20 treats everything that happens after the second Halloween flick as if it never happened. So, H20 doesnÕt answer any of the questions put forth by later sequels.

I could give less of a shit about all that. I loved the movie. It had a kick ass opening scene and terrific narration/flashback sequence for the opening credits done by Donald Pleasance, taken from dialogue from the first two Halloween flicks.

Next is almost a lull. If I werenÕt so into it, that would have really bugged me. But it was just so great to see Jamie Lee walking around on the screen with the Halloween theme music going on in the background. Oh, and so you know, JoshÕs acting was pretty damn good. Just pay attention to the argument between Josh and Jamie Lee in which heÕs telling her that she has to get on with her life.

The movie really picks up when MM gets into the school. From that point on, the movie is just cool. Many suspenseful scenes, many stabbings, shootings, slashings. All the best stuff. What a Halloween movie is supposed to be. Keep a close eye out for the great scenes with Leigh and Jamie Lee. They wrote these scenes for film geeks. I learned from Father Geek that the car that Leigh gets into in her last scene with Jamie Lee (the one from the trailer) is the same car that Leigh drove in Psycho. Also check out the kick ass ending. The final, no-holds barred grudge match between good and evil, this Wednesday, Wednesday, WEDNESDAY.

The terrific score was also really helpful in keeping this movie from being something that you laugh at, instead of scream at. Ottman takes CarpenterÕs brilliant theme song, adds a pinch of Psycho music, then some magic to create a score that keeps the audience in suspense. I canÕt wait to go out and by the fuckinÕ soundtrack!

For some reason I feel like IÕm giving this movie too much credit. Maybe IÕm just excited, maybe IÕve had too much caffeine. I donÕt know. But this is how I feel the night of seeing it. Perhaps you will feel the same.

I just want to add one more thing, I really dig that the makers of H20 could just ignore the ÒcrappyÓ sequels. I feel that we would get cooler movies if some of the sequels could just get ignored. For example, imagine how much cooler Alien 4 would have been if the filmmakers had just said, ÒWeÕre sorry about Alien 3. This is what would have really happened.Ó I donÕt know. ItÕs very possible and inevitable, I guess, that somebody will eventually fuck even this up, but they already do that now. I donÕt know if that makes any sense, but there you have it.

I had one hell of a good time with H20. I canÕt wait to see it again on Wed. with some friends who didnÕt get to go with me to the sneak. Joe Hallenbeck must have been on crack when he saw this movie, thatÕs all I have to say.

Hooper went with me and he wants to give you his opinion:

hooper here, and im just gonna get right to the point. h20 was a good movie, not the greatest or most miraculous of all halloweens, but definitely a cool one. now keep in mind that im not a die hard halloween fan like i know a lot of the audience that will be attending this film is, but i do know what it may mean to some of you fans out there. so in other words dont go to this expecting the greatest halloween movie ever.

as we all know, chances of a sequel being as good as the original or even hopes of it being better are slim to none. now, by all means im not saying this film sucks, cause it doesnt, just go expecting a sequel, in a sense a belated sequel. now i did read hallenbecks review, and he is a perfect example of sequel-itis, definitely a pessimist, as far as the h20 review was concerned, and that review was a little bit on the extreme side. after all, he saw the movie with the temp track, and the final score that they used is reason enough alone for me to see the damn movie, an amazingly cool score from john ottman, so kudos to john, and hallenbeck, go see it again.

although the majority of the film was cool, the one thing that i seemed to of gotten hung up on was the fact that the movie was a bit on the slow side before mike meyers started to really get involved, but i dont really hold this against the film, partly because it was the writing that created that whole lull effect and also because once mike meyers got involved, the film all of a sudden became absolutely fucking bad ass, and a good ending is always a graceful compensation for a slow start, a decent way to rectify an otherwise drowning situation.

oh yeah, the opening sequence was another winner. and yet another cool thing about h20, was that it introduced josh hartnett as john, jamie lees son in the film. i also got a chance to meet him through acquaintance at harrys parties and on the set of the faculty, the new, already very cool, upcoming rodriguez flick. i thought he had a very cool screen presence, a kind of obscure vibe, and his acting served the role well enough, an interesting guy to watch, youll be seeing more of him im sure.

so all in all thats what i have to say, besides quint took care of the bulk of it. this film remains in my opinion as a decent night of cinemagraphic entertainment, nothing less, and nothing more. hooper, signing off.

Quint back. I just looked back at what both me and Mr. Hooper wrote and see that itÕs incredibly long. Sorry about that. IÕll wrap it up right now. If I had to rate this film among its brothers, IÕd put H20 after the original. Now, I havenÕt seen Halloween II in a long time, so I should probably see that once again just to make sure, but I think that H20 fits nicely in between number 1 and 2.

-Quint

ÒIÕm talking about working for a livinÕ. IÕm talking about sharkinÕ!Ó

AICN Quint@aol.com