Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later is a 1998 American slasher film directed by Steve Miner, and starring Jamie Lee Curtis, LL Cool J, Adam Arkin, Michelle Williams, Janet Leigh, and Josh Hartnett, in his film debut. It is the seventh installment in the Halloween franchise. H20 is a soft reboot that serves as a direct sequel to Halloween (1978) and Halloween II (1981), ignoring the “Thorn Timeline” story arc of the previous three installments. It follows a post-traumatic Laurie Strode, who has faked her death in order to go into hiding from her murderous brother, Michael Myers, who finds her working at a private boarding school in California.
Plot[]
It has been twenty years since Michael Myers escaped from Smith's Grove and returned to his hometown of Haddonfield to kill his long-lost sister, Laurie Strode. After an explosion at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital caused by Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael's body disappeared and was presumed dead.
On October 29, 1998, Marion Wittington (née Chambers), Loomis' former colleague who took care of him until his death, returns home to the house they shared in Langdon, Illinois, only to find that it has been broken into and discovers that the file on Laurie Strode is missing. Marion seeks help from her teenage neighbor, Jimmy, only to discover that he and his friend, Tony, have been murdered by Michael, before she, too, is killed. Michael drives away in Jimmy's car, as the police arrive on scene.
In Summer Glen, California, Laurie lives under the identity of "Keri Tate", having faked her death to stay hidden from Michael. She lives with her son, John, and is the headmistress of Hillcrest Academy, a private boarding school, where she is supported by her secretary, Norma Watson, and guidance counselor Will Brennan, with whom she is in a relationship. Despite the normal life she has built for herself, the traumatic events of her past have caused her to suffer from chronic nightmares as well as becoming an alcoholic, living in fear that her brother will one day find her. Michael, having gotten a flat tire, is forced to steal another vehicle from a woman and her daughter who stop by a highway rest area and inadvertently leaves them both unharmed and stranded.
Back at the academy, most of the faculty and students are preparing to leave for a trip to Yosemite. Laurie has forbidden John to go, afraid that something bad will happen to him while he is gone. John's girlfriend, Molly Cartwell, is unable to attend as well prompting fellow couple, Charlie Deveraux and Sarah Wainthrope, to forego the trip so that they can all have a Halloween party on campus. Laurie, following a heated argument with John about how her fears are affecting him, changes her mind about not letting him go on the trip, now afraid that him being around her on Halloween is too dangerous, though he ultimately decides to remain behind with Molly, Charlie, and Sarah, unbeknownst to his mother.
After most of the teachers and students have departed, Ronny Jones, a security guard who earlier helped John and Charlie sneak out of school, spots Michael's stolen truck parked at the main gate and goes to investigate but is oblivious as Michael sneaks onto the school property. Meanwhile, Laurie reveals her identity to Will and in the process discovers a connection between her age when Michael first came after her which is also how old her son is now. Upon going to call John, she finds out that not only are the phones not working, but that he did not go on the trip. She arms herself with a revolver and, along with Will and Ronny, goes looking for her son and the others. Unfortunately, Michael finds them first and kills both Charlie and Sarah in a gruesome manner. John and Molly are then attacked as well while trying to get away. Michael attempts to kill Molly but John comes to her defense and is stabbed in the leg. The two barely manage to escape and are rescued by Laurie who, much to her horror, comes face to face with her brother for the first time in twenty years.
Will accidentally shoots Ronny in the head, mistaking his shadow for Michael approaching from around a corner. As Laurie is checking Ronny's body, Michael emerges from a doorway behind Will and stabs him in the back, killing him. Laurie then tricks Michael and momentarily stuns him while she retrieves John and Molly from their hiding place. The trio make a run for Laurie's truck and drive off towards the main gate of the school. Knowing that Michael will never stop hunting her, she sends them on without her to get help, locks the gate, arms herself with an axe and heads back up to the campus to confront Michael once and for all. Following a deadly game of cat and mouse, Laurie stabs Michael several times and shoves him off a balcony through a table in the cafeteria below. As she prepares to stab him one final time, Ronny, who survived the gunshot, stops her, believing Michael to be dead.
The authorities arrive a short time later and the entire school becomes a crime scene. A seemingly dead Michael is put in a body bag and loaded into a coroner's van, but Laurie knows that he is still alive, having grown accustomed to her brother's tricky nature. She grabs her axe, steals a police officer's gun, and hijacks the van with the intent of killing him for good. Michael awakens down the road, breaks out of the bag, and attacks Laurie who slams on the brakes sending him crashing through the windshield. As Michael sits up then proceeds to stand, Laurie drives into him and then off the road.
Laurie manages to jump free of the van as it tumbles down the embankment while Michael is pinned between the van itself and a downed tree. Bloodied and bruised, she makes her way down to the bottom and calls out to her brother. The two siblings share a moment as they reach out for one another. Laurie feels a moment of pity for Michael before raising her axe and decapitating him. Sirens approach in the distance as she closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths as the scene cuts to black.
Cast[]
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
- Josh Hartnett as John Tate
- Michelle Williams as Molly Cartwell
- LL Cool J as Ronny Jones
- Adam Arkin as Will Brennan
- Jodi Lyn O'Keefe as Sarah Wainthrope
- Adam Hann-Byrd as Charlie Deveraux
- Janet Leigh as Norma Watson
- Nancy Stephens as Marion Chambers
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jimmy Howell
- Lisa Gay Hamilton as Shirley Jones
- Chris Durand as Michael Myers
- Tom Kane as Dr. Samuel Loomis
Videos[]
