''Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later'' (also known as simply ''Halloween H20'') is a 1998 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

directed by

Steve Miner Stephen C. Miner (born June 18, 1951) is an American director of film and television, film producer, and a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is notable for his work in the horror genre, including ''Friday the 13th Part ...

, and starring

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

Adam Arkin Adam Arkin (born August 19, 1956) is an American actor and director. He is known for playing the role of Aaron Shutt on '' Chicago Hope''. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony (Best Actor, 1991, ''I Hate Hamlet'') as well ...

, Michelle Williams,

Janet Leigh Jeanette Helen Morrison (July 6, 1927 – October 3, 2004), known professionally as Janet Leigh, was an American actress, singer, dancer, and author. Her career spanned over five decades. Raised in Stockton, California, by working-class parents, ...

and

Josh Hartnett Joshua Daniel Hartnett (born July 21, 1978) is an American actor and producer. He first came to attention in 1997 for his role as Michael Fitzgerald in the television crime drama series '' Cracker''. He made his feature film debut in 1998 in th ...

in his film debut. It is the seventh installment in the ''Halloween'' franchise. Ignoring the

Jamie Lloyd Jamie Lloyd is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists of the ''Halloween'' franchise. Introduced in '' Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers'' as the series' new protagonist after Jamie Lee Curtis declined to return as Laurie ...

story arc of the previous three installments, ''H20'' is a direct sequel to the second film. It follows a post-traumatic

Laurie Strode Laurie Strode is a fictional character in the ''Halloween'' franchise by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. She debuted in the original 1978 film as a high school student who becomes targeted by serial killer Michael Myers on Halloween night. La ...

, 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 A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. ''Halloween H20'' was released in the United States on August 5, 1998. The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics and grossed $75 million worldwide against a budget of $17 million. A sequel, '' Halloween: Resurrection'', was released four years later in 2002. A remake of the original film would be released in 2007 with a sequel of its own in 2009, and later another

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of sequels throughout 2018, 2021, and 2022 that, like ''H20'' also follow only the

original film Original Film is an American film and television production company founded by Neal H. Moritz. Notable films the company has produced include the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. History Original Film was started out in the early 1990s by Neal H ...

, disregarding all previous entries.

Plot

On October 29, 1998, Michael Myers burgles

Dr. Sam Loomis Dr. Samuel "Sam" J. Loomis is a fictional character in the ''Halloween'' franchise. A main protagonist of the overall series, Loomis appears on-screen in eight of the twelve ''Halloween'' films (and is mentioned or featured in audio recordings i ...

' retirement house in Langdon, Illinois. Loomis' former colleague, Marion Chambers, who took care of Dr. Loomis until he died, arrives and discovers that the file on

(who is presumed dead in an automobile accident) is missing. Michael murders her, her teenage neighbor Jimmy, and his friend Tony before leaving the house in Jimmy’s car with Laurie's file. In Summer Glen, California, Laurie (having faked her death to avoid Michael) lives under an assumed name, "Keri Tate." She is the

headmistress A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...

of Hillcrest Academy, a private

. Her career is supported by her secretary Norma Watson and the Hillcrest

guidance counselor A school counselor is a professional who works in primary (elementary and middle) schools or secondary schools to provide academic, career, college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional competencies to all students through a school ...

Will Brennan, who she is also in a relationship with. However, Laurie is far from happy, as the tragic events from 1978 still haunt her; she lives in fear that Michael may return for her. While a woman and her daughter are at a rest stop, Michael steals their car. At the academy campus, the students leave to attend a school trip to

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

, leaving only Laurie; Will; security guard Ronny Jones; Laurie's son John; his girlfriend Molly Cartwell; and their classmate Charlie Deveraux plus his girlfriend Sarah Wainthrope, who are having a Halloween party in the school basement. Laurie receives some maternal advice from Norma before she leaves work for the weekend and later that night reveals her true identity to Will while Michael arrives at the school. He quickly murders Charlie and Sarah before attacking John and Molly, who are rescued by Laurie and Will, and Michael and Laurie come face to face for the first time in 20 years. Will accidentally shoots Ronny (who had been patrolling the hallway) when he mistakes Ronny's shadow for Michael, and Michael kills Will while Will and Laurie are examining Ronny's body. Laurie manages to get John and Molly to safety, and realizing that she'll never be safe from Michael as long as he's alive, decides to confront Michael head-on. Laurie stabs Michael numerous times and pushes him over a balcony. She prepares to stab him again, but Ronny (who survived the shooting) stops her. The authorities arrive at the scene and load Michael into a coroner's van, but Laurie, knowing that Michael is still alive, steals the van to kill him for good. Michael awakens and attacks Laurie, who slams on her brakes, sending Michael crashing through the windshield. As Michael rises again, Laurie hits him with the van before sending them both tumbling down a steep embankment. Laurie, having fallen out of the van, discovers Michael pinned between the van and a tree. Michael reaches for Laurie, who feels a moment of pity for her brother, before she finally decapitates him with an axe.

Cast

(Keri Tate) *

as John Tate *

as Will Brennan * Michelle Williams as Molly Cartwell *

Adam Hann-Byrd Adam Hann-Byrd (born February 23, 1982) is an American actor and screenwriter most recognized for his roles in the films ''Jumanji'', '' The Ice Storm'', '' Halloween H20: 20 Years Later'', and as the title character in ''Little Man Tate''. Earl ...

as Charlie Deveraux *

Jodi Lyn O'Keefe Jodi Lyn O'Keefe (born October 10, 1978) is an American actress, model, and fashion designer. She came to prominence as Cassidy Bridges on the television series ''Nash Bridges'' (1996–2001) and played Gretchen Morgan on ''Prison Break'' (2007� ...

as Sarah Wainthrope *

as Norma Watson *

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

as Ronald 'Ronny' Jones * Chris Durand as Michael Myers *

Nancy Stephens Nancy Stephens (born July 2, 1949) is a former American actress who has starred in many films and television shows. Stephens is perhaps best known for her role as Nurse Marion Chambers in John Carpenter's horror film '' Halloween'' (1978). She ...

as Marion Chambers-Whittington *

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levitt (; born February 17, 1981) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his leading performances ...

as Jimmy Howell * Branden Williams as Tony Alegre *

Beau Billingslea John "Beau" Billingslea (born 1944) is an American actor, known as the voice of Jet Black in the critically acclaimed anime '' Cowboy Bebop'', Ogremon in ''Digimon'' and Homura and Ay, the Fourth Raikage in ''Naruto Shippuden''. In addition to ...

as Detective Fitzsimmons *

Matt Winston Matthew Winston is an American actor. He is the son of special effects artist Stan Winston. Career Winston's television appearances include the HBO dramas '' Six Feet Under'' and '' John from Cincinnati'', and as Crewman Daniels in '' Star T ...

as Matt Sampson * Larisa Miller as Claudia * Emmalee Thompson as Casey *

Tom Kane Thomas Kane Roberts (born April 15, 1962) is a retired American voice actor. He is best known for his work in animation and video games, most notably in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Career Kane began his voice-over career in 1977, at fifteen yea ...

(voice) *

Lisa Gay Hamilton LisaGay Hamilton (born March 25, 1964) is an American actress who has portrayed roles in films, television, and on stage. She is best known for her role as secretary/lawyer Rebecca Washington on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC legal drama ...

as Shirley 'Shirl' Jones (voice)

Production

The original idea for the seventh Halloween film began as the second half of the treatment written by

Daniel Farrands Daniel Farrands (born September 3, 1969) is an American filmmaker who specializes in the horror film genre. His first major credit was as screenwriter of '' Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' (1995). He has subsequently worked as a producer ...

during pre-production of ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'', which he later submitted as a new treatment entitled ''Michael Myers: Lord of the Dead''. The story would have opened immediately after the events of the previous film and involved Tommy Doyle discovering that the entire town of Haddonfield was involved in a conspiracy to control Michael Myers. Farrands compared the story to ''

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 nov ...

'', ''The Hitcher'', ''Rosemary's Baby'',

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two me ...

's "

The Lottery ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

," and

Dennis Etchison Dennis William Etchison (March 30, 1943 – May 29, 2019) was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction.

's rejected screenplay for '' Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers''. Farrands later decided not to continue with the series "since I honestly could not bear to watch another one of my scripts turned into a debacle – especially another ''Halloween''." Another idea pitched after the Farrands treatment was ''Halloween 7: Two Faces of Evil'', written by Robert Zappia. Originally intended to be a

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

film, this would have involved Michael Myers stalking an all women's boarding school. The plot eventually also revealed a

copycat killer A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modelled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicted said crimes, and/or a live criminal model. Copycat effect The copycat effect is the alleged tende ...

, causing many fans to compare such a twist to ''The Silence of the Lambs''. The pitch itself was changed a couple of times, changing the title to ''Halloween: Blood Ties'' as they involved Laurie Strode into the storyline, before scrapping the idea entirely. The screenplay was based on a story by Kevin Williamson, with the original working title for the film being ''Halloween 7: The Revenge of Laurie Strode''. Williamson was initially hired to write a script, and the story was situated as a sequel to the previous six films, thereby keeping the timeline's continuity. When Williamson first outlined ''Halloween H20'', he created the storyline in which Laurie Strode has faked her own death and taken on a new identity as a specific way of

retconning Retroactive continuity, or retcon for short, is a literary device in which established diegetic facts in the plot of a fictional work (those established through the narrative itself) are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subse ...

the character's death in ''Halloween 4''. In Williamson's original treatment, there are scenes in which a Hillcrest student does a report on Michael Myers' killing spree, mentioning the death of Jamie, complete with flashbacks to 4–6 mentioned in the text. "Keri"/Laurie responds to hearing the student's report on the death of her daughter by going into a restroom and throwing up. In the film, the voice of Dr. Loomis is heard giving the same speech that he gave to Sheriff Brackett when they were inside Michael's abandoned childhood home in the original film. Audio clips from ''

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

'' were initially considered when playing his monologue. However, instead of the voice of

Donald Pleasence Donald Henry Pleasence (; 5 October 1919 – 2 February 1995) was an English actor. He began his career on stage in the West End before transitioning into a screen career, where he played numerous supporting and character roles including RAF ...

himself, sound-alike voice actor

provides this voice-over.

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

was originally in consideration to be the director for this particular follow-up since

Curtis Curtis or Curtiss is a common English given name and surname of Anglo-Norman origin from the Old French ''curteis'' (Modern French ''courtois'') which derived from the Spanish Cortés (of which Cortez is a variation) and the Portuguese and Gali ...

wanted to reunite the cast and crew of the original to have active involvement in it. It was believed that Carpenter opted out because he wanted no active part in the sequel; however, this is not the case. Carpenter agreed to direct the film, but his starting fee as director was $10 million, so he demanded a three-picture deal with Dimension Films. Carpenter's bargain was denied by the Weinsteins, and therefore no deal took place. Carpenter rationalized this by believing the hefty fee was compensation for revenue he had never received from the original ''Halloween'', a matter that was still a contention between Carpenter and ''Halloween'' producer

Moustapha Akkad Moustapha Al Akkad ( ar, مصطفى العقاد; July 1, 1930 – November 11, 2005) was a Syrian-American film producer and director, best known for producing the original series of ''Halloween'' films and directing '' The Message'' and ' ...

even after twenty years. When Akkad balked at Carpenter's fee, Carpenter quit the project.

assumed directing. ''

Scream Scream may refer to: *Screaming, a loud vocalization Amusement rides * Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany * Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England * Scream! (roller coaster), at ...

'' writer/producer Kevin Williamson was involved in various areas of production. Although not directly credited, he provided rewrites in character dialogue and helped make alterations and sketches of the script. He also came up with the paramedic storyline that explained how Michael survived the ending, which was partially filmed the day after principal photography ended and later utilized in the film's sequel. The writers of ''Halloween H20'' were left with a dilemma when Curtis wanted to end the series, but Moustapha Akkad had a clause that legally wouldn't allow the writers to kill Michael Myers off. According to the Blu-ray released by

Scream Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

, Curtis almost left the project just weeks before filming, until Kevin Williamson came up with the paramedic storyline and presented it to Akkad. Curtis finally agreed to be a part of the film under the condition that no footage hinting toward a sequel would be presented by the film, and that the audience would believe that Michael was dead until the inevitable sequel was announced. '' Halloween: Resurrection''s first shot of Michael in the paramedic uniform was filmed the day after ''H20''s principal photography ended, according to ''H20''s editor,

Patrick Lussier Patrick Lussier (born 1964) is a Canadian-American filmmaker and editor, known for his numerous collaborations with director Wes Craven and fellow screenwriters Laeta Kalogridis and Todd Farmer, as well as his work in the Horror film, horror gen ...

. The film features an in memoriam tribute to Donald Pleasence in the closing credits, but misspells his last name as "Pleasance."

Filming

Filming began on February 18, 1998 and ended on April 20, 1998. The filming location of the Hillcrest Academy private school was filmed at the

Canfield-Moreno Estate The Canfield-Moreno Estate is a historic residence and estate located in the Moreno Highlands neighborhood of Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. It was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1988. Originally known as Crestmoun ...

located at 1923 Micheltorena St. in

Silver Lake, Los Angeles Silver Lake is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Originally home to a small community called Ivanhoe in honor of Sir Walter Scott. In 1907, the Los Angeles Water Department built the ...

. Marion Chambers's house along with Jimmy Howell's house was filmed in

Melrose Hill, Los Angeles Melrose Hill is a neighborhood in Los Angeles. A portion of the neighborhood is designated as a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. Geography Melrose Hill is located north of Melrose Avenue, south of Santa Monica Blvd., east of Western Avenue, an ...

. The town of Summer Glen was filmed in

La Puente, California La Puente (Spanish for "The Bridge") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city had a population of 39,816 at the 2010 census and is approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. History The original inhabitants of the ...

. The Hillcrest Academy entrance was filmed in

Chatsworth, Los Angeles Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley. The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...

. The ending of the film was filmed in

Canoga Park, Los Angeles Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and the ...

Music

The original music score was composed by

John Ottman John Ottman (born July 6, 1964) is an American film composer and editor. He is best known for collaborating with director Bryan Singer, composing and/or editing many of his films, including '' Public Access'' (1993), ''The Usual Suspects'' (1995 ...

, but some music from ''Scream'' was added to the chase scenes later on during

post-production Post-production is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording individual program segments. The ...

. Ottman expressed some displeasure about this action in an interview featured on the ''Halloween: 25 Years of Terror'' DVD released in 2006. Ottman's score was supplemented with

Marco Beltrami Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer and conductor of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror (''Scream'', ''Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, A Quiet Place' ...

's scores from ''Scream'', ''Scream 2'', and ''

Mimic MIMIC, known in capitalized form only, is a former simulation computer language developed 1964 by H. E. Petersen, F. J. Sansom and L. M. Warshawsky of Systems Engineering Group within the Air Force Materiel Command at the Wright-Patterson AFB in ...

'' by a team of music editors as well as new cues written by Beltrami during the final days of sound mixing on the film. Dimension Films chief

Bob Weinstein Robert Weinstein (born October 18, 1954) is an American film producer. He is the founder and head of Dimension Films, former co-chairman of Miramax Films and The Weinstein Company, all of which he co-founded with his older brother, Harvey. He ...

demanded musical changes after being dissatisfied with Ottman's score,''Halloween: H20'' score a
Filmtracks
Retrieved March 31, 2019. instating the song "

What's This Life For "What's This Life For" is a song by American rock band Creed. It is the third single and ninth track off their 1997 debut album, '' My Own Prison''. The song reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the U.S., ...

" by

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

group

Creed A creed, also known as a confession of faith, a symbol, or a statement of faith, is a statement of the shared beliefs of a community (often a religious community) in a form which is structured by subjects which summarize its core tenets. The ea ...

, which is featured in the film during a party sequence and also during the end credits. In addition, a small tribute to

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely re ...

's score from ''Psycho'' can be heard as Janet Leigh's character Norma Watson walks to her car (the same model car her character in ''Psycho'' drove) before leaving work for the day. No official soundtrack was ever released for the film, but a compilation album by Ottman was released in the United States and Germany under the

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

label and includes the original score by Ottman and numerous other cuts.

Alternate television version

In February 2003, the FX network premiered an alternate version of the film, adding and extending footage not seen in the original release. It has yet to be released anywhere else, but the deleted scenes can be found on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Reception

Box office

Until the release of the 2018 film ''

'', ''Halloween H20'' was the highest-grossing film in the ''Halloween'' franchise. It was released on August 5, 1998 in the US and later in many other countries. ''H20'' cost $17 million to produce and returned $55,041,738 in domestic box office sales with an opening weekend of $16,187,724, and $24,753,129 since its Wednesday debut. The film also had an gross of €3,247,003 in Germany equivalent to $3,548,860. Internationally it grossed $20 million for a worldwide total of $75 million.

Critical response

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film holds an approval rating of 52% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "''Halloween: H20'' is the best of the many sequels, yet still pales in comparison to the original ''Halloween''." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' awarded the film two out of four stars, while Lawrence Van Gelder of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' wrote that "the throwaway jokes are few and far between, and after a pre-title sequence reintroduces Michael and shows just how far up suspense and thrills can be ratcheted, ''Halloween H20'' declines into the routine," adding: "Nobody is going to be surprised by who lives and who dies." Bob Graham of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' praised the film's referentiality, as well as Curtis's performance, writing: "Slasher films often seem merely a joke, and with good reason, but in this case that's too bad. Curtis, with her plain, unglamorous appearance, rises to the occasion and delivers as compelling a performance as any this summer." Writing for the ''

Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'', Marc Savlov said of the film: "Miner strives to imbue the film with the requisite autumnal haze of the original but then gives up midway through and instead resorts to the standard stalk 'n' slash formulas. It's heartening to see a beloved character revived like this (at one point during the screening I attended, audience members actually stood up and cheered), but ''H20''—for all its good, gory intentions—is barely a shadow of the original."

Home media

''Halloween H20'' was released on VHS and

LaserDisc The LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as DiscoVision, MCA DiscoVision (also known simply as "DiscoVision") in the United States in 1978. Its diam ...

Buena Vista Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the Home video, home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films ...

. In the United Kingdom, the film was released on VHS on December 15, 1998. The film was first released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Dimension Films Dimension Films is an American film production company owned by Lantern Entertainment. It was formerly used as Harvey and Bob Weinstein's label within Miramax, which was acquired by The Walt Disney Company on June 30, 1993, to produce and relea ...

on October 19, 1999 as part of the "Dimension Collector's Series". It was released in the UK on October 22, 2001 and re-released on April 25, 2011. It was also released in the UK in 2004 as part of the complete collection consisting of the first eight films, a set that is now out of print. It was re-released in the US by

Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Echo Bridge Entertainment is an American independent distribution company. It acquires and distributes feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children’s programming for home video, digital and television in the United ...

on April 26, 2011, although, it does not contain its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, but rather a 1.66:1 widescreen transfer. Echo Bridge later re-released the film in a triple feature set with '' Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' and '' Halloween: Resurrection''. ''Halloween H20'' was released in Canada on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

by Alliance along with ''Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' and '' Halloween: Resurrection'' on January 12, 2010. On May 3, 2011 it was released by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment in the US but with an

open matte Open matte is a filming technique that involves matting out the top and bottom of the film frame in the movie projector (known as a ''soft matte'') for the widescreen theatrical release and then scanning the film without a matte (at Academy rat ...

16:9 transfer, rather than the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Its sound was downmixed to stereo, rather than the 5.1 theatrical mix. The Blu-ray received negative reviews, with Blu-ray.com calling it "a mess on every level". It was also released along with '' Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' in one Blu-ray collection. It was released again on Blu-ray on September 23, 2014 in its original theatrical 2.35:1 aspect ratio and with 5.1

DTS-HD Master Audio DTS-HD Master Audio (DTS-HD MA; known as DTS++ before 2004) is a multi-channel, lossless audio codec developed by DTS as an extension of the lossy DTS Coherent Acoustics codec (DTS CA; usually itself referred to as just DTS). Rather than being ...

in the ''Halloween: The Complete Collection'' box set from

Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television ser ...

, with a disc produced by

, featuring a new commentary with Jamie Lee Curtis and Steve Miner and extra features including behind the scenes footage and archival interviews not seen on any other release. On October 4, 2022, ''Halloween H20'' was released by

4K UHD 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...

as part of a 4K/Blu-ray box set along with '' Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers'' and '' Halloween: Resurrection''.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Halloween H20 1998 films 1998 horror films 1990s horror thriller films 1990s slasher films American slasher films 1990s serial killer films Alternative sequel films American horror thriller films American sequel films American serial killer films 1990s English-language films 7 Films about educators Fratricide in fiction Dimension Films films Miramax films Films scored by John Ottman Films scored by Marco Beltrami Films directed by Steve Miner Films set in 1998 Films set in California Films about post-traumatic stress disorder Films set in Illinois Films about mother–son relationships Films about siblings 1990s American films