Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing after previous entry in series, November 6, 2002
The premise seems promising at first. A group of college students is selected to act out an internet play at the home of killer Michael Myers...This Michael Myers is the deadly character who haunted previous HALLOWEEN movies and is presumed dead by the beginning of this one. The premise is not bad. And there comes a time in the movie when, hardly surprisingly, the notorius villian turns out to be alive after all. When the students discover that Myers is still alive and not only kicking but still wreaking deadly terror in the house where he grew up, things pick up a little. From there through the decently entertaining climax, the movie has the makings of a not-so-bad thriller. But the problem is in the middle, between the set-up and the climax. There it wallows in typical teen-movie cliches -- virile wisecracking males, and females who resist them in equally cliched wisecracking manner...the only memorable thing about the move is was pretty boring.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Stabs loyal fans in the back in order to waste a good idea, December 31, 2003
I'm a big Michael Myers fan from way back when, and I have to admit I was rather disappointed with this eighth entry in the hallowed Halloween series. The whole concept of having six young people spend a night in Michael Myers' old house on Halloween night is brilliant albeit not quite original, but even this "reality" aspect of the film could have been improved upon. Then you have a number of plot elements that exist for no apparent reason whatsoever, as the issues these raised initially are left blowing in the wind. Worst of all is the beginning of the film, as it did much to ruin whatever good might follow in its wake once the filmmakers got to the new and refreshing presentation of everyone's favorite masked killer doing his thing. It is hard to say what I mean without giving important plot elements away, so all I will say is that the opening scenes in this movie insult the intelligence of Halloween's core audience and then quickly proceed to spit upon and kick the very essence of what Halloween used to be about. I think the opening climax is borne of a very bad decision, and the scene itself is almost laughably pathetic. I daresay many loyal Halloween fans will share my dissatisfaction in this regard.Once we finally get to the live Internet broadcast of the six young people inside Michael Myers' old house, the movie succeeds fairly well. The webcam aspect of the cinematography gives this film a special look and feel, and the sudden appearances of Michael take on added effectiveness. There is one particularly good moment wherein the sudden appearance of the white mask from out of the shadows has a vintage Frankenstein feel to it. The killings are nothing special, and this Michael Myers really doesn't carry himself well or have an inkling of the presence he had in earlier movies, but at least the man is still taking care of business. The characters in this film are a problem, though. Most of them are nothing more than characters put there to be killed. I never got any sense of what makes any of them tick. Michael's knife can cut through anything, but this film never manages to even penetrate the surface of any major character. Bianca Kajlich turns in a pretty good performance as Sara Moyer, and I thought Busta Rhymes was great and certainly entertaining as Freddie Harris, the man behind the web broadcast. The other cast members aren't bad actors and actresses; they just had little to work with from the script. Sara's character seemed to have some type of special sensitivity or psychic link of sorts to Michael early on, but that subplot goes nowhere. Then there is Sara's Internet friend Decker. The movie did need some outside person viewing the Internet broadcast and reacting to what he sees take place in the house, but Decker ends up becoming one of the most needless characters of all time. On a more positive note, the DVD is loaded with extra goodies. Besides the obligatory filmmaker commentary, you get several deleted scenes and three alternate endings (all of them as unimpressive as the actual ending), looks behind the scenes with Jamie Lee Curtis and the production designer, and a featurette on the head cam worn by the six young people in the house. Best of all, you can view the webcam footage on its own with or without commentary. This forty or so minutes of material, which includes a few moments not included in the film, actually plays better than the movie itself. If the filmmakers would have gone even farther in the webcam direction, I think this movie could have been more enjoyable, although nothing could heal the wounds inflicted on Halloween loyalists in the opening moments of the film.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
a stupid movie....period, June 11, 2004
Okay, the biggest problem with this film is that it was actually made. To have any Halloween fan actually believe that the "human" man that Michael swapped his clothes with could survive being rammed by a van, thrown down a hill, and then CRUSHED against a tree by the same van is obviously out to lunch. Why did he NOT remove the mask while he was still inside the van? If it wasn't supposed to be Michael, then why when he (the supposed human ambulance attendant) crashed thru the windshield did he sit up in the road like Michael? That's because in H20 it WAS Michael. Talk about doing anything to make a fast buck. I was absolutely disgusted by the first 15 minutes of this movie and ended up getting a refund. I did not buy this dvd because, in my opinion, it is the biggest waste of money. And then to insult the fans (myself included), they kill off Laurie and make her character so ignorant. As far as I'm concerned, Halloween, Halloween II, and H20 is the complete story. No man in black, thorn cult crap, no babies in jars, etc... H4 was actually good back in 1988, but since then even that movie has been so tarnished by H5 and especially H6 that it's not even worth watching anymore. Michael was beheaded by Laurie. End of story.
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