As anyone who follows the genre knows, no horror villain can ever be considered dead. Final Chapters seldom stick to the whole final thing and any on screen death, no matter how decisive it may appear, is easily undone as long as a franchise can still be exploited. Given that, it seems inevitable that, despite his long absence from the screen, we havent seen the last of Michael Myers. But despite the almost-certainty of Michaels return, the question of from which point the series will actually continue from is not a simple one.
Putting aside any debates over the artistic merits of Rob Zombies Halloween entries, its simply factual to say that they exist apart from any other films in the series. While theres a natural case to be made for continuing from where he left off, those films are so tied into Zombies own vision it seems pointless to tell more stories within that world if hes no longer there to guide them. Of course, picking up where the classic series left off presents its own problems as the last entry in that case is 2002s much-derided Halloween: Resurrection. If Resurrection had been any good, there wouldnt have been any need for the reboot to happen in the first place. But 12 years later, are we ready to entertain the idea that Resurrection wasnt quite as crummy as its remembered being?
There is, after all, a precedent for a once-hated Halloween film to achieve late blooming cult status (hey there, Halloween III!) and I think Resurrection does have a little more merit than its been given credit for. Not enough to be considered as good, no, but maybe enough to not automatically be put at the bottom of the barrel. At the very least Resurrection looks more interesting in retrospect as a cultural artifact and (one glaring misstep aside) its take on Michael is something I think the series needs to return to.
At the time, back in the dawn of the new millennium, Halloween and the slasher genre in general was struggling to adapt to new sensibilities and new technology. The same old just wasnt going to cut it in the 2000s. If Michael Myers was going to stay relevant to a new generation, in a new century, he had to stay current with the times. For producer Moustapha Akkad that meant combining Michaels old-school slasher stylings with the cutting edge world of reality TV and the internet. The fact that Resurrection looks anything but cutting edge now theres a Survivor reference, two characters dress as Pulp Fictions Jules and Vincent and its young characters look so technology deficient next to todays kids they might as well be communicating with tin cans and string gives the movie a certain dated charm.
Larry Brand and Sean Hoods Resurrection screenplay follows six college students who have been selected to participate in the internet reality show Dangertainment, the brain child of visionary entrepreneur Freddie Harris (rapper Busta Rhymes, easily the most controversial casting choice in any Halloween film). Freddie and his assistant Nora Winston (Tyra Banks) prep each kid with a personal mini-cam that broadcasts their every move to the web. What these kids have to do, as they explore Michael Myers boyhood home on Halloween, is to make their journey an interesting one. To help that along, Freddie plans to dress as Michael and spook some winning performances out of his would-be reality stars. Of course, what Freddie and co. dont know is that the real Michael will also be on hand, doing what he does best. Thatd be stabbing, mainly.
Bianca Kaljich (who went on to co-star in the sitcom Rules of Engagement) plays Resurrections lead, Sara Moyer, and Katee Sackhoff (recently seen in Oculus) is Jen Danzing, her sassy, fame hungry BFF. Naturally, its the outgoing Jen who has pushed shy Sara into joining her in Dangertainment but lucky for Sara her internet friendship with a high school student Myles Barton (Ryan Merriman) is whats going to end up helping her survive the night. Attending a Halloween party, Myles slips off into a private room to watch Dangertainment unfold and once Michael starts giving the reality stars (whose ranks include Sean Patrick Thomas of Save the Last Dance and American Pies Thomas Ian Nicholas) a fatal dose of reality, Myles is able to communicate with Sara via text messages and give her the vital heads up she needs to stay a step ahead of Michael (the fact that every single character in the film isnt carrying their own phone as a lifeline to the outside world only shows how much the world has changed since then).
This aspect of Myles feeding Sara instructions on how to survive (with succinct commands like Go Now!) is Resurrections most intriguing invention. For years, horror fans have shouted unheard directions to imperiled characters on the screen but in Resurrection, technology allows the characters to actually communicate to a potential victim. Unfortunately, all the cross cutting between the action in the Myers house and the activity at the party only sabotages director Rick Rosenthals efforts at suspense. But its an interesting wrinkle just the same and it acts as a self-aware nod to slasher clichés as well as commenting on the voyeuristic impulses that horror movies historically play to.
But what actually works best in Resurrection is Michael himself. Not only does actor Brad Loree have the best Michael moves since Nick Castle defined the characters distinctive body language but the mask itself the bane of many a Halloween sequel looks perfect here. Watching Loree go through his paces as Michael in Resurrection, it just feels right even when the movie around him is often in the midst of going wrong.
While Resurrection doesnt do Michael any favors by having him fail to kill Rhymes obnoxious Freddie, outside of that perplexing blunder the movie reinforces Michaels boogeyman status and thats enough to incrementally elevate even a ho-hum entry like this. Wherever the series goes in the future, I think bringing back that aspect to Michael should be paramount as its something that always set the character apart from other slashers. Without that, hes too commonplace. There are many cinematic maniacs to be found some of them supernatural, some of them just nuts with knives but only one has ever been crowned as the boogeyman. Or, as Rhymes puts it, a killer shark in baggy-ass overalls. To make Michael anything less than that seems like a waste of a horror icon.
Given that much of what Resurrection did finally killing off the long-suffering Laurie Strode (in a pre-credit sequence that some see as the movies highlight but that always seemed ridiculous to me trying to kill Michael by dropping him on his head seems like a particularly stupid plan) and burning the Myers house to the ground was to clear the series of its last familiar elements save Michael himself, I always thought it was a shame that the next step was a reboot. Back in 2002, after Resurrections release, I was curious to see where the next Halloween would take Michael, seeing as the options for the series were left wide open.
Even though its been 12 years, maybe its not too late to find out.
