Halloween: H20 (1998)

Oooooh, 1998 Josh Hartnett was yummy, wasn't he?  He was 20 then (I checked IMDB) so it's okay to think that.  LL Cool J also appears, and while he's not in Doin' It shape, he still looks pretty sexy.

Also, any movie that involves both luring and escaping from killers in a dumbwaiter is always a great time.  I mean, when else does the dumbwaiter get play?  Is it time for a list on this subject?  I digress.

I don't like the look of Michael Myers in this sequel.  I can't put my finger on it, but something just strikes me as odd. But seriously, what perfect storm came together to not only have Jamie Lee Curtis back, but several other stars in an innocuous Halloween sequel.

We all know that the subsequent Halloweens kind of drifted all over the place, and Michael Myers just kept getting shot and never stayed dead.  I guess by 1998 we all just decided to accept that, and it seems totally normal that not only has Michael stayed alive for 20 years, but he's in good enough shape to go stalking his grown sister, Laurie.  There are several 90s-era stars involved in said stalking, and we get 90 glorious minutes of beautiful people running around screaming. 

This is actually an impressive Halloween sequel, and I've always liked this one.  There's the typical Michael Myers-esque stalking suspense, which always leads to some jump scares and a good time.  This one could have been totally lame, but I like the way it turned out.  Michael Myers lives, bitches.

Terror Train (1980)

Yay for the 80s. Where not everything was a remake and horror movies actually had original concepts and not just ripoffs of everything else. Terror Train, filmed back to back with Prom Night earned Jamie Lee Curtis the title of Scream Queen. Some critics joke that this movie is basically "Halloween on a train" but I think it's pretty original. Let's take a look.



Terror Train begins not on a train at all, but at an 80s frat party. The poor pledges are getting hazed and the brothers have a special trick in mind for Kenny Hampson. A trick that obviously goes awry, or we wouldn't have this movie. Of course Jamie Lee Curtis and her ditzy blonde friend are involved, as well as some meatheads posing as med students.



Fast forward a few years and it's graduation time. Kenny's not around anymore, and although it's not clear why, I think we get the picture (one of the fratties mentions he "couldn't take it")


So as a graduation surprise, this group of friends is having a party aboard some sort of sightseeing train. Although it's dark outside and I doubt they can see anything. Everyone is in costumes and ready to get their drink on. But, woah, people start disappeering. And everything is obviously super confusing, because everyone is drunk and wearing costumes. And there's a magic show. These things alone would make me jump out of this train due to bewilderment and pure fear.

So this is actually a pretty great concept. The killer is popping all over the place by killing a person and then wearing their costume, thus convincing everyone else that they are original said person. Also, David Copperfield is the magician, which obviously throws a whole new awesome layer into the mix.

This movie actually has some pretty great twists and turns, and I was pretty surprised about who the killer turns out to be. The train is a unique setting, the whole thing was a new idea for its time, and Jamie Lee is awesome albeit a little Lori Strode-ish. To be expected.

Grade: B (Friday the 13th Part 2 - costumed killers make for great horror fun)