After the enormous critical and commercial success of Halloween: H2O, a sequel was perhaps unavoidable, and indeed, Jamie Lee Curtis was contractually obligated to reprise her role as Laurie for at least one last movie, though she would later call the film a "joke," which is putting it mildly.
Not wanting to do another after this one, she specifically asked that her character be killed- a decision that would not go over well with fans, and indeed, one she herself would come to regret. (Hence her opting to come back for another one after all this time for this year's Halloween.)
However, producer Moustapha Akkad also had a clause in his own contract that said that Michael Myers could not be definitively killed. This was what led to the much-ballyhooed twist at the beginning of this film, in which it turned out that Michael had switched clothes with a paramedic, as well as putting his mask on the poor guy and crushing his larynx so he couldn't speak to alert people of the situation.
Curtis, contrary to popular belief, knew all about this twist, which was concocted by Kevin Williamson as a way of appeasing both Curtis and Akkad. Per Curtis' request, no one could know about the twist until the inevitable sequel came out, at which point, she wanted her character to be put to bed once and for all, so no one else could play her and she would be given a definitive ending herself.
Of course, this would prove not to technically be the case, as her role would eventually be recast in Rob Zombie's reboot, but no one knew that would be the case at the time. In fact, the idea was for Josh Hartnett to reprise his role as John in the follow-up, coming back to avenge his mother's death in the next installment, perhaps with help from Dr. Loomis' daughter, a character originally planned for H2O, but which was ultimately scrapped in favor of bringing back Nurse Marion Chambers instead.
For this film, initially dubbed Halloween: Homecoming, it was decided to partially adopt a sort of "found footage" vibe, emulating the wildly successful Blair Witch Project. Various directors were considered, including H4 director Dwight H. Little, but in the end, the production went with Rick Rosenthal, who had previously helmed the reasonably well-received Halloween II, and who, incidentally, is married to Nancy Stephens, aka Nurse Marion, so he missed out on the chance to kill his wife in the previous installment, lol.
Rosenthal saw it as a chance to somewhat redeem himself, after the unpleasant experience of having that film re-edited to include additional gory footage he didn't approve of producer Carpenter shooting and adding. Unfortunately, it would be a decision he would later come to regret, as, once again, the film was taken out of his hands and re-edited multiple times without his approval.
Among the scenes that were scrapped, many of which can be seen on the original work-print versions, typically labeled under the original title, Homecoming, were some alternate deaths for various characters- including an on-screen one for star Tyra Banks, whose death would ultimately take place off-screen in the theatrical version (once you see the footage, you'll understand why- check it out here).
There was also a different intro to the film, featuring home video of a young Michael as a child, brooding evilly into the camera before the credits rolled (check it out here), and the death of the second guard was slightly different. There was also a hilariously bad deleted scene in which Michael steals a car from a couple screwing around in a tent in the woods- but doesn't kill them for some reason- and skids off, bumping rapper DMX on the stereo as he goes!
Also, Laurie's death was much more definitive, with her falling from the roof onto concrete pavement, instead of bushes, as in the theatrical version, which, contrary to Curtis' wishes, left the door open just a crack for her return, should she later change her mind.
Finally, a variety of different endings were shot. In one, Deckard, aka Myles (Ryan Merriman, later in Final Destination 3 and Ian on Pretty Little Liars), comes to save the day, rescuing leading lady Sara (Bianca Kajlich, who would later enjoy success on the long-running, much-syndicated TV sitcom Rules of Engagement) from the fire at the end, instead of Freddie (rapper Busta Rhymes).
Afterwards, he confesses his real name and identity, and apologizes for leading her to believe he was older- a high school student, instead of the grad student he claimed to be. Myles congratulates her on "killing the boogeyman," but she scoffs, saying: "You can't kill the boogeyman." Cut to a couple of CSI agents investigating the wreckage of the fire. When one looks into a pit, Michael leaps out for one last scare and the credits roll.
While the bit with the CSI agents is silly, I do like that the film gives the "relationship" between Sara and Deckard/Myles closure, and allows him to be the hero instead of lurking on the sidelines for the entire movie, watching from afar. I also prefer him being the hero over Freddie, who, lest we forget got everyone into all this in the first place.
In another ending, after Freddie rescues Sara, as in the theatrical cut, he apologizes for getting her into all this and for the death of her friends. She hugs and forgives him. Then Michael is rolled out on a gurney and he requests to see him, saying the lines he says in the theatrical cut, only this time, Michael leaps up to choke Freddie out, and Sara grabs a handy nearby axe, which she promptly buries right in Michael's head. Freddie thanks her for paying back the favor of saving his life and the credits roll.
This is also probably better than the one used in the final cut, but it's also a bit ridiculous, given that Sara not only reacts so quickly, but just so happens to find an axe at the ready. It also makes Michael's death a bit harder to come back from, not that such things really matter in a franchise like this. Either way, the producers opted to scrap both of these endings, regardless, much to Rosenthal's chagrin, who once again saw the final cut of his Halloween film taken out of his hands, not to mention extra gore added (i.e. the head in the washing machine), just as before.
The end result, re-dubbed Resurrection (to hammer home the return of Michael, in case anyone had any doubts), pleased no one, much less the director. A true product of its times, more than any other film in the franchise- though The Curse of Michael Myers (aka Halloween 6) comes close- this one screams of the time period in which it was made.
We're talking, in addition to the whole "found footage" angle, live streaming, primitive internet and email, whatever that notebook-type thing Sara uses to communicate with Deckard is, allusions to Reality TV, inclusion of rap and R&B tracks, and a lot of Grad School-style psychobabble, all of which help make this film near-unbearably pretentious and cringe-inducing.
On the plus side, after the oddly orchestral score from John Ottoman in the last one, this one marks a welcome return to the synth-drenched version of the original scores, courtesy of Danny Lux. Indeed, it may be one of the only saving graces of the film, along with the two likable main leads, Merriman and Kajlich. Boy, is it ever all downhill from there, though.
Then-future Battlestar Galactica stars Katee Sackhoff and Lorena Gale both appear in the film, but rest assured, they don't get much of a showcase here, though it is kind amusing to see Sackhoff play an alternative "tough" chick type. She was originally supposed to play Donna, the Goth chick, which would have been cooler. Her character is hella annoying, though.
Speaking of Donna- in a weird "art imitates life" kind of twist, the sexy actress who ended up playing her, Daisy McCrackin, was kidnapped by three lunatics that terrorized and tortured her and her boyfriend, fellow actor Joseph Capone, extorting money from her in the process. You can read more about that here. Maybe this film is the one that should have been called The Curse of Michael Myers.
Reportedly, both Danielle Harris and actual Reality TV star-turned-actress Jacinda Barrett (who would have played Sara) were almost in the film, but pulled out- probably after reading the script. Dodged a bullet there, ladies.
Don't even get me started on the antics of rapped-turned-"actor" Busta "Trick or treat, motherfucka" Rhymes, which are just the worst. LL Cool J he is not. The scene in which he yells at Michael Myers while actually dressed as Michael Myers and Michael simply stands there looking perplexed, may well be the low point of the entire series, and that is indeed including Rob Zombie's more self-indulgent stuff. (Looking at you, white horse and ghost mom!)
To be fair, the whole "two Michael Myers" thing could have actually been cool, and milked for some cool scares/fake-outs, but the whole thing is so confusingly edited and shot that it's often hard to tell what the hell is going on, once the camera footage and the live streaming thing enter the narrative. Having seen the work-print version as well as the theatrical one, I can say that the original version is only slightly better in this regard, so don't go looking to that to help, either.
Honestly, as with H6, I don't blame the director, Rosenthal, so much as I do the interference of the producers, who once again, are their own worst enemies. By messing with the final cut of this so much, they took what could have been a so-so film and made it infinitely worse.
Indeed, the reputation of this one is so bad, that many fans often not only skip it during marathons, but many pretend it doesn't exist altogether, thus preserving the original narrative that has Laurie ultimately defeating Michael, instead of her ignoble end here.
In spite of the near-universal negative critical and fan reaction- to this day, the film only scores an 11% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes- it still managed to eke out slightly over $37 million on a $13 million-dollar budget. A decent take, to be sure, but nowhere near the highs of H2O and the first film.
To that end, the originally-planned direct follow-up plans were scrapped and the producers even considered re-adopting the whole "anthology" approach they had abandoned with Halloween III- such was the negative reaction to this film, that they actually considered rebooting a "bomb" instead of continuing onward with the then-current plot-line, which says a lot about this film.
In the end, the decision was made to completely reboot the franchise from the ground up with Rob Zombie's film instead, for better or worse. IMHO, as divisive as Zombie's initial film was, it is at least a step up from this, which is just the bottom-of-the-barrel, and, quite frankly an embarrassment to the franchise, which is saying something, given some of the other entries.
I'll leave it to you to decide which is worse, this or Zombie's Halloween II, though. Actually, I'd have to say this one, for "killing" Laurie and the whole Busta Rhymes thing- at least Zombie's H2 had solid cinematography, music and a better musician-turned-actor in "Weird" Al Yankovic. Both are pretty wretched, though.
Well, we're in the homestretch now, people- only one last movie to go! Join me tomorrow for a look at the much-maligned red-headed stepchild of the franchise, Halloween III: Season of the Witch. Say it with me now: one more day to Halloween, Halloween, Halloween... 🎃
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