Lousy Lottery 11: Or How a Movie Called Resurrection Nearly Killed Halloween
Welcome, friends, to the Lousy Lottery! Here’s how it works. First, I post four movies to a poll on Twitter. Fans vote to pick which movie to make me watch that week. I watch it, review it and spread the word about an amazingly awful, terribly terrific b-horror flick.
This is week 11! Your pick for this week is easily the most recent of the bunch so far, I’m talking about 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection!
The theme for this week’s poll for this week was ‘Franchise Duds.’ I let you chose among four movies widely considered by fans and critics to be the worst of the franchise. They were the closest poll results we’ve had so far. It seems you all really love the stinkers of your beloved franchises. The movie that edged out the competition was the eighth entry in the Halloween series. You know, the one with Busta Rhymes and Tyra Banks? Neither John Carpenter, nor Debra Hill were involved in this installment at all, not even as consultants. The only person involved, other than some actors, in this film that were also involved in some of the classic Halloween’s is director Rick Rosenthal, who also directed Halloween II. While that’s cool and all, I think Halloween II was a super unnecessary sequel and super boring, so it’s not really a badge of honor. The intent was to have a trilogy of movies, starting with Halloween: H20, followed by this one and then another. However, when the first two installments bombed, the third one was scrapped and they decided to take a chance on a Rob Zombie reboot. So, all you fans of the Zombie Halloweens have Halloween: Resurrection to thank. Let’s dive right in, shall we?
Resurrection starts with a misstep. We begin our tale with Laurie Strode institutionalized after killing a man she thought was her brother Michael. Okay, so here’s why this movie’s already lost me. Michael is not, nor was ever intended to be, Laurie’s brother. The whole premise is centered on them being brother and sister, but that makes absolutely no sense based on the original film and the origin story of Michael Meyers. It’s also just ridiculous that she’d be convicted of murder for killing someone so clearly in self-defense after being terrorized by Michael for years. It’s, well, crazy. So, from the starting gate Resurrection has some catching up to do. Alright, I’m stepping off my soapbox, just had to vent for a moment. I digress.
So, we begin with Laurie institutionalized after killing a man she thought was Michael. Halloween is fast approaching and, though it has been three years, Laurie fears Michael is going to make his move and come for her. She’s right and, sure enough, Michael arrives at the sanitarium and starts killing folks. A chase ensues and they end up on the roof. Why do people always end up on the roof? With nowhere left to run, Laurie must confront her…ugh…brother. Michael is too much for her, though. He stabs her and throws her off the roof to her death. Yep. You read that right. This movie, man, it’s like they’re trying to piss off fans.
A year later a group of college students win a chance to appear on a game show called…*swallows back vomit*…Dangertainment. The premise of this terribly titled show is that the group will win beaucoup dollars if they can survive a night in a haunted location. For this episode, the contestants must spend the night in the old Meyers place in Haddonfield. But, wait, there’s more! The challenge isn’t to survive just any old night. They have to stay there on Halloween night. A group of college students forced to stay in Michael’s house on Halloween? Almost sounds like the setup for a paint-by-numbers slasher movie, eh? Close your eyes and picture the rest of this story and, yeah, you pretty much have it. Although, I will say, I doubt your mental picture had Busta Rhymes as the final girl, because, well, why would it?
A good indicator of the quality of a franchise entry is whether or not an iconic person from the more successful entries wants no part of it. Here it seemed almost no one from the classic Halloween’s cast and crew wanted anything to do with Resurrection. The script, the approach to the canon, it all turned off nearly everyone you’d associate with the classic Halloween’s. John Carpenter? Not involved. Debra Hill? Nope. Dean Cundey? Not a chance. Even Jamie Lee Curtis refused to participate and only ended up in the picture because her contract required it. Even with that, she made them put it in her contract that this would be the last Halloween film ever. The contract also stated that this would be the final appearance for both Laurie Strode and Michael Meyers. She even asked that both characters be killed to ensure it. The fact that they honored none of those things only shows the total disregard this production had for the wishes of those who made Halloween great to begin with.
Knowing that story also makes the 2018 Halloween an even more impressive feat; both that they pulled it off and it was actually a good film. Knowing how far the series had strayed gives me a whole new appreciation for Halloween 2018. They must’ve had one hell of a time getting JLC back involved. The reception Resurrection received shows fans and critics really don’t like it when you don’t honor the original vision. It currently holds an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes and an ‘overwhelmingly dislike’ on MetaCritic. Lou Lumenick of the New York Post said it made Jason X (released that same year) “Shakespearean by comparison.” There was even a bit of a scandal when news leaked that critic Glenn Lovell had been paid to give it a good review. In short, it, uh, wasn’t well received.
For good reason, too. This movie meddles where it shouldn’t and feels like a shameless money grab. The original title of this movie was going to be Halloween: Michaelmeyers.com. That alone should tell you all you need to know about the depth of quality this movie possesses. I’m no filmmaker, but it seems franchise 101 would tell you, respect the original vision! If you’re a completest and missed this one, check it out. Otherwise, feel free to skip.
Don’t forget to see what’s coming next in the Lousy Lottery. Make sure you tune into Twitter later today and vote for Lousy Lottery 12! My handle is @MrJosh79, look for it and don’t forget to vote!
Don’t want to miss anything on the site? Sign up for our newsletter HERE
Want more lousy lottery? Just search below:
