I just watched Halloween H20 again, and have a question regarding the ending and the follow-up story in Resurrection.
As Jamie Lee Curtis is driving away with Michael in a body bag in the back of the van, they quickly show the really old black antique car Michael was driving throughout the film for a split second as she’s leaving the area. The car was not there before, so could it be a hint that Michael was looking at her drive away in the van from the old car, and that it was someone else that was in the bag? I’m only saying this because Resurrection says it wasn’t Michael she killed in H20.
This along with the scene where he acts as if he is confused and tries to take the mask off makes me feel that they were trying to hint that it wasn’t Michael. Also, some scenes when he’s being put in the body bag and after that don’t look like the Michael throughout the movie.
Just wondering what your take is on this H20-to-Resurrection storyline. Did the people who produced H20 know that there was going to be a Halloween film after that? Were they already thinking of the next film? Or was this really supposed to be the ending to the series until someone said “let’s make another movie”?
Every Halloween movie (minus part 3) produced after the original was made for business reasons alone. All story lines were created on a wing to cash in on a hot commodity. Any connections to previous entries were only coincidences imo. The story really ends after the original. Part II was fun but only because it was so close to the original in tone. There was really no need to make the film on an artistic level. It certainly wasn’t like The Empire Strikes Back where it actually expanded on the story (well it did but more in a contrived manner). It was just a retread. Part III was made for creative reasons. Unfortunately, other than for nostalgic reasons, the movie is almost unwatchable. It does have that classic tone though that Carpenter and his team brought to the first two films which is sorely lacking in everything that follows. Had Carpenter gotten involved with H20 it may have been a better film and could have capped the series off quite nicely with the beaheading of The Shape. I believe that ending was deliberate and yet at the same time a sequel was inevitable especially after such momentus box office returns. I don’t think much thought was given to how The Shape would be resurrected but when the time came they would figure it out. Which leads us to Part 8 that opens with the most contrived storytelling in motion picture history.
Actually yes i believe they knew exactly what they were doing with the was he trys to take off the mask.Also in Jamie Lee Curtis’s contract in fine print it stated ''You can’t kill Michael Myers".So they kept it secret because they probably thought if Laurie doesn’t get to finally kill her brother and getting some closure then she wouldn’t do it which is completely understandable being that she was and is a big actress now.And watch the way he sits up after being thrown through the van windshield,Its way to sloppy and rugged like for it to be Michael.And good point with the car scenario.
Yeah Jamie elaborated that in Halloween: The Inside Story, I think the script was written to kill Michael, but it HAD to have a way out for it to set up sequels and abide by the contracts.
I told both my mother and friend (who I originally saw H20 with) the day we walked out of the premier the EXACT twist that Resurrection featured. I was 100% convinced that Myers switched outfits with a paramedic. I also was convinced that Myers was fully visible in the background as well.
The way the tall paramedic (with his back facing us) stood so stiff, almost lifeless, SCREAMED Myers to me. I think this was done intentionally. Especially since they kept his face perfectly hidden the entire time. Plus, the way Laurie looks back to him is a good sign. I think we are made to believe that she gives the look to “Michael” on the stretcher, but personally, I believe she is almost looking at the paramedic with a bit of suspicion.
Anyways, this is all just a personal opinion I have fun with. All just a guess, no facts whatsoever. Just thought I’d throw it out there. It’s been on my mind since I was young and this was a good time to bring it up.
Wow, those are some cool interpretations I had never thought of! I feel, however, that the most direct piece of evidence, is Michael’s old car as she’s driving him away to kill him. The camera clearly zooms in on the car for a second, almost to show that it had moved, which means Michael could have been waiting in there seeing her drive off.
Before that scene, there was a similar scene where he drives into the estate once he sees the busses leaving. So it’s shown that Michael just sits in his car.
As far as the screenshot of the paramedic, he definitely has the stiff strange Michael stance. The other two paramedics are talking like normal people, but he’s just standing there like Michael.
In that scene, he gives the same atmosphere as this image, same hair color even!
The only problem I have with these theories, amazing as they are, are:
The body sits up in the Michael Myers way. If you’d just been thrown through a windshield, would you sit up like that, or roll around in pain and try to stand up?
‘Michael’ feels the mask, but makes no attempt to pull it off.
He then reaches out for Laurie, and the look in his eyes is calm and relaxed. There are two shots in the film where his eyes look angry, borderline mad: the face-to-face window shot and the face-to-face kitchen confrontation. ‘Michael’ is seemingly admitting defeat here, not begging for help.
The eyes are calm and relaxed, even when his head flies off.
Moustapha Akkad said somewhere that the idea for a sequel was that the Michael in this was a copycat killer, not actually Michael.
BUT:
The paramedic walking away with the kitchen knife in Resurrection is wearing the same uniforms from H20. The paramedics in the flashback scenes of Res. have different font and a different look to them. Plus, the area/set Myers walks through looks just like the one in H20, same lighting and everything, whereas the reconstruction scenes in Res. (switching bodies, finding the head) have completely different masks and sets to H20.
Look at 3:47 to 3:56… this scene is clearly filmed as part of Resurrection; the mask, the room looking nothing like the one from H20…
Then look at 3:57 to 4:07… this was clearly filmed at the time of H20. The paramedic, the big knife, the school gate, the ambulance, the old car… too many things they wouldn’t have been able to get right.
4:08 to 4:16 is another clip filmed for Resurrection.
And then 4:17 to 4:20 is again filmed for Resurrection. The knife, the writing on the uniform, the size of Michael have all changed.
