Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

Binx 0:03

The way that you somehow found a way to bring up Glee here is crazy work.

Kris 0:11

By 2002, putting ordinary people in front of cameras had already become a business model. The house could become a television set, its occupants could become celebrities, and audiences could follow strangers' lives from their own computers. And for a horror franchise built around someone watching from the shadows, that opened up another way to bring the audience inside. Rick Rosenthal, who directed the series' first sequel in 1981, returned to the franchise to tell a story that brings cameras into Michael Myers' childhood home. Buster Rhimes and Tyra Banks play the entrepreneurs behind the internet broadcast with a group of college students supplying the on-camera talent. Their assignment is to spend Halloween night exploring the house and searching for something that might explain the man who once lived there. This entry marks the closing of the franchise's original run before Rob Zombie restarted the story, leaving behind a particularly divisive chapter associated with internet cameras, reality show ambitions, and Michael Myers countering kung fu moves. This week we're commemorating the night he came home with Halloween Resurrection. Spooky season, greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack.

Sean 1:26

Total joke, a waste of time.

Kris 1:28

Or a slash. Totally killer, pun intended. My name is Chris. I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the classic horror connoisseur Sean.

Sean 1:37

Trick or treat, motherfucker.

Kris 1:38

And the paranormal paramour, Binx.

Binx 1:41

Looking a little crispy over there, Mikey.

Sean 1:43

You're tuning in to Halloween Resurrection. And if you support the show, you'll also get to hear our B-side at the end of this episode where we get into creating some of our very own horror reality shows.

Kris 1:54

We're gonna have a lot of fun with that B-side, but first up, who's seen this one before?

Binx 1:59

Yeah, I famously have not on the show. If you've been listening for some time, you know that there are a multitude of Halloween movies I clearly have not seen. And this one was one that the listeners were really pushing for. So I finally have watched it. Thanks to you all. Amazing. Quite a ride. You guys definitely promised that and delivered. It was quite something. I didn't really know what to expect. If you listen to our Halloween H2O episode, you'll hear that I had some predictions. I won't spoil right now what you know what those are or whether I was right or wrong, but let's just say it was pleasantly surprising for me.

Kris 2:37

I had such a blast. We actually filmed that watch along, and that's available over on Patreon. So if you want to experience Binks experiencing this movie for the first time and learning a lot of Halloween resurrection trivia along the way, that is a great place to check it out.

Sean 2:52

That's awesome. I can't imagine watching this for the first time again because it's I've definitely seen it a bunch of times over the years. I think the biggest question, maybe going into this movie, is whether, you know, if you haven't seen it or you haven't seen it in a while, is if it's whether it can follow Halloween H2O in a satisfying way, because it does take kind of a legendary horror villain and follows up the one of the series' most emotionally satisfying endings, I would say, and turns the next movie into this reality TV show like haunted house experiment, which I think is definitely an interesting play.

Kris 3:28

Yeah, I have seen this movie millions of times, it feels like obviously not literally millions, but I watched this when it first came out. I've rewatched it many times since, and I was so happy to get to re re-experience this film through Binks' eyes with a first-time viewer, is just such a fun time. Listen, this movie gets a lot of hate. People say this is like the the pit of hell for this franchise, and I simply could not disagree more. This is early 2000s, it has an unexpected ensemble, but also makes sense, I guess, in retrospect, what the early 2000s were. And you have Rick Rosenthal back at the helm after Halloween 2. And Halloween 2 is one of my favorite Halloween movies. So this movie is filled with Easter eggs galore. And I was actually really excited to get back into this. And when we think about even our Discord community, this movie has become such a staple and has become such a community treasure, especially because there's like basically a cult for Buster Rhymes in our Discord community. And I think it's because this has such strong rewatchability. Yeah, there's a lot of this movie that's super unserious, 100%, but that makes it really fun.

Binx 4:48

I think what this film had working in its favor, with me at least, in terms of my experience and just impressions initially, is that I actually like early 2000s movies as bad as they are. Maybe I I'm a 2000s kid, not necess necessarily, right? But like that's my era from when I was a kid, a teen. I love the aesthetics. I think it's ridiculous. So I was excited to see the credits and the musicians that cross over into the film and the Microsoft Word presentation of it all, like all of it is just so 2000s, and I love that stuff. So I think it's definitely got to be for a specific demographic. If you don't like that era, then sure, you're maybe not going to enjoy it. But for me, the ride was quite the ride. The Busta Rhymes cult, again, delivered. I was very surprised by how much fun I had. I thought it was hilarious. It was like energetic. Again, that watch along, I really can't recommend it enough because the commentary was just A1 from me. I think it's like a time capsule. I really had a good time. And there are some moments here that absolutely floored me. I really didn't know what was going to happen next, especially like in the first maybe 15 to 20 minutes. I was like, wait the hell a second. Again, those predictions, throw them out because I really didn't know what I was going to be walking into, which is at least something that you're hoping for when you're going into a movie. It kind of, you know, subverts your expectations, at least in that way.

Kris 6:25

Listen, where else can you get a movie that has Jamie Lee Curtis, Bustin Rhimes, Tyra Banks, Katie Sackoff, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Ryan Freaking Merriman in it?

Sean 6:35

Amazing. What?

Binx 6:37

Like that's crazy. Those all of those names in one sentence, I don't even know what I'm picturing, but it wasn't Halloween Resurrection until I've seen it now, and I've seen it actually play out. And it's like, okay, guys, you guys just don't want to have fun, do you? You don't want to have a good time. You don't want to be here for the laughs and the sillies.

Kris 6:54

This is the whimsy of the Halloween franchise, I think.

Binx 6:58

I 100% with you on that. It's also the internet material that's prompted from here. I can see it now. I can see the memes. I understand our Discord a lot better now. I finally get it. I really do.

Sean 7:13

I think it's wild that this movie gets so much hate. There's so many bad reviews for this movie, but it it is something I get it. Like at one one aspect of it, the film makes some different choices. It's definitely bringing into like a new generation. It's playing with the early 2000s and the internet being like something that fairly new this concept of streaming stuff and all of that that could frustrate some longtime fans. But I I think that it just has a very different personality from the earlier films. And I think that despite it not having the kindest ratings over the years, I think it it definitely has a charm to it. Like it is just a fun movie to watch. Just like Chris said, I don't understand the hate for this movie. It's pretty wild, to be honest.

Kris 7:59

When Binx and I wrapped up the watch-along for Halloween Resurrection, we actually spent a little while looking at all the letterbox reviews, and I read a bunch of them out loud. And the goal was to see how far you could get before you got to a single compliment. Folks, it was a while. I was scrolling for a long time before I could find anyone saying anything nice about this movie.

Sean 8:21

Are the people that are giving reviews online, are they just like so serious? Like they have to have like a like it has to be like an Oscar-winning horror film. Like, are we but to do here's the thing, and tell me when I'm telling lies here, but horror fans want a good time, right? Like you want to have a fun time. It doesn't all have to be super serious. We want some of the funny, silly campiness. Like that's part of the charm is to have a bee horror movie kind of concept, right? Not that this is even a bee horror movie, but you gotta say that you go out there and watch horror movies, you don't want something extremely serious every single time. And so why can't you just have fun with some of these movies? Or why can't you just admit that you're having fun with some of these horror movies? Because maybe you're just putting up some fucking keyboard warrior shit. I don't know.

Binx 9:06

I've never been more seen by that sentiment and more aligned. I'm gonna say something crazy. I hope I don't get canceled. But what I'm what I'm trying to without being an asshole about it, it's like I just don't understand why people would approach a franchise such as this or Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street, thinking that this is supposed to be like very serious, again, Oscar-worthy type performances when there are like 25 movies. I'm sorry, but no franchise, to me, I I personal opinion, if a if a franchise has 25 movies, you actually think that every single one of those movies are going to be serious pieces of art that are in the Louvre, get out of here. I think that's ridiculous. What makes these franchises so fun are that they are campy, they're fun, they they're experimental. That's why there's 25 of them. Every single movie, sure, there's a through line, but the aesthetics and the vibe and the genre or subgenre specifically changes. If you walk into a theater thinking that this is going to be like a very serious think piece, I think you're walking into the wrong theater. That's impossible. That's just me. There it could be that the first movie, again, is, and I actually feel this way about Halloween. The first movie is incredible. I think the same way about Friday the 13th. But as you guys know, uh by the 14th movie, I'm like, okay, this is ridiculous. We have Jason punching somebody's head off. Or in Michael Myers, I mean, well, he keeps coming back to life in 55 different ways. I don't even know why. It's just, I just don't understand how people take these things so seriously. Chris is a great example of someone who, like, to me, understands the franchise. You're not like a dick about it. Personally, Chris, I think so. Like you're a mega fan, but I think you understand what you're walking into. I feel from the way that you talk about these movies, I've I feel like you're a mega fan that understands what they're a fan of and not putting these insane expectations, thinking that they're gonna get, I don't know, like possession or you know, Japanese horror and all these other like autour horror films. That's not this genre.

Kris 11:17

I appreciate that, Binks, so much. I do take Halloween very, very seriously. And I love that you say I'm not a dick about it. Hopefully, you still say that next year when we do Rob Zombies Halloween films. What I will say is the first movie in this franchise is so foundational and pivotal to what horror has become. And there's a lot of seriousness in that movie. I think people generally take it pretty seriously. If you're watching Halloween for the very first time and you are under the age of maybe 25 years old and you're just getting into horror, you're not going to be wowed by the original Halloween, probably. You might find it, arguably, a little bit boring. Some people might get there. But there's so much to love or even dislike within this franchise. But what I would what I would say to you is there's a lot of things in life that you should take seriously. A hundred percent. There's a lot more stressful shit in the world than what even the dumb shit from like Halloween 5, the cops having their own goofy fucking clown music. There's a lot of things that you can look at in this movie or in Rob Zombies movies or the franchise as a whole and be upset about. However, invite some joy into your life because we get some shit in this movie that is undeniably fucking hilarious, actually. When you look back to where we all were in the early 2000s, and I think within our age bracket here, we were catfishing people with ASL and chat rooms and AOL.

Binx 12:49

You can throw me in there. Absolutely. That's okay.

Kris 12:51

Yeah. It's when the internet was a playground, and before, like I think people knew oh, this is dangerous, but it was before anybody was really doing anything about how dangerous it really was. What we're living in today is what this movie aspired to have: a world in which you could be internet famous. And I think that's so much of what works in this movie. There's the the entire webcast premise adds a lot of intrigue, the mixed camera perspectives. I think Buster Rhymes adds a lot of charm into this movie.

Sean 13:25

I think it just all adds like so much to the movie. Like when you think of the the time frame in which this movie comes out, a lot of what they did to bring it, it's kind of exactly what this movie did for the 2000s for a younger generation.

Kris 13:39

It really is, but I think yes, this movie can be silly in so many places, but I think you also have to give it credit for what it does really well because this is an inversion of War of the Worlds. And this movie, while yes, shadowed in humor and silliness, and maybe some things and some choices that really upset a lot of like really hyper, hyper fixated fans of Halloween, uh myself included, for all that it does that is in that category, it actually does some things that are really smart and really big commentary on where technology and where society was headed. This movie was both ahead of its time and of its time.

Binx 14:20

I can see definitely this idea of like sensationalism and just like chasing the dream, all of these kinds of elements that we already have in place in society, just with the added touch of technology. And again, that's like the thought-provoking part of this film that I thought was kind of interesting. It's just mixed in with a lot of humor and what's wrong with that. I think that that's actually when it works its best, right? Because it's not taking itself too seriously, but it still has something to say. There's still themes to it. Now, I will say that perhaps some areas that maybe are not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I'm not trying to say that I don't understand why people don't like the movie. I think that being so like bashing it and like just trashing it the way that they do is maybe a bit extreme, personally. But yes, I'm not going to say that the acting is incredible. Some of it's early 2000s for sure. The dialogue, a bit cringe. Kind of love it personally. Others can't. There's certainly some things here that I can see why people are upset and I can see why it's just not their cup of tea. But I go back to if that's not your subgenre for early 2000s and that sense of humor is not for you, then of course it's a given. Other than that, though, I mean some of the decisions here, survival decisions, or just like storyline perspective, I was shocked by. I don't know if it's necessarily that it doesn't work for me, but I was just really shocked by it's gonna be a hit or miss.

Kris 15:49

Yeah, I think the reality, folks, is you have to follow H2O. And there are consequences to following H2O, and there's a lot of decisions that happen in this movie as a consequence of that. This movie is kind of the fallout of that of that. However, what I will say is that when you learn more about the movie and what was happening behind the scenes, that has eased a lot of that for me, knowing that some things that are specifically decided and the things that happened early in this movie were decisions that were made by multiple people and aligned on by multiple people. Again, we'll talk about that in the spoiler zone, but it's the only thing that allows me to just be at peace with it and move on and let me enjoy the rest of the movie.

Sean 16:36

Yeah, it is interesting. I think that's one of the things that can you can go back and forth on. Like I think it's the approach to continuing that story after H2O. It just may be a sticking point for fans. I think if you like wanted a more satisfying continuation or something along those lines, you were talking about the tone of the movie, and we're talking about is it just leaning into kind of the the jokes or the campiness? And I think the movie kind of plays around with both sides of that because what does end up working is some of the familiar atmosphere with Michael with the mask. You've got some dark interiors, you've got some stalking sequences, and they can deliver some moments of tension throughout the movie, but then it also definitely finds moments where it leans really heavy into the campiness or the silliness of the jokes and things like that. So it kind of plays on deciding whether it wants to be genuinely a frightening slasher film or more of a campy slasher type film. And so it kind of goes back and forth. So it depends on what kind of vibe you're in. But also at this time when this movie came out, I don't know about any of you, but like I was looking for campy movies, like I was looking for movies that had silliness into it. I wanted to see slashers that were filled with one-liners and fun like little things like that. So I think it just speaks to the time. And I what I do think, and it a thing that works really well is just its decision to kind of you know bring that reality TV premise into the mix because for a 2002 horror movie, using an internet reality show as the setup was really kind of a fresh idea. And so, you know, having a group of contestants, you know, spending the night inside of Michael Myers' house or childhood home with cameras and all that stuff is really awesome. It's like a it's a actually kind of a fun idea to think about. And so I had a great time with it. I think it combines the slasher genre genre with the reality TV craze of the early 2000s when shows were like built around surveillance and strangers living together and all of that kind of stuff in mainstream entertainment. So it's cool because it makes it makes this different play of like the audience becomes part of the concept in a way.

Kris 18:52

Which I really love because this really is a time capsule for what it felt like when even just those shows were really emerging. The real world, the real world, absolutely. I also want to give this movie credit for one more thing. I want to point out that by this time in the franchise, we had a gothic Myers house and we had a bunch of shitty masks. H2O, for all it does really well, it also still had a shitty CGI mask, or you could see straight through Michael's eyes. And I will say that I think the design in the Myers house, and then even Michael's mask as a whole, is one of the better in the franchise. So you get a lot of things in here that actually did it, at least for me, put it over the edge of there's way more good in this movie than there is bad. Which I think brings me to the fact that if you're open to having fun with a Halloween movie, and maybe you didn't love the the Thorn trilogy, I think if you grew up with those, you may be less likely to like Halloween Resurrection. But if you're finding your own way in the franchise and you can look at the the camp of it all, you can find the whimsy of it all, then I think this is gonna be a Halloween movie for you.

Sean 20:04

If you are a diehard fan of the Halloween franchise, or you wanna you are just someone that has to be a completist and you wanna, you know, you have to watch all the movies like we often do every year, like this is definitely something that you have to include, and that's just a given, right? You can't just skip things if you're completing the franchise. But I think like if you if you like movies that don't just do the same thing over and over again and try to give you something fresh, if you like early 2000s slashers, if you like the early 2000s kind of vibes, I think there's a lot here that you can either be a longtime Halloween fan, you can be an early 2000s horror fan, you can be someone that just likes kind of a fun, silly time in horror and still really like this movie.

Binx 20:52

Something that you said earlier, I definitely think is something to reiterate, which is sometimes you just kind of want a good time, a good laugh, a good campy film. I was thinking when you said that this is 2002, it just finally hit the light bulb, which was like, man, this is post-9-11, still to the, you know what I mean? In in the essence of like, we were in the trenches and scared as a country. Why not have a good laugh? With the with the whole surveillance of it all, which is still very relevant considering the time, I find that like Buster Rhymes really does bring the levity. You know, there's a lot of good humor here. So if you don't want to watch something that's too serious and you just want a good laugh, I would recommend this. And also, it could also be a matter of maybe you just need to watch this movie with a couple friends. Cause I also feel like having watched this with Chris and like doing the watch along, the way that our community talks about this movie, you know, that builds up the excitement and that definitely does create the like the ambiance for everything. So we've talked about that sometimes in the Past. I'm sure I wouldn't love Ginger Dead Man had I not watched it with a friend of mine, right? And had a good laugh with it. So a recommendation if you do want to, of course, be a completionist, but change it up if you uh maybe don't like this movie as much as you have in the past. Change up the environment, see how it goes.

Kris 22:17

Well, it sounds like we've spoken pretty highly about this movie so far, but I cannot wait to see how this actually translates into some scores. Before we get there though, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

Sean 22:27

Yeah, Halloween Resurrection, I think it delivers a kind of a middle-of-the-road slasher experience when it comes to gore specifically. I think there's like enough blood and physical violence to satisfy someone who's looking for maybe a conventional slasher film, but it isn't especially graphic or extreme by any modern horror standards. So I think the important distinction here is that it's more about Michael Myers hunting people than showcasing elaborate gore effects. So if you're watching for outrageous practical effects or gruesome dismemberment or stomach turning kills or anything like that, it's probably not going to be the entry that satisfies you the most as far as gore. But I think this one still kind of earns this medium gore score territory.

Binx 23:10

What about the animal report? Unfortunately, vermin are not doing so hot in this film, so we are not safe here.

Kris 23:17

Let's go ahead and get into our ratings. Halloween Resurrection from 2002, one of the most critically panned movies in the franchise. Was it a hack or a slash?

Sean 23:28

Alright. Well, first I'm just gonna kick this off because I just want to start this or end this trend, you know, rather, of the um terrible reviews that this movie has, because I think Halloween Resurrection is one of these movies that I secretly enjoy. And I don't even say secretly as it is a secret, I just enjoy the movie. Even though I know a lot of Halloween fans would rather bury it in the backyard and pretend it never happened. Here's the thing did it resurrect the franchise? Maybe not exactly, but having grown up with this one hitting theaters during my teenage years, there's a nostalgic soft spot that makes it hard for me to hate. I think the reality show concept, the contestants stumbling around the Myers house like they're filming the world's like worst home invasion livestream, and Buster Rhymes being in this one at all. Like it was just amazing, and I think it just provides plenty of ridiculous entertainment. I think just watching Buster Rhymes square off against Michael Myers in that over-the-top showdown that we get is kind of absolutely bonkers, and it's the kind of decision that makes this movie completely memorable. I think it's a cheesy movie sometimes, it's campy at times, it's not particularly the scariest in the franchise, and it does make some choices that I think have some Halloween purists, you know, sharpening their knives a little bit. But between the kills, the early 2000s, nostalgia, the sheer audacity of it all, I still have a damn good time watching this one. So grab your webcams, fire up your dial-up internet, lock the doors, because I think Michael Myers is back in this one, and I think this time he's coming for your stream, your subscribers, and your life, because Halloween Resurrection may not have brought the franchise back from the dead, but it did remind me that sometimes a movie doesn't have to be amazing to be a bloody good time. And if the Halloween fan police, as it were, come knocking, tell them Freddie Harris sent you, because around here we're giving this one a slash and we're not apologizing for shit.

Binx 25:21

All right. I'll go next. I feel like I don't have an insane amount of things to say here because I feel like a lot of it was, you know, definitely said in detail in the watch-along. So I really do encourage that if you guys are able. I just feel like my sentiments around this franchise have been well known in the past couple episodes that we've done on this and conversations I've had with listeners and you guys. I know that I maybe seem to be a franchise hater, I guess, which is crazy. I I Nightmare on Elm Street is one of my favorite things of all time, but I just am critical of when fandoms take it a little bit too far and ruin the fun for everybody else. And I say this specifically because as someone who actually likes more serious horror, I don't always want to have a good time. Horror is my way to unpack a lot of my own trauma, my own things, and I just love to be philosophically challenged through horror. So I seek those things out more often. But I say that because doesn't mean that when I'm brought a fun, good time, that I'm not going to expect, again, philosophical thrillers and horrors and challenging. I was looking forward to it because I knew Buster Rhimes was going to be in it. And I've, again, had seen the memes. I wanted to be in on the joke so bad. I knew that anything goes when it comes to this kind of franchise. So my predictions were all over the place, that's for sure. And I feel like what I got in return was not for anything, but a pleasant surprise, not just in story, but also in production value and the way that it was filmed. I thought that it was really cool with the difference of technology that was used, the different cameras, the experimentation of found footage with just regular, you know, filmmaking. That's awesome. I wasn't walking into a Halloween movie thinking we're just gonna test things out. Now, that being said, 2002, I get it. That was a wild year for horror. Some of my favorite horror movies of all time came out in 2002. The Ring, specifically, okay? Juan's the Grudge specifically. Like 28 days later, that's a crazy year. Signs. I mean, 2002 was crazy. It was incredible, and I understand that when you put this movie against those, well, yeah, it probably seems like it's ass. I get it. But much like Resident Evil, that also came out in 2002, this might be a new guilty pleasure for me that I'm not so guilty about. Like you said, Sean, I feel like sometimes everyone just wants to hate one thing and it's like a hive mind mentality. And maybe unfortunately, Halloween resurrection became that thing. But in this household, guess what? We also ride for Halloween Resurrection at Dark and Buster Rhymes, You're Incredible. So it's definitely a slash here.

Kris 28:24

I'm so excited to hear that you've both found so much love for this movie. Banks is gonna fucking roast me for this. Seven years after this movie came out, a little hit show called Glee hit the airwaves. I knew you were gonna say that. And Glee, in our time now, in the year of our Lord 2026, was just announced to have a reboot on the horizon. The way that you somehow found a way to bring up Glee here is crazy work. Are you not filled with glee? Anyway, just really kick off my scoring. I want to throw this back to season one of Glee and really quote Rachel Barry in the vitamin D episode. She says, We have chosen a selection of songs that speaks of the nation as a whole during these troubling times filled with economic uncertainty and unbridled social woes. Because if there's two things America needs right now, that is sunshine and optimism. Well, I think my version of sunshine and optimism in these troubling times, filled with economic uncertainty and unbridled social woes, is a busta rhymes, round house kicking Michael Myers. Because this movie is filled with so much nonsense that I love unapologetically. It captures the early 2000s, but it it captures the little pockets of joy for me that I had in the early 2000s, while also finding an inventive way to put Michael Myers back on screen. And I don't think it's so bad it's good really is just it does justice to what is great about this movie. There are specific ideas, scenes, and filmmaking choices here that I do think really work, especially with how much substance its exploitation angle actually gives us. There's room for sure to revisit this movie now and appreciate how much it offers. The internet stuff has become this ridiculous little time capsule. The webcast gives us really creative suspense, and Boston Rhimes as Freddie gives us someone to laugh with and cheer for. Sometimes getting together with your friends and having a fucking blast watching a slasher in these times counts for a lot. I had a great time doing that with Binks, and that is what keeps Halloween Resurrection slash. And with that, Halloween Resurrection has thus far earned a universal slash. Now, obviously, we have talked about a lot, but when we get back after our break, we're gonna get into everything the camera's caught, everything dangertainment staged, and the opening that made us revisit the ending of H2O a little differently. Stick around.

Sean 31:01

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Kris 32:39

Welcome back, folks. You're now entering the spoiler zone for Halloween Resurrection, which has earned a universal slash. Now, from here on out, we're discussing the whole movie, including Lori Strode's fate and Michael's latest trip back to the crib. Let's kick things off with that sleigh-by-slay.

Sean 32:56

All right. Well, here's the thing. This isn't a movie that's trying to gross you out with elaborate gore, as I said before, but it's interested in Michael stalking his victims, catching them off guard, and delivering some memorable slasher moments because there are about 10 and a half kills in this movie, and we're going to give a half kill, you know, credit for the paramedic as we recap the end of H2O and get more of that story. So we got 10 and a half kills, and then we have another technically implied but not counted death with the coroner at the end of the movie. So we've got like a an interesting kind of sleigh by sleigh in this one. Plus, we also have a couple of deaths that are in deleted scenes. So if you happen to be able to find the deleted scenes of this movie, maybe you have the DVD, you know, maybe you have some extras, the content there. There's some fun deleted scenes in there, including Freddie Harris himself getting strangled to death, and technically Michael Myers getting axed in the face.

Binx 33:58

Well, damn. In the face.

Sean 34:00

In the face.

Binx 34:02

Okay. Well, that would have really solidified that gore score there. That's a shame. Damn. You bring up the paramedic, and I just I want to jump right into it because that's really where things turned for me and the predictions basically went out the window. For everyone, yeah, it's not just me, of course. I can yeah, I can see that. But I mean, oh man, I don't know. I I will say my initial reaction, like the words that came out of my mouth when that happened was, Are you fucking with me? Because I couldn't even believe that they would have the audacity. And I feel like everybody shares in that sentiment, right? I just, what do you even mean that they decapit that it's the wrong person? What do you even mean?

Sean 34:44

Would it be better for it to be the wrong person, or would it be better for Michael Myers to just somehow show back up after being decapitated?

Binx 34:52

Okay. So let's get into my prediction. I mean, you're right, because if I was right about my prediction and he was indeed a zombie-looking thing, or like revived by Haddonfield's whatever the fuck, right?

Sean 35:06

Like zombie Jason.

Binx 35:08

Yeah, basically. I just I can see why now we're entering unforgivable camp territory. So that's fair. I just I can't be too critical of that specifically, because you're right. It was either have a zombie and this movie is ridiculous to a degree that maybe I wouldn't have liked it, or this where it's highly improbable, but improbable enough.

Kris 35:30

So I think one of the things to acknowledge here is why this even happened in the first place. And that was because Jamie Lee Curtis's terms and conditions, but because she was about to walk from H2O, was that she wanted the story to end. She wanted to kill Michael. Uh uh. Mustafa Cud and the rights holders were like, we need to leave a clear door for Michael to be able to return, you're not gonna kill him. So Kevin Williams' idea and compromise was to stage this body swap situation as a backdoor. And as long as Jamie Lee Curtis felt that the audiences could watch the H2O thinking, yes, it's definitively over, then that was enough of a win. But she then wanted to die in the next movie.

Sean 36:17

And it wasn't it wasn't the decapitation switch up that got me, it was actually the fact that we cut to, you know, Michael in the paramedic suit or whatever, just like walking or whatever he was doing, just walking through where all the cops are and stuff, just casually, I think still with a knife in his hand, from what I saw. And I was like, okay, well, that's the one that got me because this guy is just casually walking through the crowds, like he's just like no one knows that he's there.

Kris 36:46

So that means that Michael Myers has a face card. He is not so grotesque and gruesome enough with the eye swelling from the original movie, or however he has groomed himself over the years for anyone to be outwardly concerned by his at least neck up appearance underneath that paramedic garb.

Sean 37:06

I mean, after all of the stuff that he goes through in each movie, he probably has to take like a nice vacation, do some day spas, some treatments, you know.

Kris 37:15

Do you think he does face masks?

Sean 37:16

Absolutely. He's the man of masks.

Binx 37:18

I wonder if like he has like a model face that would be like an Abercrombie or something like that.

Sean 37:23

Imagine if he was just like really good looking.

Kris 37:25

In the original Halloween, he was really good looking. We just when we see him, he has a swollen eye from having the finger poked into him. But also, there is a a lot happening right now with how good looking he is in the Halloween video game. Because he has by John Carpenter's design, he ha he's supposed to look cherubic and angelic in a way. That's the that's the point that this perfect looking person could be so evil. But in the video game, his face is blurred, so you can't actually see what he looks like. But of course, people got around that and they think he's really hot. They've also modded him to not have a shirt and they still think he's hot. That's true.

Binx 38:09

That's true. Yeah, but yeah, I'm with you on the paramedic. It's a bit unfortunate. Now, I mean, Lori, however, I was floored by I think everyone was at the time, no? No, I mean, hello, what is Halloween without Lori? I certainly wasn't prepared for that. I didn't know the context, though, of course. The Chris had mentioned that. So it gives me a little bit more like comfort and solace that it was her decision and she wanted out on this franchise. God knows I don't blame her, even though she came back. Anyways, but whatever. They always come back. I just feel like damn, what what do I even know to expect now? That was a massive curveball, a huge curveball that I didn't see coming. I will say, like, she gave she gave it her all, you know, she put in that effort. I commend her for being resilient. I think that it was unfortunate, but I could only imagine how people must have felt when this came out and they saw that happen without the context. Maybe they didn't know at the time, right?

Sean 39:14

I can tell you when I first saw this, that was the sh most shocking kill for sure. Like I just never thought that that would happen.

Kris 39:22

Yeah, I remember vividly watching this in theaters and being so upset and so shocked and so mad at the time. I know I was talking about, how are you taking this so seriously? Also, I was 12, so fucking kick rocks. I was so upset when Lori died, and then I had a really time hard a really hard time after that caring about any of the people in the house. So even our final girl that we get in this movie, I could never really latch on to because I was still emotionally reeling from Lori's death.

Binx 39:56

But you get that on the rewatch, I think, and on the few rewatches after where like you've you've kind of like distance yourself from the pain. That's for sure.

Kris 40:04

Yeah. I mean, it helps now having you know Halloween 2018 and the David Sherry Green trilogy and and knowing that she gets her lick back. We were fine. I've healed, I've moved on. It's never really over.

Sean 40:16

It's never, I mean, watching it back, it's still kind of like every time I even though I know it's coming, I'm still like, oh my god, I can't believe it's gonna happen.

Binx 40:23

There was something that I had said in the watch-along that I feel like really resonated with the sentiment, and both from like myself, but also what I would imagine you guys must have experienced. And it was The Last of Us Part Two. If you haven't played this game, pause the show, play the game. But the Last of Us Part Two, when you're playing the game, a major, major character dies very early on in the game. And the same you see it in the show as well, if you've watched season two, like huge. And that was like a deal breaker for a lot of people. I think it's a choice that's pretty bold and it's definitely a big swing. It could ruin you or it could actually be helpful. I think in The Last of Us Part Two, it was successful, actually. And in this one, again, because it's not a serious film, I feel like that's why it's probably wasn't everybody's cup of tea, just in general, for that kind of choice. But I I'm with you that I could see how if I was a little bit more invested in Lori because I've watched all these movies growing up and all of that, I would be freaking furious. Luckily for me though, since I haven't, I just like was like, oh shit. I even I still felt like what? Like kind of hurt by this, but I was still open to see where this was gonna go. I just was like, wait a minute, we still have an hour and a half left.

Kris 41:39

Think about this, right? You got through Halloween one, Halloween two, no Lori for Halloween four, five, six. She is allegedly dead in part four. Then we finally get our girl back in H2O, and she overcomes so much. She's so traumatized. And it's not just the literal death of Lori Strode that really hurts in the beginning of this movie, it is the death who she could have been, and the absolute robbery that we've had of her victory, seeing her relegated to a sanitarium just like her brother.

Sean 42:10

Also, think about this, right? Like it's the last movie before we get into the Rob Zombie Halloween, and then we get kind of the like reboot type scenario with the new the newer Halloweens of the Halloween ends trilogy and all that. And so when you think about that, technically there hasn't been an there hasn't been a uh a Halloween that moves on from Lori Strode because Rob Zombies brings back Lori Strode as a character. Lori Strode comes back in the new Halloween trilogy, the latest Halloween trilogy. So technically, we don't know if the franchise can go on without Lori Strode. We haven't seen it.

Kris 42:47

We'll see what happens as they decide what they're gonna do. Because remember, we did have a TV show for Halloween that was in development and they scrapped the plans and all eyes are on, I believe, 2028 when we'll have a milestone anniversary for the film.

Sean 43:00

With all the success of these recent shows, I feel like somebody has to be like, yes, we gotta figure something out for Halloween for sure.

Kris 43:06

They changed their minds and hopefully they change it back. Because listen, if we can get a Paddenfield Crystal Lake experience, I'd be super fucking down for that.

Sean 43:16

Be amazing. All right, but listen, the tripod kill.

Kris 43:20

My favorite fucking death in this movie, and it's very personal for me.

Sean 43:24

Yeah, let's talk about it.

Kris 43:26

I have used tripods for so much of my life, having fucking worked in media production, and I specifically remember, and this is like one of the little things that brought me joy, seeing that because my mom had a photo camera tripod when we'd like put the camera on the yard that had like the spiky little feet at the bottom. And I always remember being, why the fuck does this why is this a thing? Like this feels dangerous. So seeing that and being validated in that in the 2002 film, incredible. Every single time that I had to carry a tripod, I'd always be reminded of the Movie because seeing that sharp pointy tip go into Charlie's neck, yeah, 10 out of 10.

Sean 44:10

The way that they filmed it, the way that they used the reality show premise in a way that feels specific to the movie and used it against, like, the you know, Michael just using the tools that he has around him. It just great. It was a great kill.

Kris 44:23

An innovator, truly. Also, this kill in particular, being that we get to see it from the camera's perspective, makes me want a found footage installment of Halloween even more.

Binx 44:35

Yeah, like a true, fully found footage film. That would be insane. Insane. Who would be really good for that? Dang. Would it be like Rob Savage or something? I gotta think on that one. That would be fun. But honestly, Charlie was also just like, well, I kind of feel this way about a lot of the characters. Charlie was kind of annoying in that sense. There's also, well, I'm gonna skip ahead a moment and talk about Nora because everyone in the cast is kind of funny. I'm not like insanely invested about anybody in particular. Tyra Banks, though, really thought that this was gonna be her golden light, you know, and her time to shine in a new capacity, like Brandy. And I still know what you did last summer. And sadly, we didn't even see that kill.

Sean 45:20

I feel like Tyra Banks deserved a little bit more, you know, in that department. You know, like we get a we should have got a much more elaborate kill scene.

Kris 45:28

Yeah, that definitely feels oddly specific to leave out, especially because of what we see of her body strung up when we eventually stumble upon it later. It's like, damn, she probably went down fighting. I will I would like to think that she wasn't oblivious as she was when she was making her drink and Charlie was being murked on the cameras.

Sean 45:47

You never know though. But it was, yeah, the bot like her body found hanging from the ceiling with blood all over. I mean, come on. There was definitely something to see there for sure. I also really loved when Rudy gets pinned to the door. It's super exaggerated, but multiple knives pinning to the door and like just coming off of Bing. So I don't know if you know, but I finally played the Halloween game. So like being able to pin people to the walls and stuff. Yeah. Amazing.

Kris 46:12

Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes.

Sean 46:13

So you gotta love those moments.

Kris 46:15

Oh, definitely. So satisfying. Also, though, the other really big kill, we have Katie Sackoff's character Jen getting decapitated at the top of the stairs. One plain knife swipe, and that's the moment because they've all now realized that Freddie is dressing up as Michael and the whole thing is a sham. But this is the moment that the rest of them figure out that Michael's actually in the house.

Sean 46:40

What a moment.

Kris 46:41

The dummy head looks incredible. And I mentioned this during the watch-along. I'll mention it again now. If you have not watched Katie Sakhoff's reaction video while watching Halloween Resurrection for the first time since she made it, you're missing out on your life. She is hilarious. She gives so much behind-the-scenes knowledge and information. I think she even tried to keep her head. Oh, that's awesome. She had like hilarious commentary on the entire thing. So I'll drop a link in this episode for it.

Sean 47:08

That's such a good idea. If you're ever in a horror movie and you die by decapitation, find a way to keep your head. That's such a great idea.

Binx 47:17

Keep the head. That's so sick. No, listen, this decapitation is a hard one for them to explain away. Okay. This is one where if they found a way to retcon this decapitation, that would be ridiculous to another degree. I was really surprised by this one, and I agree that the effects were great. For the time, hell yeah. That's a cool freaking head.

Sean 47:43

100%. There's one that I think, I don't know, maybe some people will like and not like, but it's when Jim's head gets crushed by Michael's bare hands. And here's the thing with why I like it. One, technically, it's probably one of the more brutal kills in the movie, but it's it's the one that this film displays Michael's physical strength, like the ability to overpower somebody and just how disturbing it it is and how effortlessly he just overpowers someone and just crushes somebody's head like that.

Kris 48:12

Yeah, it's also very Halloween four when he crushes essentially Brady's head. But any moment that we get just the power of Michael's hands, it goes enough to show you and pretty much remove any of the fucking plausible deniability when we think about like how much force it can take to pin somebody up with just a knife. Those are the little fun moments where it's like, oh, this is a monster. Is the monster in man form?

Sean 48:38

I will say the one thing that I feel like I would praise the most in this movie is literally the ability to bring this Myers house to life and the atmospheric design of this movie. I think there's clearly an effort to make the location feel like a decaying piece of Halloween history rather than just another generic house where teenagers get murdered. I think it was a really awesome choice to bring us back to the Myers house, but bring us to a house that is basically condemned. Like no one has been living in it, so we think, and all of this stuff, right? And I think the irony is that the movie's most distinctive technical idea, the the live internet broadcast, I think also creates one of its biggest weakest weaknesses, but that's no neither here nor there. But I think just the look of the set was fantastic.

Kris 49:31

It really was, and again, I'm just so thrilled that we've gotten so much closer to the original Myers House design and construction versus like the gothic cathedral style house that we got, even just like a movie or two before. I love the way this house looks, especially well, I mean it does go a little crazy when it gets into like a sewer. Like the fact that next to an underground tunnel, okay, Michael.

Sean 49:58

Is that well, they should have tied this into the new trilogy, right? Like they should have because he, you know, he lives in the sewers and stuff, right? He's got his little hideout in the sewers, it should have connected right to the Myers house.

Kris 50:07

Who's to say that the sewers wasn't a little throwback to Halloween 6 and Halloween insurrection?

Sean 50:15

Now that we're thinking of it, it probably is, you know? It's like the teenage mutant ninja Michael Myers.

Kris 50:20

One of the things I love most though, and I mentioned earlier, I really want to found footage Halloween. I love the way this movie mixes its conventional footage. Like we have this traditional like narrative style, but then the webcast and actually seeing like seeing things happen from the perspective of the cameras in the house. There are points where we use that even to transition between locations. So from the Myers house to the party where Deckard is watching, and we actually just get to see what the feed looks like. I absolutely love that. It's it's an honestly an incredible feat. I own a physical version of this movie on the DVD feature. There is the outtaker essentially like a 40-minute compilation of footage that was shot from those cameras that were actually working on the set. So imagine watching this movie just completely from the perspective of the cameras.

Binx 51:14

It inspires me to think of for me, I'm just really impressed by the attention to detail to bring this like 2000s era to life. Like again, I think sometimes the choice to keep the time period a little ambiguous makes sense. But there's the little things that really reminded me, like, okay, this is early 2000s, 2002, you know, specifically. Some of the things that I had thought of in the moment with the camera and just the presentation of the reality show and the way that Buster Rhymes talks and stuff. It reminded me of MTV's Bands in a Bubble. This was later on, this was 2007, but Cartel was being watched in this bubble at 24-7, 365, or you know, whatever, until they finished this album. Of course, Big Brother, I've never seen it, but I've heard of it, right? It's similar premises, and I think that that's fun. But it's also, like we said earlier, the chat room culture and showing that, the old phones, the idea of like the costume party and what they're wearing in the in terms of costumes at the party. It's just all of it seems so fun. It seems so like, yes, I know what this is. It's a time capsule, I can go back into that era so easily, both from the aesthetics of the set designs as well. Like we were talking about the house. It's so starkly different than the house where the Halloween party's at, right? Again, it feels very rich, feels like there's a lavish little library that's massive. But I again, it's the little details that I found it to be so fun. I think that those things usually get sacrificed for like a quick and easy horror franchise, right? But I really enjoyed that I could not only enjoy the kills and everything else and those kinds of practical effects, but the other details too.

Sean 53:01

Yeah. Speaking of that office though, why was this like monitor so far away from the desk? It just seemed weird. I had does anyone have a setup like that where your monitor is like across the room?

Kris 53:12

Richer people who use TVs as their screen. Absolutely.

Sean 53:17

It just feels awkward, you know?

Kris 53:18

Really good eyesight.

Sean 53:19

Yeah.

Kris 53:20

Who knows? Well, they probably have the display settings set in such a way that uh you can see everything pretty clearly. Here's the reality: the reason why that monitor was so large is because that person was clearly not doing anything fucking scandalous or sketchy, or had not yet realized the depths of depravity that could exist on the internet because not only is it on a wall so large, it's also the wall that you see when you enter the room. So there's no hiding anything. If you do anything in that browser, it is visible to the rest of the house.

Sean 53:54

That's true.

Binx 53:55

Must be nice. That's crazy.

Sean 53:57

I think the opening of the movie was a standout for me. I think just having Jamie Lee Curtis kind of bringing the emotional weight of Lori Strode's return into the movie, and you know, seeing her like in basically the psych ward almost, and she's just maybe at first gone mad dealing with all of this, and she's not doing okay. But nonetheless, Lori, you know, we see that she's getting this medication, and then we find out that she's not taking the medication, and then she's just such a badass, you know, she's just ready at all times. Like she just knew that Michael was coming, and she was ready.

Binx 54:34

You can't take her down. Well, I guess you can, but not yeah, but you know what I mean. With honor, she went down with honor.

Sean 54:41

100%.

Kris 54:42

The thing that kills me is this is exactly why it hurts so much that in the 2018 reboot we robbed so much history from Lori because her being committed or paranoid based on what she experienced in the last movie and the movie before that, etc., that all makes sense. But the fact that we got Terminator style Lori in Halloween 2018 based solely off of the lore of Halloween 1978, I think it it just hurts. I do love that she set a trap for him. I do love that she played him like a fiddle. It's really cool to see it her hearken back to okay, Michael spending years confined staring out the window. But what kills me and where this scene loses me, it lost me then, it loses me now. Michael breaks into her room violently, follows her onto the rooftop, and she still feels the need to check whether she has the right person. I assure you, ma'am. Like in Halloween H2O, you were the aggressor who stole the ambulance and drove off. We see that there's plausible deniability here. There'd be an opportunity for it to not be the right person. But this man was literally chasing you. This man was literally chasing you. I promise you, you have the right guy. We didn't need to unmask him. Also, how does she know what he looks like?

SPEAKER_04 56:05

Right.

Kris 56:05

Even if you did. That's so true. She remembers him from 1978, but she didn't see him unmasked in H2O.

Binx 56:13

That is true. You broke my brain with that one. But you know what? Here's what I'll say. We're just here to have a good time, you know? Don't make me think too much on it, or I'm gonna take back my slash.

Kris 56:21

The other thing that I had a lot of fun with is the entire assembly of people watching the show from that Halloween party, particularly because every single time we cut back to it, there's more and more people there. I love this part of the movie. I mean, real murders are happening inside of production, and that production is already lying to the audience, so there's a lot of layers here. The fact that the participants have a reason to distrust what's happening just reinforces why nobody watching it thinks it's real, and that's where it really harkens back to the story's intention to be like an inversion of War of the Worlds. In War of the Worlds, real people listen to a fake thing and thought it was real. And in this, people are watching a real thing, assuming that it's fake. Because of fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Could you imagine making Halloween resurrection now with deep fake technology and AI? Nobody would assume that any of it's real, like you wouldn't even have Deckard probably thinking that it's real. And I love this so much because there's so much misunderstanding, and it becomes a communal experience. It really just goes to show like where we are now of oh no, totally fake. She's such a good actress, etc. Yeah, it's terrifying.

Sean 57:36

That moment, too, in the movie, or the that part of the movie, it's also leads to the whole the whole thing where Sarah's communicating with Deckard through text messaging or whatever, and like the and it it was just kind of a cool play within the movie. An online friend watching the broadcast who helps her figure out like where Michael is and how to avoid him through texting, I think was a really fun addition to the movie and and added into the theme, which I think was really creative.

Binx 58:08

I really liked how that felt almost like we were in a video game to an extent. Like Deckard was a player, and every decision that he made impacted then the video game as well. I that's at least how I was interpreting it, or just kind of like what it reminded me of. Again, I go back to it's so similar to reality TV shows even now. I mean, there's plenty of reality TV shows where you're prompted to vote on certain things, who gets eliminated, who doesn't, and you have control over what happens in these environments, and that's also very scary.

Kris 58:43

Binks, it's also the Hunger Games of the Halloween franchise.

Binx 58:45

Oh, yes, yes, absolutely.

Kris 58:49

Could you imagine if like a live streamer, like you can obviously like give them bits or whatever the hell, give them follows, etc. Imagine remaking this now centered on Twitch, or you could have some kind of sponsorship deal where you actually get a package sent in like the Hunger Games. I feel like this movie's ripe for remaking. That's just me.

Sean 59:10

Yeah, it definitely could be get a fresh take on it.

Kris 59:13

Wow, now you've got me thinking. If we do that, I want Freddie to come back because every moment with him was just show stealing, show stopping. First, when we have the reveal that there are two Michaels because we have Freddie walking through the house, then real Michael walking behind him, him noticing that he's there.

Sean 59:33

So good. For whatever reason, Michael deciding he's just gonna let that one slide also and just walk away was amazing, absolutely priceless.

Binx 59:43

Michael has never been reprimanded at work, so it was very alarming to him.

Sean 59:48

Yeah, he's like, what is this?

Kris 59:50

But that moment in the movie is filled with such audacity and absurdity, and it makes it even better the fact that we establish Freddie's interest in martial arts and kung fu ahead of time, and then he fucking roundhouse kicks Michael out of the window. I know that this is a controversial moment because people hate it. People say you should not be able to roundhouse kick Michael between this and being electrocuted in the balls, it kind of weakens Michael. He's the boogeyman, he shouldn't go down like this. I think Michael can be a good sport about it.

Sean 1:00:21

I get both sides of that, but I also think that this whole Freddie Harris versus Michael Myers thing is one of the scenes that defines the movie's reputation for better or for worse. I think I have a lot of fun with this whole concept.

Binx 1:00:35

Listen, I wanted to be very clear. If it was not for Freddie, I really feel like I wouldn't have liked this movie as much as I did. He is the comedic relief. His one-liners are hilarious. Right. I mean, he is the literal catalyst to the situation and the environment itself. And there needs to be a level of like grandiose, like performative nature to make it successful. He's literally a TV host who's very self-centered, you know, just in it for himself. You need that kind of charismatic energy to sell it, in my opinion. And the kung fu of it all, I think, is also hilarious because it's it's like the quirk to this very charismatic, self-centered person. Even the most like cynical, worst kinds of people have the weirdest little quirks to them. And I find that to be like disarming. I thought it was hilarious. I was ready at any point in time for this kung fu that we had been building up to actually go into effect. And at the end of the day, dude, I understand Michael Myers is like this unstoppable force and literally a shape, ghost, whatever he is. I don't really know anymore. But the point is that we would not have a movie if you couldn't at least beat his ass a little bit. We gotta beat his ass a little bit. Like, what? This is crazy.

Sean 1:01:56

I liked it. I thought it was fun. I don't, I'm not mad at the fact that he was able to roundhouse kick Michael Myers. I also think it's kind of like, I don't know, this kind of like fun connection because I know Buster Rhyme's not officially a member of Wu Tang or anything, but a frequent collaborator with Wu Tang, and Wu Tang was famously like always into like old Kung Fu movies and stuff, and they brought a lot of that vibe into you know some of their music and stuff. So I just think little callbacks to that kind of stuff, little nods to fans, things like that. I thought it was a fun time. I liked it.

Kris 1:02:28

Yeah. And I think it's just such a testament to his character overall, being to you mentioned that he's the catalyst for all of this. He is the one who created the situation that endangers everyone. And I appreciate the redemption of him being instrumental and at least Sarah surviving it. He has such comedic confidence, and I I think it is this movie's success hinges upon his ability to spark a little joy and create a little absurdity. I think for all of that, for as funny as he is, for sure, I think where he ends up as a character is actually one of the more serious parts in the movie, and it's more of like a squint just right and you'll see it. But there's a lot of tension between his role as an exploitative producer and then his eventual role helping Sarah. And at the end, he gives this final speech that condemns the very exploitation that he helped create. So there's a lot of remorse there, and there's some regret there, clearly. And I think it's interesting that he's able to cast that light, but he does make that remorse very clear.

Sean 1:03:34

And I also think like there is a good balance between you know Buster Himes as Freddy and Sarah as a character because I think her vulnerability contrasts nicely with Freddie's kind of showmanship in the movie and her communication with like the online friend and the internet concept. It helped build suspense.

Kris 1:03:53

I don't super love Sarah. Like she's fine, I'm glad she survives. But this is a movie I have always felt where Jen should have been the final girl and not Sarah. I think it would have been more interesting that way because what we get from Sarah is just I guess she's a spiritual successor to Lori, but she doesn't feel super compelling, for at least for me.

Binx 1:04:17

Yeah, we spoke a little bit about that in terms of some of her decisions that she made seemed a little reckless. And I guess we could argue you're panicked, you're freaking out, you've never been put in this situation, sure. But at some point you need to like turn on the brain. You need to survive. And I don't know if I necessarily felt that entirely about her. I will say the thing about Jen, though, that sells it and has me like kind of agreeing with you, Chris. And I'm sure we did talk about this during the watch long, was it's really her attitude. Like her personality is very likable, and you can gravitate towards it because she's a jokester. She's got a little bit of spunk to her. So I think that charisma can help substitute maybe for like, all right, if I were looking at a character trait here, we've got a charisma's very maxed out. Survival skills seem like they maybe would be a little bit at the medium side, but overall we have a more robust character here where I'm willing to start off with her. Whereas maybe Sarah doesn't necessarily have every trait maxed out.

Kris 1:05:22

Let's just take a second and look back at the final girls of the franchise so far. We have Lori Schrode in Halloween one and two. That's it. Halloween four, we have Rachel and Jamie. And Rachel, in comparison to some of the other teenage girls in the movie, is more mild, a little bit more timid, very responsible, etc. And part five, we have Tina, who is the free spirit, almost like denies her intuition because she wants to be a little less responsible. Rachel ends up dying, so we don't have her very long. But Tina also doesn't survive. Tina doesn't. Doesn't make it in Halloween six. We have another, again, a mother figure who is very Lori Strode coated, very responsible, very meek. Again, more of a quiet person. Up until this point, after you know, until we got Laurie Strode again in H2O, we don't have anyone who's a final girl who really breaks the mold of who Laurie Strode was in 1978. Everything just points back to her. And Jen would have been such a refreshing moment to give us what we almost had with Tina.

Sean 1:06:32

It was interesting to completely abandon Lori's son. Like we get that character in H2O, and then we don't mention that character again.

Kris 1:06:40

Well, no, we do have a photo of him in the room.

Binx 1:06:42

We sure do. I said, that's the man right there, Josh Hartnett. Hot as hell. I will say that despite that though, he wasn't exactly the most pleasant in H2O, so I'm not exactly too mad about that. And let's be also honest. At the end of the day, Lori Shroud was leaving. So put her son in the mix. What he what would he have actually done? Didn't seem like a very big go-getter, you know, like that's true.

Sean 1:07:10

Yeah. I don't know if you could really incorporate him into the story of this movie per se, but it was just always interesting. You have such a central character piece and then all of a sudden disappeared, no mention.

Binx 1:07:20

Not for anything, but Josh Harden had a he had a very busy string of years. And that year, instead of doing Halloween resurrection, he chose to do another rom-com endeavor, we could argue. 40 days and 40 nights. That's a choice. That's polarizing. He would have either been lollygagging around with Michael Myers or well, lollygagging. We'll leave it at that if you haven't seen that movie. Quite something.

Sean 1:07:45

Yeah, busy schedule for sure.

Binx 1:07:47

Busy schedule.

Sean 1:07:49

Where do we feel like Michael Myers lands from this movie? Like, are we thinking like from a character standpoint to the mask? Where are you putting this, Michael Myers?

Kris 1:07:59

Upper 50% for me.

Sean 1:08:01

Yeah.

Binx 1:08:01

I can't contribute too much until I've actually watched all of these movies. But I will say that I kind of dug his look. I thought he was quite the Kool-Aid man when he's like busting through walls and shit. I'm like, okay, I forgot. That's right. He actually has insane strength for some frickin' reason, unknown to me. But I feel like the design and everything's pretty good. I mean, we had been looking at some other Michael Myers looks from movies that I haven't seen yet. And in comparison, boy, wow, those are something.

Sean 1:08:33

There's definitely been some interesting looks for sure. But yeah, I think this Michael Myers was pretty solid for sure. I don't know where I'd put like from a mask standpoint, maybe in the middle of the road.

Kris 1:08:43

He's above four, he's above five, he's above six for me. He's above honestly, even H2O.

Sean 1:08:49

H2O was goofy.

Kris 1:08:51

He still looked too goofy.

Sean 1:08:52

Yeah.

Kris 1:08:52

I'd go Halloween, Halloween 2018, Halloween 2, Halloween Kills. And then Halloween ends, then Resurrection.

Sean 1:09:02

Okay. So that's the middle end.

Kris 1:09:04

Okay, we need a whole separate episode for this.

Binx 1:09:06

We need it, we need a separate episode for this. I also feel like I'm listening to Star Wars. I don't know the names. So you just rattled off all kinds of Halloween names, and I was trying to make sense of which one I was actually thinking of, like what Michael Myers I was imagining in my brain. Boy, there's so many of them, man. It's crazy. 13, I know, or right? 14, something like that, but it's still feels like a lot.

Kris 1:09:26

Then you also have the different mask variants within each movie. So we need a separate episode for it. There's masks within masks. Not like canonically, but production-wise, yeah.

Sean 1:09:35

We all wear masks.

Kris 1:09:37

This is too much.

Sean 1:09:38

I think the toughest thing for me in this movie will always be Lori Strode going down. That's just always a tough one for me. Not that it ruins the movie. I think it's a very emotional impact of the movie. I think it probably did a huge wow factor for a lot of fans when first watching this movie. So I respect what it did. But if I had to pull something out that I just didn't have fun with, it was probably that.

Kris 1:10:03

I I agree. The objective worst part of this movie. Objectively speaking, you don't get much lower than that. And I still think Trick-O-Treat motherfucker looking a little crispy-fried motherfucker. Or both moments are 10 times better than Lori dying. It is such a bummer of a time. I think the third worst part is I remember being so excited watching this in the theater, seeing Michael open his eyes at the end of the movie, and then we never got another continuation of it.

Binx 1:10:28

Rob Zombies is shortly thereafter, I guess.

Kris 1:10:31

But we didn't continue this story. So I was so excited, thinking like, oh my gosh, I can't wait to see what happens next. And then all of a sudden, five years later, I'm in the theater excited to go see Halloween, and then oh, that's what it was.

Binx 1:10:45

Listen, I feel like we talked about it already. I will make amends with it in terms of Lori's decision making specifically, and those last final moments of hers, and just like the switch roo of it all. Because you guys made me think that, yeah, you're right. It what alternative would have been better, you know, like zombie Michael, that would have been ridiculous. So that's fine. I just feel suddenly so protective of Lori in a sense after watching this, because it's like, man, I I don't want it to make it seem that she's an idiot. You know what I mean? Like, how could she have not realized that she wasn't killing the right person? But then even up in the rooftop, right? Like she had actually trapped him. Like there was a moment where maybe you actually could have won, or it felt that way, at least to me, and then it didn't actually end up happening. It's just like, uh, it's frustrating, but we're 15 minutes into the beginning of the movie. Like, of course that's not gonna be the case. And how many, like, oh, we killed him, but I guess we didn't kill him. Things are we're gonna do in one film. I understand, but you can't help but feel frustrated and protective over Lori. That's an icon, but oh well, it is what it is.

Kris 1:11:58

Is there any room there for us to have still gotten the mo opening that we got, but she does kill him, and then when his body is carted off and buried, then we somehow get the magical dog piss or the electricity. I feel like they would have just needed like the opening just to explain why he still has a head, and then he can get resurrected later. Yeah. What a fucking bonker. Just somebody needs to re-write that fanfiction and just see how it plays out. Oh my gosh. But regardless of how I feel for uh the opportunities the opening of this movie provides, this is still so much fun to watch. I watch it every single year and I watch it while being engaged. I watch it happily, I watch it with enthusiasm, and I cannot wait to meet more people who haven't seen Halloween Resurrection so I can re-experience what I did experience with Binks. That was a magical time.

Binx 1:12:50

Like I said, I mean, I really recommend watching these movies with somebody because I feel like that's when you get the most commentary and joy and just kind of let loose with them with the insane antics that happen. And granted, if we were to rank between the three major franchises, right, who has the craziest, silliest ones, Halloween is last to me, I think. And I haven't even seen a lot of them, but just from the ones I've seen, I can confidently say that Nightmare on Elm Street is through the roof in terms of silly bonkerness, but that's because he is like that, right? Freddie's like that. But this one is a little bit more on the tame side, but still things to enjoy and laugh about and be like, oh shit, what's gonna happen next? And the commentary's gold. So I absolutely would re-watch this. I really hope that I can like participate now in the memes and in the insider jokes and the cult of Buster Rhymes that we have in our listenership.

Sean 1:13:48

Yeah, a hundred percent. I always have fun watching this one, but I always remember having a good time with this one, so it's always something I revisit at some point.

Kris 1:13:58

Well, clearly we'll have to revisit it again in the near future, but for now, there you have it, folks. Halloween Resurrection has earned a universal slash. Now, if you want to see how Binx reacted before she had any time to process any of this, our Halloween Resurrection watch along is available on Patreon. It's her first viewing with both of us on camera, so you can watch along with us and catch every reaction as it happened, every moment of shock, joy, and what the fuck. You can check that out at patreon.com slash hacker slash.

Sean 1:14:27

And we also want to know what you think. What did you think about Halloween Resurrection? Did you hate it? Or do you secretly enjoy it as much as I do? Let us know. You can join in on the conversation in our Discord and on our subreddit. You can find the links to both of those in our show notes for this episode.

Kris 1:14:42

Thanks for spending at least part of your spooky season with Hackerslash. We'll see you next time, folks. And remember, never underestimate the effect of a poor diet.

Sean 1:14:51

Happy fucking Halloween.

Kris 1:15:01

So naturally, when you have a found footage Halloween movie and you have the danger tament of it all, it does beg the question: what other horror reality shows could you conjure up? I'm gonna say something insane.

Binx 1:15:15

What if we had a horror dating show? Okay, like Love is Blind or something like that.

Sean 1:15:24

Or like Love Island was just about to say.

Binx 1:15:29

Exactly.

Sean 1:15:30

But couple up or cut up.

Binx 1:15:33

Exactly. You know, look listen, love is blind and you end up being blind. I don't know. I just I think it would be insane. Imagine Freddie Krueger on the other side of the wall in Love is Blind, Macing it up to you, and then just like permeates through the wall or in your dreams that night. I I I would tune in.

Kris 1:15:53

I think if we did that, we would need fame lesbian Elvira to be the host for sure. Yes, I think at least Dracula macking it up about crossing oceans of time to find you. I think we need Tiffany. I think we bride Frankenstein.

Sean 1:16:09

Okay.

Kris 1:16:09

Who else? Oh, we need Candyman. Oh my god. Well, his voice. We also need Ghostface. Ghostface will probably text you and call you, but never actually live up to the plans.

Binx 1:16:20

Right. An actual ghosting. Oh, jeez. He's gonna be the villain in the new season.

Kris 1:16:26

Yeah.

Binx 1:16:26

Absolutely. Prompting situationships. Ah, God.

Kris 1:16:30

Yeah, you gotta see which one would plan the best date. My problem is that I can't imagine a lot of this though, because I I don't watch dating reality shows. I feel I can come up with like the people, but I don't know what the activities would be.

Binx 1:16:41

Listen, my experience here is one season of Love is Blind and one season of The Love Island. I don't know any of the other shows, but what I've seen off of those two things, I'm envisioning something. I can see it. With Love Island, they do like these challenges. So I'm imagining like these horror icons, you know, having to do the most insane gross challenges and then just like killing people because they just don't want to do them, you know. Goodness, it would just go crazy real fast.

Sean 1:17:10

I just thought the a twist on like if we were to bring something like the amazing race, but actually make it like a final destination amazing race. So like the contestants have to like do they have to race across the country and complete challenges while they're like faced off against these elaborate, like freak accidents, and like they receive clues about their own deaths and have to figure out the only way to advance is how to avoid those deaths, would be a wild twist on the amazing race.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:41

Yeah, but you see, Michael Myers would never be able to get to the finish line.

Sean 1:17:45

It would be more of like a it wouldn't even be like horror icons doing it, it would just be a a like a horror-themed version of the show.

Binx 1:17:54

Right. Yeah Chris, you're about to tell me that Are you about to tell me that Michael Myers actually walks fast?

Kris 1:18:00

I want to remind you that this motherfucker drives and he stole enough cars to track down Lori in California.

Binx 1:18:06

Oh fair. Fair enough, fair enough.

Kris 1:18:08

Yeah. One that could be really fun, and I don't have it like fully baked yet, but I love shows like Chopped and MasterChef. So imagine like a Hell's Kitchen, but it's a cooking show with horror icons. Imagine Hannibal Lecter as the host, because I feel like it's unfair if he actually competes. I think we could do Annie Wilkes. I think she cooks in that movie. We can do Sebastian Stan's character from Fresh.

Binx 1:18:36

Yeah, it's from Fresh. That's what I was gonna say. Yep.

Kris 1:18:39

Who else? Um Ray Fines from Menu.

Binx 1:18:44

Dang Leatherface.

Sean 1:18:45

Oh, I think you got all of those. Yeah, yeah.

Binx 1:18:48

But Hannibal Lecter would be, I agree that he would be the host for sure.

Sean 1:18:50

The host, yeah.

Binx 1:18:51

But Leatherface, absolutely. You said Leatherface, and can I just say I ended up watching for the first time the Matthew McConaughey?

Sean 1:19:00

Oh my god.

Binx 1:19:01

Yeah. Or Renee's all you're there.

unknown 1:19:03

Yeah.

Binx 1:19:03

Guy.

Sean 1:19:04

Unhinged. Unhinged. Matthew McConaughey's best performance ever, I think.

Binx 1:19:08

Almost too good? Question mark, question mark.

Sean 1:19:11

Too good for that movie for sure.

Binx 1:19:12

Something's a little too a little too good there. Also, Leatherface, the best leatherface I've ever seen. That's a diva right there. That leather face, listen, we stand. Dinner scene, incredible. Anyways, I say all that to say that you were talking about Leatherface being a participant of that show, and I want that specific leather face. I want her outfit, and I want everything about that diva on that specific reality show. That's insane.

Kris 1:19:39

Okay, hold on. There's something else here. It's at the tip of my tongue. We have Kyle Richards in the original Halloween, and then Halloween kills, Halloween ends.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:48

Yeah.

Kris 1:19:49

She's actually a real housewife. So what if we did have the real housewives of horror and you had Tiffany, Pamela Voorhees, Margaret White, Bride of Frankenstein, Samara Weaving's character from Ready Or Not.

Binx 1:20:03

Would it be fair to have no, because she's not married, right? The girl from You're Next, another one?

Kris 1:20:10

Wouldn't it be great? No, she's not married. Damn. Well, I mean, who knows? Maybe I guess Pamela Voorhees now we know was married. Oh wow. Jennifer Czech wasn't married. Margaret White was. Bride was forced into it.

Sean 1:20:22

Yeah.

Kris 1:20:23

There's gotta be some other wives that I'm missing here. Let's see.

Sean 1:20:25

Um well you have Pearl.

Binx 1:20:27

Oh, Pearl, yes. Pearl, you're right. I mean, Anna in possession is just kind of crazy. I don't know how much she would actually contribute on that one.

Kris 1:20:35

Well, she can have a little cameo.

Binx 1:20:37

Morticia Adams.

Sean 1:20:38

Oh, good one.

Kris 1:20:40

Oh my god.

Binx 1:20:41

And she should be like the main. Oh my gosh. She is like maybe like the housewife from the previous season that was like top charting, was incredible. She finally comes back as the reboot comes in. It's like, oh my God, everyone's freaking out when she arrives on set because she's just like gonna cause a scene. I can see it now. I really like this idea.

Sean 1:21:04

There's also, I think, would be a fun trivia, a trivia show with Ghostface as the host, and it just, you know, who wants to be a final girl?

Binx 1:21:13

Sean, that's a good one. Trivia on everything. Well, it would have to be final girls that are contestants, and then they have to answer questions about like best survival tactics, love interest questions, you know, like, oh, that would be fun.

Sean 1:21:31

There could be a twist. There could be like one contestant is secretly working with Ghostface.

Kris 1:21:36

Yeah.

Sean 1:21:36

You know, may not be the only killer.

Kris 1:21:38

Ooh. It sounds like this is what we have to do in our 10th anniversary season uh next year. Because for our 200th episode, we did do horror trivia where I got kidnapped and my co-host had to answer horror trivia and they let me die by Ghostface hands, and then Paris was revealed to be Ghostface.

Binx 1:21:59

Yes. Yes, that is true.

Sean 1:22:01

That is true.

Binx 1:22:02

It was a fun episode. Okay, yeah, I do like that. I do oh, better start gearing up now.

Sean 1:22:07

Uh oh.