Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Halloween: Resurrection Blu-ray Movie Review

A film with "Resurrection" in the title shouldn't drive the nail into the coffin...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown September 20, 2014

My colleague, Martin Liebman, covered the 2012 Echo Bridge Blu-ray release of Halloween: Resurrection. I've included his movie review below. For my part, I'll be evaluating the new Anchor Bay/Scream Factory edition's video presentation, lossless audio track and special features.

Liebman writes, "There was once a series of commercials begging viewers to "stop the insanity!" That's sort of like the reaction Horror and Halloween franchise aficionados might have after viewing Halloween: Resurrection, a crummy, borderline direct-to-video quality Horror sequel that dumbs the genre down to the lowest common 21st century denominator. A silly reality television (or reality Internet) premise houses a movie that's nothing but regurgitated elements from the Horror Handbook. Basically, it follows a few teenagers promised fortune and glory if only they manage to survive the night exploring the old Michael Myers house. Busta Rhymes provides the comic relief, Tyra Banks serves as some eye candy, and Michael Myers takes care of the hacking and slashing. This is thoughtless, generic Horror filmmaking at its most average. Lost in it all is a random wrap-up of the Michael Myers-Laurie Strode story arc that covers the first 17 minutes of the film that will leave fans disenchanted with a terrible conclusion to the franchise's bread-and-butter plot.

It's been three years since Laurie Strode (Curtis) thought she had dispatched Michael Myers for good. But as always seems to be the case, Michael survived the ordeal, and he's out to finish his work. Though confined to a sanitarium, Strode has a plan to take on her deranged brother one last time. Following their confrontation, Michael returns home where he comes to learn that his humble abode's been invaded by a reality Internet program being webcast on the Dangertainment website. Hosted by Freddie Harris (Busta Rhymes), the show aims to place six college students in the Myers home on Halloween night, each equipped with a POV camera, and offer audiences a pay-per-view first-hand look into the house of a living legend. Nobody knows what they will find, but...Myers house...Halloween...hello...piece it together, people. Of the six participants, only Sara (Bianca Kajlich) has doubts, but peer pressure and the promise of fame and fortune lead her to follow her friends, not her inner voice. What awaits the cast is a night of bloodshed and terror as they must not only fight off the legendary Michael Myers, but do so on his home turf.

Halloween: Resurrection updates a franchise which began in 1978 for a 21st century audience, but "up"date means dumbing "down." This film kinda-sorta forces itself to continue the story that's the backbone of the franchise, wrapping up the goings-on from I, II, and H20, though it does so as sort of a bonus short film that has nothing to do with the rest of Resurrection. There's the opening act that sees the resolution of the Myers-Storde conflict, and then there's the bulk of the package which deals in Michael Myers slaughtering a new group of random teenagers. It's disappointing that the entire film couldn't be built around the superior plot element, but it feels so tacked on that one must wonder if it wasn't added only in the interest of boosting runtime and having something to pitch to fans to garner attention and distract from the fact that the movie is otherwise a cash-in on the franchise name and its lead character's presence. The film in its primary presentation just goes through the motions with the obligatory jump scare at the end, capitalizing on cheap "gotcha" filmmaking that insults audiences rather than satisfies them.

To be sure, there are a few odds and ends that work in the movie's favor that don't make it a total waste. First, and most important, there's the unending appeal of the Michael Myers character. He's so well-designed and so perfectly simplistic that his mere presence in a film generates enough tension, excitement, and danger to carry the entire thing, even if the rest of it wallows in direct-to-video territory, which at least is a fate that has not yet plagued a Halloween film. Fans of conformity and routine and cinematic comfort will find solace in the darkened corners and bloody violence of Resurrection. It follows the Horror cadence to a "T," building up and then killing off characters in random ways, with the expected last girl standing making it through to the end for a big show-down with the big guy. The cast is bland and the characters they play even more so. Busta Rhymes is the surprising highlight, spicing up the movie with every scene in which he appears -- one in which he unknowingly verbally confronts Michael Myers in particular standing out -- and handling his character's mixture of deadly serious and comic relief with panache. To be sure, Resurrection brings nothing new to the Halloween legend or the Horror movie playbook. It's a generic but serviceable little picture that's as bloody as fans would want but that's sure to divide audiences both in its resolution of the Myers-Strode conflict and in its unimaginative main feature."

Halloween: Resurrection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

At first glance, Resurrection's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is a striking one. Crisp, detailed, vibrant. But wait. Dare to look closer and you'll start to spot all the little beasties and demons that come with a ill-conceived transfer. Artificial sharpening produces an uptick in perceived clarity yet leaves edge halos in its wake. Detail is also rather worrisome, with close-ups and well-lit shots faring nicely while midrange and establishing shots lose a more noteworthy sense of clarity and fine texturing. Grain is certainly intact but rather unnatural on the whole (the Echo Bridge grain field is, to my eye, more filmic and less obtrusive), colors and fleshtones are decent but sometimes overly bright, and darker scenes give way to instances of crush, noise, banding, macroblocking, ringing and other eyesores. (The Echo Bridge release appears to be a bit better in terms of shadow delineation too.) Early scenes between Lorie and Michael are the visual highlights of the film. After that, it's a bit downhill, even though it still has its moments. And no, I'm not taking the SD camera footage spread throughout the second and third acts of the movie into account. That's a mess all its own, but at least it's an intentional mess. Resurrection could benefit from an actual resurrection; a remaster built from the source up. For now and the foreseeable future, I suppose this is as good as it gets.

Halloween: Resurrection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Resurrection's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't racked with problems. The LFE channel is bold and aggressive, throwing its full weight behind Michael Myers' every appearance and gruesome kill. The rear speakers are check out early on but come back with a vengeance soon enough, creating a creepy, creaky house that envelops the listener in its ambient and not-so-ambient horrors. Directional effects pounce, pans will raise the hair on the back of your neck (even when the film fails to do so), and the soundfield seems to delight in springing traps on the unprepared. There are some prioritization issues here and there -- dialogue isn't always as crystal clear as it probably should be -- but the original sound design is the likely culprit. Similarly, the film's score comes on somewhat strong on occasion, though also by way of intention. Fans will be pleased.

Halloween: Resurrection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary: Director Rick Rosenthal and editor Robert A. Ferretti may be more measured and soft-spoken than other commentators featured in the Halloween box set, but they're no less informative, moving quickly from the film's premise (which hinges on a gotcha revision that offers an explanation as to how Myers survived his grisly beheading at the end of H20) to its development, production design, cast, performances, pacing and style, and more.
• Deleted Scenes & Alternate Endings (SD, 11 minutes): A collection of six deleted scenes and three alternate endings (or rather what appears to be the bits and pieces of a single alternate ending) are presented with optional director's commentary.
• Web Cam Special (HD, 41 minutes): The team's web cam videos, edited together into a really, really bad running film of sorts with yet another optional director's commentary courtesy of Rosenthal.
• Vintage Interviews and Behind-the-Scenes Footage (HD/SD, 37 minutes): An assortment of interview snippets followed by a sixteen-minute reel of fly-on-the-wall behind-the-scenes footage, sans narration.
• Head Cam (SD, 4 minutes): The cast gush over the sequel in this archive featurette.
• Storyboard Analysis (SD, 4 minutes): A series of storyboard-to-film comparisons.
• Set Tour (SD, 7 minutes): Production designer Troy Hansen leads viewers on a tour of the Myers house set.
• Set Interview (SD, 4 minutes): Jamie Lee Curtis briefly discusses her role in the film.
• Still Gallery (HD, 7 minutes): A montage of production photos and other images.
• Home Video TV Spots (SD, 1 minute): Two TV promos (one of which is built around a massive spoiler).
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes): The film's original trailer.

Halloween: Resurrection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Halloween: Resurrection is pretty insufferable, wasting its strongest material in the opening minutes, and in a way sure to leave series fans shaking their fists at the Halloween heavens. From there, it's a descent into awful, with a web-series premise as tired as it is silly, ineffective and wholly uninteresting. The kills are exciting, but only because each one means there's fewer characters (and less cringe-inducing dialogue and performances) than before. The Anchor Bay/Scream Factory Blu-ray, meanwhile, is rather hit or miss, no thanks to a problematic video presentation. Fortunately, a strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a solid assortment of special features relieves a bit of the sting.