The year is 1998, twenty years after Michael Myers stalked and almost killed his seventeen year old sister Laurie Strode. Dr. Loomis is long dead, but his former nurse--Marion Chambers-- has kept all of his files. Including a very special file with the name: Laurie Strode on it. Michael Myers has come back, and his long lost sister is his next target.

Young Laurie Strode has grown up over the course of the last twenty years, and she is now the headmistress of a posh private school in Northern California. Living in costant fear that Michael Myers will return to kill her.

And on Halloween Night 1998, that is exactly what he plans to do... And he'll learn that Laurie Strode is no easy kill this time around.

Twenty years ago, John Carpenters classic Halloween scared audiences the world over, and created the horror film dynasty that has lasted over two decades. But the collected sequels to Halloween never lived up to Carpenters original, at least not until now.

Halloween II was the last Halloween vehicle to feature Jamie Lee Curtis before she left the horror genre to pursue other interests. It was also the last great Halloween. It was a worthy predecessor to the original, but it wasn't of the high standards that Carpenters Classic was. Halloween III: Season of the Witch didn't even feature the Michael Myers storyline, it was about a mask maker who wanted to rule the world.

Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers was the long awaited return of the bogeyman, but it lacked the great hero that the first two had in the personage of Jamie Lee Curtis. But Halloween IV did feature the return of Donald Pleasence, who would be the only star of the original and Halloween II to appear in Halloweens IV, V, and VI. Halloween V: The Revenge of Michael Myers was by far the worst of the Myers Halloweens, even the title characters mask looked terrible. Halloween VI: The Curse of Michael Myers is arguably one of the best Jamie-less Halloween's, and it was the final performance of Donald Pleasence who died shortly thereafter.

Now it is 1998, twenty years after the original, and the long awaited return of Jamie Lee Curtis is in theaters. Jamie Lee's character Laurie Strode has since changed her name and gone into hiding from her psychotic brother, she is the headmistress of a posh private school in California. She has a son named John, who is more of her caretaker than her child. She is a raging alcoholic, who also happens to be addicted to Perkodan. The disfunction caused by her previous encounter with her deranged brother Michael Myers is apparent.

The film begins in a tiny little town in Illinois, not unlike that of Haddonfield where five of the first six takes place, where a nurse resides in the home of a doctor she used to look after. That Doctor of course being the now dead Dr. Sam Loomis. Sam Loomis was the character portrayed by Pleasence in the earlier film, and the aforementioned nurse is Marion Chambers an assistand to Loomis in the first two Halloweens. Chambers returns home to find her office trashed, and a particular file stolen. The file with name: Laurie Strode emblazoned on it.

You guessed it, Michael Myers is back and he wants his sisters blood. The scenes in Langdon Illinois are a sort of touching tribute to the late Donald Pleasence and his character, and then the moment is ruined by a voice over. Beneath the recognizable Halloween music we hear the words: "Fifteen years ago, I met this six year old child with blank, pale, emotionless face... and the blackest eyes... the devils eyes. I spent seven years trying to reach him, and then another eight trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boys eyes was purely and simply... evil." Any fan of the series recognizes those words as having been spoken by Dr. Loomis in the first Halloween. But the voice over is neither a dub of that original chilling phrase, not is it even the voice of Donald Pleasence. The unfortunate thing is that it is so obviously not his voice that the true fan will be upset by the fact that his voice is not present. But Loomis fans will find no relief in this film.

Aside from that the movie is more deserving a sequel to the first Halloween than Halloween II is. Halloween H20 captures the spirit of Carpenter's original and treats the original with a reverance not found in any of the previous sequels.

In the teenagers at the private school we see shades of the original, and two of them---namely Josh Hartnett who plays Lauries son, and Michelle Williams who plays Molly--- are very reminiscent of Jamie Lee's innocent Strode from the first film.

Adam Arking has a memorable role as Strode's would be boyfriend, and LL Cool J is unfortunately just there... he could have done so much more with the character. He could have been another Chief Brackett, but his character is sadly one dimensional. Janet Liegh of Psycho fame, and her car from said movie, make marvellous cameo's in the film, as does Nancy Stephens.

For those of you who know the original Halloween well, there are moments in the film that are treats designed just for you, trust me you'll spot them when they come by.

In the end, Laurie Strode decides to face Michael Myers... and whether she wins or loses she will have regained her soul. This is the Halloween sequel fans have truly been waiting for.