Oh, the 90s, the renaissance of the slasher genre after it crashed and burned in the mid-80s. Halloween H20 is the seventh installment in the Halloween franchise. It hits a reset button on the canon, which utilizes the strong points of the decade. Without any further ado, let’s dive in! 

Plot

We start with seemingly random characters as they die at the hands of Michael Myers, who is back for vengeance. He wants to find Laurie and is not willing to let anyone else stand in his way. Here is where the franchise diverges into a different canon that ignores all the movies after the second one.

After a wonderful tribute to the late Donald Pleasance we see Laurie. She is now a headmistress at a boarding school in California, with a new name and a son. Laurie appears functioning on the outside, but she is still traumatized by the past events, medicating both with prescription meds and alcohol. Not even her love interest (a fellow teacher) knows anything about her past. 

Her son John doesn’t understand the severity of what his mother has been through. He repeatedly tells her to get over it (not the brightest moment despite him being a teenage boy). More teenage characters are introduced in the form of his girlfriend played by Michelle Williams in her Dawson’s Creek prime, and two friends. 

John and the group want to stay at the empty boarding school while everyone else goes on a camping trip. What they think will be a romantic couples’ weekend turns into anything but. Michael catches up to Laurie and finds his way into the premises. What ensues is a blood-shed with some creative kills and full-on suspense.

Laurie takes a stand against Michael as she chases him down axe in hand, ready to finish this once and for all. This leads to a showdown with a glorious finale as Laurie decapitates Michael, seemingly ending his reign for good (or so we think). 

Overall thoughts

Halloween H20 is a great overhaul of a franchise that was running out of steam. It encapsulates everything about the 90s, from the camera work to the soundtrack to the cheesy one-liners. It has a star-studded cast of the sweethearts of the decade and who could be mad at Jamie Lee Curtis’s comeback? 

This movie takes an interesting approach to Laurie’s character. She spends the second movie kind of helpless waiting for someone to save her, however this time she takes the lead and faces her trauma head-on. Other characters have just enough development to make you care for their survival. The atmosphere is very reminiscent of the first one as well, with a bit of a slow burn before the big finish. 

Ultimately, this is the most entertaining instalment of the franchise and has a lot of rewatchability for those movie nights. Slasher 2.0 at its best. 

Sale

H20: Halloween: Twenty Years Later (Dimension Collector’s Series)

• Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, Adam Arkin (Actors)
• Steve Miner (Director) – Debra Hill (Writer) – Bob Weinstein (Producer)
• English (Subtitle)

$18.35

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Last update on 2025-01-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Ever wonder what would happen if a witch, a mythological dreamscape, and a kitchen disaster collided at full speed? Jennifer Weigel’s Let’s Do Lunch (Witch Hayzelle’s Recipes for Disaster Book 1) doesn’t just answer that question—it serves it up on a flaming silver platter with a side of snarky humor and alliterative goodness.

This fast-paced, genre-blending novella is part mythological adventure, part obsessive investigation (Moby Dick style), and part cookbook. Yes, you read that right. The book sprinkles in recipes—some of which might be surprisingly edible (looking at you, tofu dish). I think the mix of this worked really well. At times, and this might be because of my background, I thought that the book was pushing into Gargantuan territory and then it slipped back into a real recipe.

Where Let’s Do Lunch really shines is in its world-building. The mythology of dreams is an intriguing and immersive element that keeps the story grounded in a unique and whimsical lore. The characters, while more like vehicles for humor than deep personalities, fit well within the book’s quick and quirky style. There’s also a delightful meta-layer to the storytelling, making it feel self-aware in the best possible way.

Let’s Do Lunch (Witch Hayzelle’s Recipes for Disaster Book 1)

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Weigel, Jennifer (Author)
• English (Publication Language)

$2.99

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Last update on 2025-01-29 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Another thing that worked really well, even on Kindle, is the art the author produces. The drawings really do make a lot of the book pop and work remarkably well in black and white (or paperwhite, as the case may be). Even the cover is a mix of void space set aside by white–the creation of art through erasure of darkness.

Kindle Caveat:

One small hiccup–if you’re reading the Kindle version, be prepared for footnotes that don’t always play nice with e-readers. They can be tricky to navigate, making it tough to appreciate some of the book’s side notes without breaking the flow. This is something the publisher seems to agree with (as the amazon page has a similar warning).

Overall and Score

Overall, Let’s Do Lunch is a light, fun read perfect for anyone who enjoys their fantasy with a heavy dose of humor and a sprinkle of culinary catastrophe. If the rest of the Recipes for Disaster series keeps up this level of playful mayhem, fans are in for a treat (or at least a hilarious food-related accident).

The New Daughter (2009) is a PG-13 horror film and Luiso Berdejo’s feature-length debut. The film is based on John Connolly’s short story of the same name. The New Daughter stars Kevin Costner, Ivana Baquero, Samantha Mathis, and Gattlin Griffith. As of this review, the film is available on VUDU Free, The CW, Hoopla, Tubi TV, Freevee, and Plex, with additional purchase options.

John James (Kevin Costner) moves his children to a rural South Carolina town to start anew after his wife leaves him. Louisa James (Ivana Baquero) can’t stand this change, and Sam James (Gattlin Griffith) doesn’t understand why his mother isn’t with them. But after finding a burial mound, their attitudes suddenly switch. As John uncovers more of their new home’s history, he realizes there’s much to fear.

What I Like About Luiso Berdejo’s Feature-Length Debut

Despite its 2009 release date, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films nominated it for the Saturn Awards’ Best DVD Release in 2011. As Luiso Berdejo’s feature-length debut, the film manages to hold an audience with a tight script and direction.

The acting sells this ominous mystery, which might otherwise become obscure amongst others in the genre. In particular, Kevin Costner’s John James and Ivana Baquero’s Louisa James center The New Daughter around their characters’ strained father-daughter relationship.

Ultimately, The New Daughter thrives in its atmosphere and execution. If we take the film plot point by plot point, The New Daughter doesn’t break the mold. Between Luiso Berdejo’s direction and the writing of John Travis and John Connolly, however, the film executes this uncomfortable tension that invests viewers.

The New Daughter

• English (Subtitle)

$19.99

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Last update on 2025-01-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

It’s in The New Daughter‘s execution where it haunts its audience. There’s this uncomfortable powerlessness as John attempts to protect his family against the horrors in the mound and its corrupting influence.

The ending might seem uncommitted, but I would disagree. The film executes a balance between hope and horror that leads to ambiguity but doesn’t leave the audience dissatisfied. A bolder film might conclude with an unhappy ending, but The New Daughter gives a sliver of hope in its dark ending.

Tired Tropes and Triggers

A cat dies in the film. The act isn’t shown, but I understand this can be a dealbreaker. In loose connection, there are also animal carcasses.

There’s a loose and underdeveloped connection to Native American mythology, following along the idea of “Indian (Native Americans) burial grounds.” While this initial thought proves inaccurate, it still holds familiar plot points that might irk some.

There are some strange decisions revolving around Louisa. Needless to say, a part of the plot revolves around her beginning puberty. While nothing is explicit, the creatures require a mate, which suggests sexual assault.

What I Dislike about Luiso Berdejo’s Feature-Length Debut

The aesthetic of the burial mound doesn’t seem particularly noteworthy. This becomes a problem when it looks like any hill in a forest. I don’t particularly see how the James family recognizes this as something strange and worth fixating on. As the film progresses, there are obvious reasons, but the aesthetic doesn’t execute this strangeness.

As addressed above, the premise remains familiar and safe, perhaps too safe. A family moves into a rural home, escaping a past withheld from the audience. The mother is out of the picture, and the father struggles to connect with his young daughter. I don’t subscribe to the idea that these are lazy points, but it might seem formulaic with how thick it dominates the film’s beginning.

Final Thoughts

The New Daughter is an impressive feature-length debut but one with notable flaws. There’s a familiarity and safety in the plot that hinders what could have been. However, the ominous mystery and acting provide the needed execution to create a haunting experience. If you’re looking for a horror following a terrified family against supernatural creatures, The New Daughter delivers.