The “Halloween” sequels have got a pretty lousy reputation and while it is not exactly good, “Halloween H20” is easily the most entertaining. Halloween H20” also takes the sensible step of ignoring all the previous movies except the first two. It’s not high art but any means but I think there is a reason why many people consider this a series’ highlight.

It’s been two decades since Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis “Halloween”, “True Lies”) survived Michael Myers’ bloody visit to Haddonfield, Illinois and now she lives as private school headteacher Keri Tate in California. Laurie/Keri fears of her brother’s return are realised when he tracks her down. It all culminates in a very enjoyable showdown.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie/Keri helps make this movie work as well as it does. It’s interesting to see the psychological effects of somebody decades after such a horrifying ordeal and she is smart character. It’s also very satisfying to see her take the fight to Michael in the third act. Michael Myers takes a beating that would make a cartoon character blush. He definitely will not be scaring anybody in the audience after you have seen him take the mother of all poundings from Jamie Lee Curtis. The cameo from Janet Leigh (“Psycho”) is rather good. The other characters are rather lame.

I cannot quite bring myself to recommend it but I will concede that “Halloween H20” is much better than I expected. There are some cheap jump scares and false alarms but there are also a few moments that are handled with skill. While not an outright comedy, there are some very amusing parts such as the little reference to the wardrobe scene from the original. If you have seen the first “Halloween” and are unsure about watching the sequels, you might want to check this one out. People that really do not care for these films are unlikely to be too impressed.