The Reel Rejects - HALLOWEEN: H20 (1998) IS A BANGER!! MOVIE REVIEW!

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

JAMIE LEE CURTIS RETURNS AS LAURIE STRODE!! Halloween H20: 20 Years Later Full Movie Reaction Watch Along:   / thereelrejects   Get your New Customer offer + 3-month Unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at https://www.mintmobile.com/REJECTS Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Continuing their Halloween Franchise Marathon, the Scream Queens are BACK to give their Halloween H20 Reaction, Recap, Commentary, Analysis, & Spoiler Review! Roxy Striar & Tara Erickson revisit one of the most iconic horror sequels of the ’90s — Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)! Directed by Steve Miner (Friday the 13th Part II, Warlock), this slasher revival brought Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween, True Lies) back to face her brother Michael Myers after two decades of silence. Living under a new identity as school headmistress Keri Tate, Laurie must confront her trauma head-on when The Shape returns for a deadly Halloween showdown. The film also features a strong supporting cast including Josh Hartnett (The Faculty, Pearl Harbor) in his feature film debut as John Tate, Laurie’s son; Michelle Williams (Dawson’s Creek, Manchester by the Sea) as Molly; Adam Arkin (Chicago Hope, Sons of Anarchy) as Will Brennan; LL Cool J (Deep Blue Sea, NCIS: Los Angeles) as security guard Ronny; Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (She’s All That, Prison Break) as Sarah; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, 3rd Rock from the Sun) in a memorable early cameo. Some of the most famous and highly searched moments include Laurie’s confrontation with Michael in the climactic face-off, the chilling school setting atmosphere, and the unforgettable ending with Laurie wielding an axe to seemingly end Michael’s reign of terror once and for all. Halloween H20 is celebrated for bringing Jamie Lee Curtis back into the franchise and modernizing Michael Myers for a new generation of horror fans. Join us as we react, review, and break down all the thrills, kills, and scares that make Halloween H20 a cornerstone of the franchise! Follow Roxy Striar YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@TheWhirlGirls Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roxystriar/?hl=en Twitter:  https://twitter.com/roxystriar Follow Tara Erickson: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaraErickson Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/taraerickson/ Twitter:  https://twitter.com/thetaraerickson Intense Suspense by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Support The Channel By Getting Some REEL REJECTS Apparel! https://www.rejectnationshop.com/ Follow Us On Socials:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/  Tik-Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reelrejects?lang=en Twitter: https://x.com/reelrejects Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ Music Used In Ad:  Hat the Jazz by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Happy Alley by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... POWERED BY @GFUEL Visit https://gfuel.ly/3wD5Ygo and use code REJECTNATION for 20% off select tubs!! Head Editor: https://www.instagram.com/praperhq/?hl=en Co-Editor: Greg Alba Co-Editor: John Humphrey Music In Video: Airport Lounge - Disco Ultralounge by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Ask Us A QUESTION On CAMEO: https://www.cameo.com/thereelrejects Follow TheReelRejects On FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & INSTAGRAM:  FB:  https://www.facebook.com/TheReelRejects/ INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/reelrejects/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thereelrejects Follow GREG ON INSTAGRAM & TWITTER: INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/thegregalba/ TWITTER:  https://twitter.com/thegregalba Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Should we go 20 years later with H2O or what? I can't wait. That's a high-quality H-2O. Two. Wow, I got... I'm with you. One, I clicked it. Beem.

Oh, my God. That was a good one. That was a good one, dog. Holy to Molly. What if it wasn't him? Because how are we going to get him back? Now... They're going to have to go with that.

But his eyes, his eyes were the same eyes, rocks. So he's going to sew his head back on? Yeah. Absolutely. Yep. This is a rejuct nation. We just watched some quality H-2-0. That's some high-quality H-2-0.

Oh, Halloween 7. Yep. Okay. First of all, if you're on Apple, Spotify, five stars. If you're on YouTube, thumbs up, leave us a comment. Do you think that was actually Michael Michael? We'll not let it go. We'll let it go.

Shout out to Preper. Thanks for helping us edit this down. This is a fun one, y'all. We're going to start by going to the Patreon questions. If you didn't already know, patrons can ask us questions, and that's how we do our reviews now. We want to know what you guys want us to talk about.

And that's what we do. So p.com slash the rail rejects. And we're going to get right into it because thank goodness seven was better than six. Here we go. Brian Reed in the house. Brian Reed says, How does Lori Strode's return an H-2 change the direction

of the Halloween series? Tara? It changes it for the better. So many freaking ways. Are you kidding? Like, this makes me stoked on the series again. Stoked on it. Like, I can't wait to watch the other one just to be like, is she right?

Meaning it wasn't someone else and not Michael in the mask because how are we going to explain? Or am I right that he sewed his head back on? I don't know. Both of those seem bonkers. Bunkers. Wackadoo Wild. She cut his head off. I love it.

Like, so savage. That is what we have wanted to. to see, like, people go for him and, like, the fact that she didn't give up and I got goosebumps three times during this movie, and I think that's brilliant. Yeah, when they're face to face, you feel it. You feel, especially after

all this time, think about waiting 20 years to watch this. That's crazy. Wild. Yes, for the better, for sure. Joe, with this being the seventh film of the franchise, do you think these films have a story worth telling and are as scary as the first, or do you think they are just making these films

for money? I felt like this majorly had a story worth telling. You know what? Didn't have a story worth telling? The last one. Exactly. That one felt like they wrote it as they went, which apparently they did.

Which apparently they did. This felt like they were like, oh, we have a reason to come back. Exactly. Like, I think that this film is a reason to continue the franchise. And I think someone got smart and hip to it. I forget the director's name now.

Oh, Steve Minor film, I think it said, that I'm grateful to him that, like, he picked this franchise back up. The confusion that I do have, though, and I wonder if they will ever address is... The daughter or the... The daughter had a daughter, and she just left her in the witness protection type program.

Like, you know, when she faked her own death, she's left her daughter. And when did the son come into play? Because he's 17. So the year after you had a daughter, you had a son. And then you kept the son, but you didn't keep the daughter. Right. You put the daughter into foster care?

Well, that's what I'm saying. We still don't know if this movie's... And if you watched Michael go after the daughter, right you let him kill the daughter well see that's what i i'm curious if we don't if if this movie isn't following that like yeah like they just retconned yeah maybe but they are following that this it is his sister it is i i know yeah yeah i don't know so yeah but interesting christina hi from chicago hi christina from chicago love you ladies thank you i still watch horror movies with my hands over my eyes oh that's terra thanks so uh thanks to watching

Poltergeist at an early age, is there any particular horror movie that still creeps you out as an adult? Yeah, the ones that I haven't watched with Tara that I think Greg has saved her from Human Centipede and Terror Fyre. I like, I could barely get through both of those. I have to watch Terrifier next week. Oh, are you making a joke? No. Oh, honey, you're not going to be. I'm not going to be all right, Rocks. John and Aaron. Why are you guys doing that? I don't know because they want to ruin me. Tara, I'm not kidding. I don't think you should do that.

I'm like, I saw my name and I was like, what? You guys, somebody already did this for the channel. Why do I have to do it? The second one is the scariest movie I've ever seen in my life. Rocks. Rocks. Rocks. I'm going to die.

The fact that you said that and you don't even move. Dude, I, I, she doesn't even move. And she just said that to me. I am so... I'm going to have a freaking heart attack. Yeah, yeah. I'm going to die on screen. Yeah.

Oh, my God. Anyway. Moving on. Is there a particular horror movie that creeps you out? Hereditary. Oh, yeah. Narlie.

That was creepy. Gnarly. I'm so afraid of you. Oh, my God. Michelle R. This Halloween came out when I was a teen and I was obsessed. I feel like it has the best autumn vibes

in the entire franchise. Hell yeah. Yeah. Which film do you think is the best autumn vibes How cute is Josh Hartnett in this movie? Okay, so do you mean which film has the best autumn vibes of the Halloween movies or just in life? She must mean in general. I will say that even though I didn't love Trick or Treat, it did have great autumn vibes.

You are right about that. Pocus, great autumn vibes. Yeah, Halloween Town, great autumn vibes. I guess anything like New England-y with the leaves? Yeah, with the leaves. It's like the orange and, yeah, I'm really trying to think of like fall autumn. I am obsessed. Yeah, like, I can't really think of, like, you named some of the best movies.

Sorry, I took them. No, no, it's fine. And I do agree with you, as you would have heard me, Michelle, calling it out. In the beginning, I'm like, love that guy in the roof. Now his eyes light up. There's trick-or-treaters. Every house is decorated. Like, I also love the vibe in this movie.

And even the school kind of had fall vines. Totally, absolutely. Josh Hartnett was cute in this. Adorable. He's precious. I'm confused on the fact that, so he lives. Every prediction I made about this movie was wrong.

Every single thing I said about this is wrong, which is how you know it's a good movie. It's completely subverted every expectation I had. However, is Josh Hartnett never to be seen again in this franchise? Because that would be crazy. I think we... And is Michelle Williams never to be seen again?

We probably do and or it's like he's 17. We could easily, you know, go around that with writing and be like, Oh, he's in college. That's why he's not here. Yeah. Right. Like, so that to explain it away, maybe. D.K. Lounge, Halloween H2O, 20 years later.

So in case you guys didn't pick up on this, this movie is a direct sequel to Halloween 2. Oh. And removes Halloween 4, 5, and 6 from the franchise's continuity altogether after the critical and financial failures of both 5 and 6. So in this new continuity, Lori never died off screen. Oh. But she did. because she says that she faked her own car accident

and that she pretended to die. But she never died. Right. Well, they explain it. Like, because we saw her die in the shitty movies. Okay. Yeah. Larry never, no, we didn't.

Remember, they just said. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. She died. You're right. Michelle's supernatural nature was never the result of a cult. And Jamie Lloyd was never born, which is why we see Lori with a son instead of a daughter. There we have it.

How do you feel about the series? retconning multiple movies in order to refresh the franchise. Honestly, I'm glad that you told us that that's what happened. Yeah. For the better. Like, I think that they made the right call. I think that if something's not working, ditch it. Agreed.

110%. I haven't gotten goosebumps in a Halloween movie. I got it right here. This movie's great. Savage. I love to see her going after her brother. I mean, and the relationship, you know, of course that they set up with her son. she's a helicopter parent and then she's kind of got a love but like he does die you did

call that one you're like he's dead he's gonna he's gonna be dead and he did die but yeah throw it all out who died her boyfriend oh oh yeah yeah so that's the one person that's the one yeah i was wrong about so many people yeah i was even wrong about the security art totally totally uh okay um Darren how do you feel about the influence scream had on the movie considering that Kevin Williamson, the writer of Scream and Scream 2 at the time, wrote the initial treatment for this movie, which he called Halloween 7, The Revenge of Laurie Strode. Oh. I think that would have been a great title. I still think H2O is kind of a weird title with no water in this.

Yeah. I think that I've seen most of the Scream movies. I know you haven't. I haven't. So I almost said a couple things during this that I didn't want to give it away because I'm sure you'll be watching those. Right. So I think that there was definitely Scream influences. on this. Specifically, stuff

with Joseph Gordon Levitt kind of reminded me of some Scream stuff, I will say. Yeah. And some of the Michelle Williams stuff, right? I know that that happens where he's like, I mean, I think I've seen trailer for a long time. But I think that was I know what you do last summer

because of St. Michelle Geller, right. I think you're right, yeah. So, but yes, there was some scream stuff, but I can't get too much more into it without spoiling scream stuff for Tara. So that's how I feel. Which I probably will have to watch on the channel. I'm guessing I'm going to watch it with you and it's just going to be a rewatch for me and I exactly. That's what I hope we do. I only remember the first one and the most

recent ones so the in-between ones kind of lost for me. We're golden. Yeah, okay. Oh yeah, re-eagnation. It's time for me to tell you that if you're still overpaying for wireless, it's time to say yes to saying no, I've joined this family. No contracts, no overages, no hidden fees, no BS. That's why I have finally converted to the thing I kept hearing about. The mental mobile today's video sponsor with mint to get premium wireless starting at just $15 a month and it runs in the nation's largest 5g network i kept my same phones same numbers same contacts and i just started saving money the service honestly they're pretty great i sometimes travel i worked long days here oftentimes at the shoot content on the go and i've never felt like i downgraded if you're like me

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Offer on payment of $45 required equivalence of $15 a month, limited time new customer offer for first three months only. Speed may slow about 35 gigabyte on limited plan taxes and fee extra. See MinnMobile for more details. Thanks, Minmobile, for finally reeling me in and helping me save. Michael Penton, I personally have a million questions about Michael's road trip from Illinois to California, but I'll keep it small. Do you think he wore his mask when he pumped his gas?

Or what do you think he listened to on the radio? So many more. And hopefully we knew how to fix a flat tire. Love you guys. Keep up a great work. Yeah, I guess that's what we were seeing when he took the keys of the whatever it was. Because I was like, Yosemite, he was so far, dog. Totally.

I have questions, too. Do I think he wore his mask when he pumped his gas? I do. I do. Because they also seem to be selling that mask everywhere. So many people wear the mask. ask. What do I think he listened to the radio? I think he drove in silence. I think he raw-doged it.

I agree. I agree with you on that. And maybe windows down sometimes. Maybe he's hacked into the police scanner and was listening to that. I love that. She probably wouldn't have it in her car, but yes. You don't know. He could have wired. He could have hacked in there. Residence Z. She checks. That's us.

I actually really like this movie. Same. Jamie Curtis was so good in this and definitely makes it more evident. what was missing from previous films, totally. Yes. Does her being back reignite the series for you, too? Also, the music kept making me think of the scream movies. That's interesting.

Two scream references. Do this reignize the series for you? Duh. Same. Like, like I said, you know, totally stoked on it, very excited. Yes, get rid of everything that came before, because this movie is dope as hell. We had full-blown chills multiple times.

That one window shot was, like, insane. I will remember that until the day that I died. I agree. And then they do it again when they're in the car, which is awesome. And when she is walking with the axe and she goes, Michael! That was amazing. I'm dead. Those are my three favorite moments, the whole thing.

The best. Corey H. As the previous movies, as with the previous movies, the mask in this one is different. Or should I say mask? How noticeable is this for you? And do you see this as a distraction between the films? I don't see this distraction, but you clearly heard me call out in the middle of this. I like this mask better.

Totally. I do, too. Yeah. Because you can actually see his eyes. I know that you said that maybe people said that he, dark, that they used to be really, really dark eyes.

And I guess maybe it had black around it before. In the beginning of this, they said his eyes were black as night or something, which they weren't. They definitely weren't. They were blues all get up. So maybe it wasn't him. Oh, my God.

If it wasn't him, we're going to lose our minds. I'm going to lose it. I'm going to lose it. Like, that would be wild. Wait, what is the next one? I thought it was called resurrection. Which means he sewed his head back on, like I said.

But I did like this mask a lot. I did like that we could see the eyes and the eye contact. I think we needed that between them. You're right. You're right. It's called resurrection. It is, right? And you said that and I said, no, it's not.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You went. We already watched that. I'm so off today. Return revenge curse. That's so funny. I'm sorry, dude. I do not. And I also, no, I don't care.

And I also do not see this as a distraction between the films because this film blows the other, the last few that we've been watching out of the water. Yeah. So have whatever freaking mask you want and keep writing these types of scripts and I'm all here for it. We didn't mind some of the last moments

in the other ones, but no, it was not even close to us is this one. Right. Yeah, there's so much, I'm so curious. Like, I would love Resurrection to be a part two of this, and I hope it is. Right. But I know that we're coming up to. I hope so, too. So I'm not looking too much into it because I don't want to know who is in what, but I will

say, I know we're coming up to the Rob Zombie remake. So this was called H-2-0. Then the next one, in 98, 2002 is Resurrection, and then 2007 is just called Halloween, and it's Rob Zombie's Halloween. so and then Rob Zombie does Halloween 2 also so those must be not related to this at all right I would have to assume I yeah so okay you know what I mean so whatever it is in the next one it's got to be it's got to be related to this I think so which I hope but then if he chopped off his head how are we doing that but it's called resurrection so maybe some witchy magic yeah yeah yeah or maybe wasn't him maybe everybody clapped so much clap our hands man I couldn't have been more off and I can't be more happy

that I was wrong about everything because I love this movie this is really good high quality movie high quality H2O super duper into this one thank goodness I was wrong the whole time Tara you were right

about almost every prediction you made way to go and give me grace in the comments y'all any final wait did we check remember how Alex said we have to check the Patreon specifically to see if anything

oh yeah we should Okay, just checking really quick to make sure we hit all the patron questions because we always want to make sure because you guys ask the good, good stuff and just making sure you didn't, we're filming this last minute. So making sure you didn't ask anything in the last hour that you wanted us to answer, because this was a great movie and I want to make sure that we do it justice. Ricky Gardner, lovely she-jacks, what are your thoughts on the new timeline, Lori now having a son and how the ending made you feel? Also, what was each of your favorite kills in this movie? Love you, ladies. we already answered this first part

about our thoughts on this new timeline so just specifically on having a son and favorite kill. On having a son, I think we both said we were excited that they did that. Favorite kill? There really wasn't that many. There wasn't that many that we got to see.

I would just say, you know, Lori chopping his head off was a lot of fun for me. I agree with that. Right. Okay, this is a long one. Let's see if we can make our way through it. Joel Leon.

Thank you. From Joel Leon, are you two going to react to the alternate cut of Hollywood? even if it's not in the same video. I know it's asking too much of both of your time, but I think it will be interesting to see both of your perspective

on how wildly the film is expected by a studio. I'm going to just kind of skim through this to basically just asking if we're going to be reacting to it. I don't think we are. I don't believe that we are. But if Greg tells us we are, then we are. We don't actually make those decisions. Yeah, we don't.

But thank you for making us aware of it. I know last week people had said that to us too that there was like the studio cut versus theatrical cut and that they were very different. So it'd be interesting to at least read up on it to know kind of what was up. Will you scroll down, Bibb? Yeah.

Okay, this is from Jaden Rhodes. Jaden said, I'm curious if y'all liked y'all's journey so far. I really like how every movie feels so different to the next one and are y'all excited or curious where the rest of the franchise will go? Yes. I'm loving this franchise. Stoked on it.

I honestly think I like this franchise more than Nightmare on Elm Street and more than Friday the 13th. I mean, right now, with how excited I am, I'm with you. I prefer Chuckie the most obviously. Yeah. And then probably right behind that was Evil Dead and Purge. Oh, yeah. Those are so great.

Really good. We watched those a while ago, but yes, you're totally right. And this one is up in there. Really up in there, yeah. For sure. For sure. And super excited for where it's going to go and curious, yes. Yeah.

Wellesley McPherson, I assume when Lori said she faked her death and changed her name that she just gave Jamie up. been a while since I watched it though you two think that love the she-jacks now we're hearing that as completely reconed right we heard that that was taken out so we don't have to worry about it but yeah

that now she just has a son they got rid of the daughter because the other movies were not as great I don't think is this one I think that that's all of them will you scroll down for a second yeah because we did Corey we did shoot the curse of Michael Myler's before this yes

Oh, yeah. The MAZ, this one. Michael, did we read this? We did. Yeah, the road trip. Oh, we did. Garin. How do you feel?

Yeah, we did that. Okay. D.K. Lounge. Let's load more. Michelle R. We did. Todd. Oh, nope. Yeah, we did.

Yeah, we did that. Do you see these films? I have a story. Brian Reed. Okay. Yep, we did all those. Thank you. That is Tara.

thoughts. I love this movie and it makes me excited for the rest. And I'm super with you, girl, and I can't wait to do this with you by my side. Best Sheeject partner in crime. I just want you guys all to remember two things. Number one, grab your hands. Number two. Don't drop your weapon. Never, ever, ever. And if you only remember those two things, thank you for coming to ourself Define Scores. Later, Rejects. It started with a scream inside a quiet Maryland home, a mother trying to protect the family dog and her son in the grip of a violent hallucinogenic rage. By the time it was over, she was dead, and he claimed LSD made him do it. His name, David Minor the 4th, and we talk to

him. Listen to Invisible Choir every other week as we uncover the most haunting true crimes you've never heard of. Available wherever you get your podcasts.