(out of ****)
_Ever_After_ (PG-13) *** _Halloween:_H20--20_Years_Later_ (R) ***
Say what you will about its banality or the inherent ridiculousness of its messengers, but the Spice Girls' mantra of "Girl Power" seems to have made a profound effect in Hollywood. For proof, look no further than two wildly different films opening within less than a week between them: _Ever_After_ and _Halloween:_H20--20_Years_Later_, which put effective feminist spins on the normally weak icons of Cinderella and the slasher film scream queen, respectively.
Drew Barrymore's Danielle, the heroine of _Ever_After_, has more than a little in common with the Cinderella of fairy tale lore. After the death of her father (Jeroen Krabbé), Danielle (nicknamed "Cinderella") is treated as a lowly servant girl by her wicked stepmother Rodmilla (Anjelica Huston, wonderfully bitchy). There are two stepsisters, Marguerite (Megan Dodds) and Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey, Kate Winslet's best friend/lover/partner in crime in _Heavenly_Creatures_); there is a prince, by the name of Henry (Dougray Scott); and there is a lavish ball and even a slipper left behind.
But it is there that the similiarities end and something quite radical begins. For one thing, there is no magic at all in _Ever_After_--no pumpkin carriage, rat horses, not even a fairy godmother, though Danielle has a helper in no less than Leonardo daVinci (Patrick Godfrey). The absence of the fantastic has an empowering and liberating effect on the heroine, who in other Cinderella tales is rather passive and weak. Danielle is far from that, strong in will and body (in one scene, she literally _carries_ the prince) and in total command of her destiny. The prince is nice and strong himself, but she can rescue herself, thank you very much (Danielle could very well be nicknamed "Cinder Spice"). Female empowerment also manifests itself in _Ever_After_'s sense of sisterhood, a quality that is missing from other versions of the story. Only Marguerite qualifies as a wicked stepsister; the zaftig Jacqueline is every bit Rodmilla's victim as well, and she is constantly belittled by her mother because of her size. As such, Danielle and Jacqueline recognize themselves as kindred spirits.
This revisionism performed by director Andy Tennant and screenwriters Susannah Grant and Rick Parks is not without a few missteps. There is an awkward, completely superfluous framing story, where a mysterious older woman (Jeanne Moreau) tells the story to the Grimm Brothers; and a subplot involving a sleazy nobleman (Richard O'Brien) with a jones for Danielle is poorly developed. But the freshness of the entire affair and the exuberance of its execution, bolstered by sweet chemistry between Barrymore and Scott, goes a long way in charming the viewer.
Perhaps the most indelible image of John Carpenter's seminal 1978 chiller _Halloween_ was that of 17-year-old babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) cowering in the corner of a crudely locked closet while "the Bogeyman," a.k.a. Michael Myers, stabbed his ways through the doors. Flash forward twenty years, and to the clunkily titled _Halloween:_H20--20_Years_Later_ (why not just _Halloween:_20_Years_Later_?). The most memorable sight? The same but older Laurie, brandishing an ax, openly inviting--or, rather, _daring_--her unseen tormentor to show his white-masked face with the piercing wail of "MICHAEL!" Yes, cinema's most famous scream queen is back, louder than ever, but now infused with a strong dose of Girl--make that _Grrrl_--Power.
This entertaining seventh installment of the series glazes over the events of installments 4-6 (the third film was completely unrelated) and takes a sharp focus on the first two, namely the character and history of Laurie. Since last seen learning that Michael is her brother in _Halloween_II_ and witnessing his apparent demise (apparently she didn't hear of his exploits depicted in 4-6), Laurie faked her death and moved from Illinois to California as Keri Tate. Now a divorced single mom of 17-year-old John (Josh Hartnett), Laurie/Keri is the head mistress of a posh private school. But she is still haunted by the memory of her murderous brother, who, of course, locates his long-lost sister and decides to pay her a visit on Halloween night, 1998--twenty years to the night he first terrorized her.
The basic story and script of _H20_, credited to Robert Zappia and Matt Greenberg (working from a treatment by _Scream_ wunderkind Kevin Williamson), doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. Michael bumps off a couple of the libidinous teens at the school as well as a handful of others who get in the way. Laurie finds out he's back and is forced to face her demons (or, rather, demon). That's it. But, then again, the basic story of Carpenter's original didn't exactly hold up under close examination, either. What's important is the effectiveness of the shock and scare scenes, and while director Steve Miner doesn't take the high road that Carpenter took in _Halloween_ (that is, keep blood and gore to a surprising minimum), he pulls off more than a few nailbiters, most notably the extended climactic chases between Laurie and Michael.
The effectiveness of the thrilling final act, and the film as a whole, owes a huge debt to Curtis and the character of Laurie. Though her stress-related alcoholism and pill-popping are never satisfactorily resolved, Laurie undergoes a nice character arc in reference to her previous two films. It is highly believable that she would no longer be scared of Michael so much as angry and, thus, out for blood herself; it would have been less convincing if, after all this time, she was still the girl who cowered in the closet. Although the _Scream_ films' Sydney Prescott is a rather proactive horror heroine, the new Laurie is a step beyond that. The seemingly indestructable Michael may want to kill her, but that is nothing compared to her desire to kill _him_ and free herself from the past, making for an intriguing pas de deux where the two often trade the roles of stalker and stalkee.
_Halloween:_H20_'s Laurie Strode may not be given the fairy tale fate met by Danielle in _Ever_After_, which is just the first in an endless list of differences. But one, strong trait unifies them: they use their wits and will to escape and triumph over their victimizers and take control of their lives. Whatever the time, whatever the place, female empowerment makes the same sound--a blistering roar.
Michael Dequina
mrbrown@ucla.edu | michael_jordan@geocities.com
Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown
CompuServe Hollywood Hotline: http://www.HollywoodHotline.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews