Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)

As expected, Jamie Lee is the best thing in the seventh film. It likes to think of itself as the real sequel to the first film, although it incorporates elements of the second and even has remnants of an explanation for Laurie’s absence in the fourth, fifth and sixth from a previous script, which it pretends didn't happen. It’s clear that Dir. Steve Miner hadn't a damn clue what film he wanted to make. There’s no explanation for MM’s return. There’s no proof it’s even him. It’s just a guy in a mask with a knife who likes to stick it in people.
There’s some decent camerawork early on and the editing was functional, but by halfway through the running time I was feeling the pangs of regret.
H20 isn't even the last one. They made another one afterwards! Finality and credibility go out the window when there’s money to be made.

2 new eyes out of 5

THE FROZEN GROUND [2013]

After over a decade of terrible films, Nicolas Cage returns to fine form in Scott Walker's serial killer thriller The Frozen Ground.
Based upon the Alaskan serial killer, Robert Hansen, the film oozes with moodiness and a dreary atmosphere that immediately sends chills down your spine.  John Cusack is impressively creepy, and like The Paperboy, he finally steps away from playing the emo-bastard he's been doing for the past 30 years and is driven by something entirely different and more disturbing.  However it's Vanessa Hudgens, who's wiped away her Disney tween star persona with a bit more grace than her peers, that steals the show with a solid performance that oozes with emotional damage.  Wonderful performances aside, the film is a bit of a generic bore that never quite has the impact it should have.

2½ plane rides out of 5