It's Re-Halloween and it's time for Michael Myers to... well, not come home. How about make a trip out to California? Sure, let's go with that! Michael Myers travels to California in 1998's
Halloween H20: Halloween 20 Years Later in a continued pursuit of his sister, Laurie Strode. NECA has really been on a roll over the past few years as they've now released modern figures of Michael Myers from
Halloween II,
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, and all three of the
2018 trilogy films. Now they've tackled H20 and a Halloween: Resurrection version of Michael should start showing up any day now. If NECA gets around to the original film again along with Halloween 4, Halloween 5, and both of the Rob Zombie films they're have released a Michael Myers from every movie he's appeared in! (NECA did release figures from the original film but it was back in their Cult Classic days, so they're not well articulated.) H20 Came out when I was a freshman in high school and I caught in when it was released on VHS at a friend's house. Thinking back, it was probably the second or third of the
Halloween films I saw as a friend and I watched the original quite frequently and I'm pretty sure we rented
Halloween II at some point. I watched the movie again this week and I don't think my feelings on it have changed much over the years. There's a lot to like about the movie (Jamie Lee Curtis, good cinematography and some especially cool shots, a good story that does capture elements of the original film, solid cast) and a lot that still disappoints me (not sold on the overall look of Michael Myers, there's not a lot of fall or Halloween ambience in the film). Ultimately, it's pretty much smack dab in the middle of the movies in terms of my ranking of them. Still, am I going to turn down a new Michael Myers figure? Nope. Let's check this one out after the break...
The Facts:
Height: 7 5/8ths inches
Articulation: Swivel/hinge ankles, "boot" swivels, swivel/hinge knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, swivel/hinge shoulders, double swivel/hinge elbows, swivel/hinge wrists, balljointed neck base, and a barbell jointed heads.
Accessories: 3 swappable portraits, 7 swappable hands, 2 knives, pumpkin, ice skate, and axe.
Non-Scalper Price: $35 -$42 dollars
The Positives:
* I'll absolutely admit that most of the time it's definitely tough to tell one Michael Myers figure from another at a glance. Yes, there are changes to the mask and outfit and such, but usually you're getting Michael Myers in bluish coveralls wearing a white mask. In H20 the coveralls were actually charcoal colored, but they look blue most of the time. It's kind of the whole
Aliens thing where the Xenomorphs were actually tan but looked blue/ Han Solo's jacket on Hoth was actually brown but looked blue deal where the lightning changes the color on film. The legs and arms are reused from previous Michaels but the coveralls overlay for the torso is new, and shows off the popped up collar Michael is sporting in the film.
*
H20 is famous for having 4 different versions of Michael's mask in the film. The beginning of the film used a recast of the
Curse mask but director Steve Miner wanted a different mask and special effects company KNB EFX Group produced this one.
It's very white, very clean, and just looks odd. Now, I'm not a fan of the mask but I'm judging NECA on how they replicated it and I think they did a great job. It definitely looks to me like an inexpensive "off the shelf" Michael Myers mask and was clearly inspired by the original. You can see Michael's eyes behind the mask ever so slightly, something that happens quite frequently in the film.
* Next up is what I believe to be NECA's take on the CGI mask. That's not the name of a company who designed it, by the way, it was actually a mask that was redone using computer graphics. Four weeks into production, a screening of the footage proved to show people hated the KNB mask so after trying the take on the Halloween 6 mask, Stan Winston was called in to create a mask. Many scenes were reshot with the new mask with an extra $1.2 million dollars from the studio, though some sets were already torn down and for one scene (a big reveal of Michael)
the KNB mask was digitally turned into the Stan Winston/ Hero mask. NECA's sculpt is way better than the special effect for sure!
* And here's the Stan Winston mask, referred to as the 'Hero' mask ('Hero' referring to a prop or costume item in a film that is important to the story, used by a main character, or gets significant camera time). Like all three masks, the sculpt is excellent and captures what's seen on film. I honestly like NECA's masks better than the film masks. Like the other portraits, the eyes are far more visible than you usually see on Michael Myers, but Michael Myers eyes are on display throughout this film, something that turns me off from it a bit. Other than rare glimpses, I like Michael just seeming to be inhuman or non-existent behind the mask most of the time.
* This Michael has reused limbs and probably a reused torso under the overlay, so he's similar to any other modern NECA Michael Myers figure. While Michael isn't super poseable like a ninja, being restricted in his mid section, the articulation is still very solid and capable of doing all the things you'd expect Michael to be able to do. He looks good standing around or behind bushes menacingly, he holds his weapons efficiently, and he is just an overall intimidating figure. The the double hinged elbows and the balljointed neck really allow you to tweak the figure to get the expression you want and, since he's solid and very sturdy, you can pose him without worrying about fragile joints.
* Seven hands are included here, giving you lots of options for holding different weapons. I'm guessing at least some of these are reused from previous figures, but they're hands, so not a huge deal. They do look damaged, reflecting Michael having been burned at the end of Halloween II 20 years prior. There is a very loose right hand grip, a pair of relaxed hands, and two different grips for the right and left hands, allowing him to hold bigger items or smaller, more slender handles, like the included knives. You might need a little heat at fist but after swapping them a time or two I didn't have any trouble.
* Michael comes with two knives, one fresh and clean and one covered on the tip with blood. You'd be disappointed if Michael Myers didn't come with a knife, wouldn't you? I know I would.
* Next up is an axe. It's quite cool looking with a red handle and a silver blade. It's not a weapon that Michael actually uses, though. Instead, this is a weapon that Laurie uses against Michael, ultimately decapitating him with it. Or should I say "decapitating him with it," since
Halloween: Resurrection reveals that Michael actually swapped clothes with a paramedic, severed his vocal cords, and managed to escape.
* The last weapon Michael comes with is an ice skate. An ice skate? Yup. An ice skate. While the kill happens offscreen, Michael Myers does use an ice skate to kill Joseph Gordon Levitt's character, Jimmy, by driving it into his face. It looks like an ice skate, alright, and the blade on the bottom is covered with blood. I guarantee you don't have an accessory like this in your collection. Maybe Casey Jones will steal it...
* A pumpkin is included here
which appears in one scene briefly. There's some nice paintwork here and it's fairly sizeable. Interestingly, it's a pumpkin and not a Jack O' Lantern. Well, not yet...
* You can begin to carve it, though. Either of the knives can slide inside like it's just beginning to be carved. That's a cool little effect!
The Negatives:
* The pumpkin is painted nicely but it's also really weird and flat. There doesn't seem to be much texture on the surface, making it seem like a painted propane tank rather than a pumpkin. That's a rare miss on an accessory from NECA.
* The heads on this figure are very hard to swap. It really takes a lot of force and using heat didn't help too much. Be careful when swapping heads here. It was a real pain.
* Last up, I feel like I have to talk about the bottom of the coveralls overlay that goes over the hips/ thighs. It looks better than some previous figures but the hips seem to just out a bit more than they should, almost like the overlay wasn't really designed with these reused legs in mind.
How do I feel about this H20 version of Michael Myers? Well, kind of like how I feel about the movie: Rather mixed. The figure itself is pretty good and the portraits are all stellar. Whether you like the masks from this film or not, there's no doubt that NECA made them look pretty good for the figure, offering up a lot of options. It's a shame they're so tough to swap. Accessory wise, this guy feels like a bit of a letdown. The pumpkin look good from a distance but has a weak sculpt and the weapons are just OK. Michael just doesn't use a lot in this film and we never see him use the axe or ice skate. Overall, this guy gets a Good and a 1/2. If you just want a Michael Myers for your shelf, NECA has released better ones. If you're obsessed with
Halloween and want a Michael from every film then you'll probably be OK with this one. If H20 is your favorite
Halloween film, I imagine you'll be far more impressed.
If you're a fan of Michael Myers/ The Shape/ The Boogeyman, then check out these other reviews: The McFarlane Movie Maniacs
Michael Myers, the One:12 Collective
Michael Myers, the
POP! Movies Michael Myers and POP! Town
Michael Myers with Myers House #25, the ReAction Horror Series
Michael Myers, the Funko Savage World
Michael Myers, Mezco's Designer Series
Michael Myers, NECA's Cult Classics Icons 2007
Michael Myers, Halloween 2018
Ultimate Michael Myers,
Michael Myers (Halloween Kills),
Michael Myers (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers), and Halloween II
Ultimate Michael Myers, the Toony Terror
Michael Myers, the Funko 5 Star
The Curse of Michael Myers, the
Michael Myers Candy Case from CandyRific, and the knockoff Lego
Michael Myers.
For more Halloween reviews from NECA check out the following:
No comments:
Post a Comment
What'chu talkin' 'bout?