On This Day in Horror History: Rick Rosenthal’s ‘Halloween: Resurrection’ Debuted in Theaters

It might be the absolute worst of every sequel from the three favorite genre franchises of today (Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13^th, obviously). That’s a pretty insane claim, but there’s arguable validity in a statement like that. That’s not a good thing, but you know what? That reputation has guaranteed that all fans will always remember Halloween: Resurrection. Negative stigma – infamous or not, people aren’t going to forget that Busta Rhymes was the man to let the dangertainment begin in Halloween: Resurrection… on this day… 15 years ago!

Yeah, it’s hard to believe that much time has barreled by, but it is indeed fact.

There’s a strange legacy here, and in a way, it kind of adds a little charm to the movie. I can’t say it’s a favorite, but the introduction is interesting and… well, there’s dangertainment… and uh, all that.

The film premiered on the big screen on July 12^th, 2002. Resurrection opened in the number four slot at the box office after hitting 1,954 screens, and pulled in a less-than-stellar $12 million on opening weekend, against a $13 million budget. Halloween: Resurrection topped out at approximately $30 million domestically, with an addition $7 million in international sales. That means, amazingly, it was nearly a profitable picture.

Halloween: Resurrection still finds a way onto commercial shelves, and it’s of course included in some of the extensive collections that have seen release. So, it has probably proven to be a relative win for Dimension. In some way, it’s proven to be a relative win for fans as well; there are a lot of awesome jokes and a few fair memes that were birthed thanks to this ugly duckling.

Happy anniversary, ya heap.