This is the seventh movie in this horror series and a 20th anniversary follow-up to John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), arguably the most influential horror film of the '70s, a film that set the standard of horror for the next two decades and catapulted the career of Jamie Lee Curtis. Newspaper clippings review the murders 20 years earlier by Michael Myers, including one stating that Laurie Strode (Curtis) died in a car accident. Actually, she faked her death to hide from Michael, changed her name, and became headmistress at a Southern California boarding school attended by her son, teen John (Josh Hartnett). On Halloween, with most of the school staff and students away on a Yosemite camping trip, John plans a "romantic" evening with several of his classmates -- his girlfriend, Molly (Michelle Williams); Charlie (Adam Hann-Byrd); and Sarah (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe). Laurie, meanwhile, has her own date with school counselor Will (Adam Arkin); on their date, she reveals some of the secrets of her past life to Will. Meanwhile, masked Michael (Chris Durand) evades security guard Ronny (LL Cool J) -- and the nightmares begin anew. Curtis' mother, Janet Leigh, appears in a cameo role as the school secretary. The music score by John Ottman features orchestral variations on the 1978 score composed by Carpenter.