Josh Hartnett’s Debut Horror Movies Are Still Underrated After 27 Years

The year was 1998. Steven Spielberg was at the top of his game with Saving Private Ryan, and Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis were saving the world in Armageddon. James Cameron’s Titanic won 11 Academy Awards, proving that blockbusters could also win Oscars. Horror was going through a transitional phase, with Gus Van Sant’s widely derided remake of Psycho sparking controversy, and Urban Legend keeping the slasher flame alive. 1998 wasn’t the best year for horror, or so we think. A young star was in not one but two underrated horror films released in the same year. Josh Hartnett was the handsome 20-year-old who fought body-snatching aliens as well as horror legend Michael Myers in the first year of his career.

Hartnett was relatively new to the industry. After being expelled from his acting school and moving to Los Angeles, he landed a role in the short-lived ABC crime series Cracker, where he played a rebellious teenager opposite Robert Pastorelli. Luckily, his career would find a second life on the big screen when he was cast in the official revival of the Halloween franchise, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. Not only was Hartnett the lead opposite Laurie Strode, but it was clear early on that he had a knack for horror. The young heartthrob was also cast in Robert Rodriguez’s genre mashup, The Faculty, and he took on the lead role opposite young stars such as Elijah Wood, Clea DuVall, and Shawn Hatosy.

Although the films were not critically acclaimed, they were good enough to help launch Hartnett into stardom. He would become a top-billed actor and quickly land roles with some of the most popular directors in Hollywood. As we go through a well-deserved renaissance for the Trap and Fight or Flight actor, we’re jumping back in time to analyze the debut of Hartnett in two of the most underrated horror movies of the 1990s.

‘Halloween H20: 20 Years Later’: Could It Be the Best ‘Halloween’ Sequel?

In Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Hartnett gives life to John Tate, Laurie Strode’s son, in her new life with a new identity. However, Michael’s desire to end his bloodline brings him to Summer Glen, where Laurie and her teenage son live. He has found them, and he’ll do whatever it takes to kill his kin in what may be the best Halloween sequel in the slasher franchise — or at least one of the strongest.

Hartnett’s performance in Halloween H20 is… good enough. He’s a teenager in a slasher movie, meaning that there aren’t many requirements except for screaming, running, and defending himself — all of which he handles convincingly (Hartnett received a nomination for an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Male Performance). Jamie Lee Curtis is the lead in this movie, and while she’s forced to play the mother defending her son, you can see glimpses of the classic lonely character who can’t possibly understand Michael’s motivation.

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Despite a Rotten Tomatoes score of 56%, it is one of the most underrated horror films of the 1990s. It also boasts that invaluable vibe that Kevin Williamson achieved with his horror films. Although he’s not officially credited, Williamson was heavily involved in the movie during a time when his presence in teen horror was always welcome. Williamson’s resume was good enough to land him a writing gig on Hartnett’s other 1998 horror film, the alien invasion extravaganza The Faculty.

‘The Faculty’: A Modern ‘Body Snatchers’ With a Set of Strong Young Characters

The Faculty

Release Date

December 25, 1998

Runtime

104 minutes

Robert Rodriguez’s The Faculty was one of the coolest films of 1998. The music (featuring covers of classic rock songs), the special effects (a great blend of practical effects and CGI), the fashion (it is, by far, Tommy Hilfiger’s strongest contribution to cinema), and its strong cast of young stars all helped make the film memorable. Scream’s cast may have been iconic, but if you had to fight aliens, you wanted the survivors of the Herrington High School massacre by your side.

The film is a modern retelling of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This time, the students are the potential victims of aliens who have taken over the bodies of their teachers. A group of diverse students (the jock, the rebel, the cheerleader and the cool nerd) manage to make it out of the school. But soon they’ll have to determine if an alien walks among them. Enter Rodriguez’s wink to John Carpenter’s The Thing, in a sequence that features the most controversial “sniff this to prove you’re not an alien” test in the genre.

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Hartnett’s portrayal of Zeke Tyler is a classic in ’90s horror. He’s a rebellious and handsome man who flirts with his teacher and offers her some drugs so she can lighten up. When things get serious, he becomes a capable leader, although this changes in the final act when Elijah Wood’s Casey Connor becomes “the final boy.”

Williamson’s script works. It’s a campy film, but it never steers away from this tone that blends in comedy whenever necessary. It was the film to see in 1998 if you were a rebellious teenager who didn’t always believe teachers were right. Critics didn’t love it, and the film sits at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes, but to them we say, “Forget the scores!”

Josh Hartnett Is Going Through a Career Renaissance

But What’s His Best Performance?

Hartnett is going through a much-deserved career revival. In the 2010s, the actor kept a lower profile, starring primarily in indie productions and leading the TV series Penny Dreadful. However, in 2021, a solid performance in Guy Ritchie’s Wrath of Man preceded his comeback in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Hartnett was back.

In 2024, he was the charming serial killer in M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, a role that could be his best. Recently, we saw him in Fight or Flight, a performance that proves the actor’s action skills. It’s been 27 years since he played both the rebellious heartthrob in The Faculty and one of Michael Myers’ targets in Halloween H20.

Out of dozens of great performances, it is hard to pick which is Hartnett’s best role. However, some characters stand out, especially Matt Eversmann in Black Hawk Down, Eben Oleson in 30 Days of Night, and Hugo Goulding in O. But considering its impact, it is hard to imagine someone other than Hartnett portraying the charismatic killer Cooper Abbott in Trap. That role gave Hartnett’s career the boost it needed. Stream The Faculty on Pluto TV for free. Halloween H20 can also be found on the same streaming service.

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