Man fashion picture

This summer, multiplatinum rapper Busta Ryhmes and supermodel Tyra Banks battle it out with legendary boogieman Michael Myers in Dimension Films' Halloween: Resurrection.

Busta is Freddie Harris, a smooth-talking entrepreneur out to make money by promoting the latest idea in "reality" TV programming: "Dangertainment." Banks plays Nora Winston, his under-appreciated assistant.

As part of a publicity ploy Harris sponsors a contest with local college students, and the winners are chosen to spend the night in the home of serial killer Michael Myers.

The group of students enter the eerie home extremely confident with an invulnerability to fear. Each person is given a video headset to enhance the live broadcast, allowing him or her to capture the heart-stopping twist and turns of the evening as their night of fun turns into a night of pure terror.

"I'm pretty much the one that's trying to capitalize on this whole thing that we actually think we're staging," says Busta. "No one is really aware whether or not Michael Myers is alive because he hasn't been making any noise for the last couple of years.

"We actually try to make it seem a certain way to try to create some excitement for the viewers. By surprise, all hell brakes loose and that's when the action really starts."

Busta told JET that he was drawn to the part because of the starring-role opportunity and for the way the movie was written.

"You know, we kind of all grew up on the legacy of the Halloween joint," says Busta, who is currently on tour promoting his latest CD Genesis. "It's a role that has a well-rounded character and I thought that it would be good for me.

"I was really intrigued by the way this movie in particular was written because it's a lot more urban and a lot flyer in terms of excitement."

Even though this is his first horror movie, Busta is no stranger to the silver screen. Known for his sculpted dreadlocks and unique, animated rap style, the New York native has appeared in Who's The Man, Strapped, Shaft, and Finding Forrester. He also had a role, as did his current co-star Banks, in the 1995 film Higher Learning.

"She's somebody who works closely with me in organizing everything," Busta says of Banks. "Even though there wasn't a love interest, we had our intimate moments just in terms of being in scenes where we had to interact closely."

Banks, who bedazzled high-fashion runways worldwide and graced hundreds of magazine covers, is now putting her focus on acting. She was introduced to Hollywood with roles on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "New York Undercover." Her movie credits include Coyote Ugly, Love and Basketball and the made-for-TV Disney movie Life Size.

The international fashion icon-turned-actress hoped that starring in a horror movie would help her to get over one of her deepest terrors--scary films.

"Horror movies really freak me out," she admits. "Usually, I have to have a posse of people with me when I watch them, so I was hoping that being in a horror movie would make me less scared. But the minute I saw Michael Myers on the set, I couldn't helped but be spooked--it's just that his mask is so lifelike and yet he's so devoid of emotion. That got me."

Banks had nothing but good things to say about her partner in the film.

"I had a really good time with Busta," she says. "A lot of people come from one genre to the next and they're not necessarily talented people. They get in because they're talented in another area. Busta is nowhere near that. He is so talented and he takes it really seriously. It was so much fun to work with him on a personal level."

Also appearing in Halloween: Resurrection is Sean Patrick Thomas, star of the box-office smash Save the Last Dance.

"I play Rudy Grimes ... a very ambitious young college student [and chef] who sees going into this house as a good promotion for his ambitions to become a world-wide, internationally known chef and open his own business," explains Thomas, who is also currently in production on the film Barbershop.

Thomas, whose acting credits include CBS-TV's police drama "The District," Courage Under Fire and Dracula 2000, enjoyed working with his two co-stars.

"They were great," he says. "We laughed about every scene. When we're not running and screaming, we're laughing."

The eighth sequel of Halloween goes high-tech. Director Rick Rosenthal wanted to bring the new technology of the world, and filmmaking, to the forefront in the first episode of the new millennium. He was able to accomplish his mission by having each character carry a mini-digital camera strapped to their heads.

"Halloween: Resurrection transcends the slasher formula," says Rosenthal. "The audience gets a chance to follow extremely likeable characters almost from inside their heads."

Rounding out the cast of characters are Bianca Kajlich, Katee Sackhoff, Thomas Ian Nichols, Luke Kirby, Daisy McCrackin and from the original 1978 Halloween, veteran actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

Halloween: Resurrection hits theaters across the country on July 12.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group