Movie Info
Movie Name: Halloween II
Studio: Dimension Films
Genre(s): Horror
Release Date(s): August 28, 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Trick or treat, kid…want to live or die?
Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) is rushed to the hospital but her night of horror continues in her dreams. Laurie tries to adjust to her new life one year after the horrible Halloween and build a new life living with Sheriff Bracket (Brad Dourif) and his daughter (Danielle Harris). A new book by Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is about to change Laurie’s life forever. With Michael’s body was never discovered after an accident means Michael (Tyler Mane) is still out there…and he’s coming for her.
Directed by Rob Zombie, Halloween II (sometimes just referred to as H2) is the follow-up to the successful Rob Zombie remake of Halloween in 2007. Unlike the first movie which received average to good reviews, this sequel was poorly received by fans and critics.
I was not a big fan of the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween. I felt that the original was solid, and Michael Myers was a far scarier killer coming from an average upper-middle class family. The original Halloween II was one of the first slasher films I saw…so this version of Halloween II already had some stuff stacked against it for me.
Michael’s got a heart…in addition to the one he ripped out
The movie is structurally flawed which helps lead to its downfall. It appears that Zombie wanted to follow the plot of the original Halloween II (1981) with a hospital, horror situation. That is good, but unfortunately after about a twenty minute hospital sequence with characters, discussions, and development, it all turns out to be a dream…really?!? I thought the dream motif when out years ago, and the idea of having a dream sequence that takes up so much time is a real waste. The movie should have either been about the hospital (my preference) or about the “one-year-later” motif that is popular with Halloween series.
Throughout the “real” story, Michael just meanders around killing random people (after apparently hanging out in a field or something for a year as a homeless man). The deaths are uninspiring and not tied together enough to constitute a plot. This is mixed with weird visions by Laurie and images of her mother (played by Sheri Moon Zombie again) and a recast young Michael Myers (Chase Wright Vanek)…it makes the movie even more painfully bad.
Ok…what’s happening here?
The saving grace in this segment of the story is that Tyler Mane continues to be a good Michael with his size and speed…I just wish it was a better plot for him. Malcolm McDowell continues to prove that he makes some really bad movie choices though I do like the Weird Al Yankovic cameo which seems so out of place in a Rob Zombie movie (I think that is why I like it since his movies are usually pretty heavy handed).
Halloween II is a bad movie. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Halloween remake, but I was disappointed even more by this film since the ideas set up in the first Halloween film don’t really feel like they come to fruition. There have been talks of a third Halloween film but as of now, no news of another sequel…can we get a Rob Zombie Season of the Witch (halfway kidding, halfway real…he might make it cool).
Related Links:
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
