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“Night brings terror. Strange, alien forms move restlessly across the face of the earth. Fear, horror and death follow in their wake. The sky is dark; the moon has not yet risen; the stars seem too frightened to shine ..." --- Drake Douglas (introduction to Horrors)

Horrorphile - October 2007

Halloween II

October 31st 2007 05:33
Halloween II movie poster
“More of the night He came home!”

Okay, it’s not anywhere near as unnerving or frightening as John Carpenter’s original, but this sequel should’ve been titled more precisely Halloween Part Two as it continues straight on from where the first one finishes, in fact the movie even starts with the last moments of the first movie and then takes the baton and runs with it. It stumbles and falls a few times, but that’s to be expected, it wasn’t directed by Carpenter it was directed by debut feature director Rick Rosenthal.

Halloween II Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis as hospital bound Laurie
Halloween II (1981) is literally more of the night Michael Myers came home to Haddenfield. The movie takes place over the rest of Halloween night but is set almost entirely in a hospital. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), having been badly wounded by Myers in the first movie, is at the local hospital while Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) and Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers), who’s pretty daughter Annie died at the hands of the boogeyman, are out and about trying to track down this phantom homicidal maniac.
Halloween II Donald Pleasence and Charles Cyphers
Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers) examine Michael's handiwork


A young man inadvertently alerts Myers to Laurie’s whereabouts, and thus the tension is racketed up ten fold as Myers begins murdering the few hospital nurses and interns on nightshift (yes, oddly convenient for the purposes of the movie that the Haddonfield hospital is so vacant on Halloween night).
Halloween II Jamie Lee Curtis and Lance Guest
Paramedic Jimmy (Lance Guest) checks on Laurie
Meanwhile Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) the asylum nurse who was meant to be aiding Michael Myers transference to a maximum security prison at the beginning of the first movie informs Dr. Loomis that Michael is after Laurie Strode because she is his sister, born two years before he was committed.
Halloween II Jamie Lee Curtis
Laurie knows Michael is not dead
Myers is closing in on Laurie. Will Dr. Loomis get to her in time to save her from the boogeyman incarnate? Will Michael Myers complete his deranged mission of evil? What can possibly stop this human killing machine?!
Halloween II Tony Moran
Michael Myers on the loose
Director Rosenthal’s helming of the sequel isn’t terrible, but it lacks the fluidity or narrative cohesion of Carpenter’s original. If anything the movie is more subdued in mood and atmosphere and more pedestrian in its use of camerawork and lighting. However, these failings aside the movie is much better than most sequels, if anything because it continues on with the same thread and intent as the first movie, and Halloween's murderous legacy has enough power to imbue Halloween II with the momentum to follow through.
Halloween II Tawny Moyer
Pretty nurse your time is up
It’s more graphic in its depiction of violence, and in this respect it is similar to the multitude of slasher movies which were already hitting cinemas. Sean Cunningham’s Friday the 13th (1980) had opened the floodgates and so Carpenter, who wrote and produced Halloween II, was forced to play the same game other wise risk being slammed by gore hungry horror fans.
Halloween II face bath
Michael Myers tests the hospital spa temperature
But the characters, outside of the two central ones, are nowhere near as convincing or memorable. The hospital staff are all cardboard cutouts. But their deaths are juicy, especially the one where Myers rams a scalpel into the back of a nurse and with his own sheer strength lifts her up off the ground (okay, so that’s hokey as hell, but it looks great).

Of course I have to mention the infamous Halloween score again, because this is integral to the movie’s atmosphere. Carpenter alters the themes slightly, but the central elements are still as powerful as ever and damn scary too … always, every time.
Halloween II Michael on fire
Michael Myers infernal rage finally consumes him
Halloween II, despite its shortcomings, is best watched back to back with the first movie. While the next film Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) has nothing to do with anything from the first two films except for the Halloween setting, and is okay viewed on its own (I’ll review it at a later date), the other five sequels are utter shite. I don’t care what anyone else says Halloween and Halloween II is where the story starts and ends.

Here is the original theatrical trailer:


There was an alternate ending made for the television version which provided viewers with a more upbeat consequence for the character of paramedic Jimmy (Lance Guest). Warning: contains spoilers:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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9 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by JohnDoe

November 1st 2007 01:13


Film & TV on DVD
Good one Bryn,

Totally agree, this is no where near the tension of the first, but as horror sequels go its one of the few that doesn't massacre the original with a machete.


Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2007 01:32


Horrorphile
... no, it pares it off with a scalpel.

Comment by JohnDoe

November 1st 2007 01:35


Film & TV on DVD
Shaves it with a sickle?

Comment by Bryn

November 1st 2007 01:37


Horrorphile
... scrapes it with a scythe!

Comment by JohnDoe

November 1st 2007 01:51


Film & TV on DVD
...makes incisions with a cut throat sling blade.

Comment by Damo

November 5th 2007 04:25


For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Halloween 111 was just a weird movie with out a reason.

Good review.

Comment by Bryn

November 5th 2007 23:33


Horrorphile
Damo, I'm gonna review Season of the Witch soon.

Comment by Anonymous

November 6th 2007 07:48
Of course the original is classic, but there's something about Halloween II that, to me, makes it scarier, and in some ways better. The mythology wasn't there with Michael Myers in the original, as far as the performance goes. He did little things that he shouldn't have in retrospect after adding part II to the canon. Dick Warlock's Michael was much creepier than Nick Castle's because by then, we knew what he was supposed to be. The fact that he strode boldly around town, only hiding from Loomis, made him seem more dangerous. The characters were, in some cases, just cannon fodder, but that was part of the point. They were the protective barriers around Laurie, and Michael slowly picked them off, leaving her defenseless in a hospital, a place where people are supposed to be cared for. The kills had more purpose and were generally more brutal. And they almost completely did away with any comic relief or moments of levity. An air of tension is maintained throughout. And yes, Michael was killed in this movie - part II was the end of the saga. The two movies compliment each other really well and Rick Rosenthal deserves more credit than he gets. =)

Comment by Bryn

November 6th 2007 21:55


Horrorphile
Anon, thankyou, nice analysis .... you've successfully raised the bar on the sequel ... well done! I would kill to see them as a double feature on the big screen! Back to back, no intermission! Yes! How good would that be?!

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