Halloween 2 Review
(Warning: may contain minor spoilers)
Synopsis - “It is that time of year again, and Michael Myers has returned home to sleepy Haddonfield, Illinois to take care of some unfinished family business. Unleashing a trail of terror that only horror master Rob Zombie can, Myers will stop at nothing to bring closure to the secrets of his twisted past. But the town’s got an unlikely new hero, if they can only stay alive long enough to stop the unstoppable”
Halloween 2 had the potential to become a great horror film, but Zombie’s vision was spoiled with industry clichés and bad dialogue. I’ll keep this review relatively short just so I don’t give too much away.
One of my biggest problems with this film is how Myers is portrayed. Michael has been living off the land for the last year. He is wearing a hoodie over his coveralls, feeds on animals, and steals what he needs to survive. In several scenes you can just about make out Michael’s face (Tyler Mane). The long hair and ZZ Top style beard is a realistic take on what Myers would look like after a year of hibernation. A little too different for me, but some fans seem to like it.
Zombie wanted to make this movie as realistic as possible so this makes sense to a certain extent. One could argue that it’s a better explanation of what Michael does on his time off than the previous sequels. For example look how clean Myers was in Halloween H20. He has been resting for 20 years. Do you think he shaves and takes his coveralls to the dry cleaner? Hell no.
I had a big problem with the caveman like grunts Michael makes as he is killing someone. He didn’t do that in the remake, why the hell would he start now? As long as I’m on the subject of death, I should point out that this is by far the most violent Halloween to date. The kills are brutal and bloody. Zombie went a little overboard with some of the FX though.
Dr. Loomis on the other hand has become a money hungry writer who is trying to feed of the crimes that took place a year prior. This is an unusual take on Myers’ former doctor. Sherriff Brackett’s role in this film is huge compared to what it was in the remake. The sheriff “adopts” Laurie and does everything he can to protect her until Dr. Loomis’s book informs the world that Laurie’s real name is Angel Myers, Michael’s sister. Let’s just say that either of them were happy to hear the news.
Laurie and Michael have some sort of telepathic link (similar to the one Jamie has in Halloween 5). Sherri Moon is back (of course) as Deborah Myers’ ghost. Deborah is walking a white horse most of the time. I’m not going to get into the white horse. Michael has visions of his mom and Laurie sees her in her nightmares. Perhaps the scariest thing about this film is the macabre Nightmares Laurie has. The dreams are visually intriguing as well as strangely artistic.
I loved the first 20 minutes of this film, but it really started to go downhill after that. The ending could have been better as well. I’m not going to get into too much, but I will say that Zombie should have added in some dramatic dialogue for Dr. Loomis or Laurie. Overall the pacing of this film was rather messy. Some of the scenes were random and out of place and you don’t really care about any of the characters, which is a must for a horror film.
I much prefer the original series as opposed to Rob Zombie’s version of the masked killer. That being said, I am a big fan of Zombie’s movies as well as music. This movie has put me on a teeter tote of love and hate. I appreciate Zombie’s goal to take the series in a fresh direction, but at the same time I felt like I wasn’t watching a Halloween movie. I walked out of Century’s midnight showing on Thursday feeling angry at the direction Rob has taken the franchise. After I watched the movie on Friday, I had a little more respect and understanding for Rob’s vision. It made a little more sense to me.
I have a feeling the DVD will include tons of deleted scenes since I saw a lot of things in the trailers that weren’t in the movie. A bitter sweet installment in the series that covers over 3 decades.
The Good:
Good emotional performances (Brad Dourif, Scout Taylor-Compton)
Brutal killings
A fresh story
The Bad:
Bad acting at certain times in the movie
The white horse?
Over the top FX
No real “Halloween” feel
Lack of screen time and importance for Dr. Loomis
Messy story
Unlikeable actors/characters with no purpose other than to die
At least this one is still better than Halloween Resurrection.
A touch decision, but **** ½ stars**
Early reports say that next summer a Halloween 3D movie will be released. So long for making the Halloween series frightening. It’s 3D gimmick time baby!
For those of you who saw the film it, feel free to let me know what you liked/disliked about Halloween 2. If you have any questions for me just fire away.
Yes, I did dress up for Halloween 2.
