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philosoraptor42
Halloween II (2009)
I went into this dreading the worst. Rob Zombie's sequel was not well-received and, having not been terribly keen on Zombie's initial entry in the series, I hated to think what his follow-up would be like. But low expectations can be helpful sometimes.
In early scenes I was as unimpressed as I'd expected to be. Rob Zombie's shock tactics come in when we spend some time with the undertakers and get to hear one of them express his curiosity about necrophilia. Still, I suppose I should be thankful that he wasn't actively engaging in it considering the rape sequence in the last movie *shudders*.
When Michael first strikes the portrayal of Michael's attacks seem more brutal than ever. In this sequel Zombie seems to have a better idea how to capture Myers' violent stabbing motions and the unrelenting horror of his attacks, as opposed to in the previous film where such attacks felt somewhat boring and repetitive.
Also it now finally seems to make sense that we have an absolutely enormous juggernaut of a man in the role of Michael Myers. It seemed rather jarring in the first instalment, not least because Myers had always been a slim figure before. But this time we see him absolutely demolishing his targets (both people and objects) in such a way as really suits his larger stature.
We still regularly get introduced to characters who are entirely unsympathetic, but to balance this out we spend a lot more time with Brad Dourif this time around. Laurie is living with Brad Dourif's sheriff figure and his daughter this time around and those three are by far the most sympathetic characters. Laurie now also has some newfound friends who seem awfully close to her considering that she cannot have met them very long ago.
I'm also a little surprised by how Laurie has decorated the en suite bathroom in the sheriff's house. In keeping with the rest of the series, that house is absolutely enormous, though it's also remarkably grubby. I guess Dourif has been too busy policing Haddonfield to organise an effective cleaning rota. But nonetheless, Laurie has decided to spray graffiti all around her bathroom, put up various stickers and hang up a poster of Alice Cooper (yes, that's in the bathroom too). I recognise that this may not sound like a huge criticism of the movie, but it felt highly offputting while I was watching the movie.
One element in this movie which is very poorly handled is a suggestion that Laurie is going mad and possibly turning into a killer like her older brother. The particularly dodgy side of this is that she seems to share dreams with Michael. Both of them are now dreaming of their biological mother who seems to want them to kill.
That being said, I really loved the dream imagery. Sure, it might be music video imagery, but at least Zombie is being creative. Laurie dreaming that she is trapped in some kind of glass coffin. Dreams of strange twisted creatures with Halloween pumpkins for heads gathered around a meal table Alice In Wonderland-style. And after so many films where very little changed, this dream imagery finally seems to mix things up a bit. These dream sequences are often shot very well too. There are also a number of shots that are rather impressive outside of the dream sequences too.
The kills also sometimes seem rather more visually interesting this time around, particularly one scene where Zombie holds back from showing a kill, instead revealing it in flashbacks as others discover the aftermath. Many of the kills aren't so effective, but I appreciated the increase in creativity this time around.
I haven't mentioned Dr. Loomis yet (once again played by Malcolm McDowell). This time around he is still shamelessly trying to sell books based on the Myers name. The difference is that this time around he is being called out for it. After Myers' previous kill spree a lot of people hold Loomis responsible for the carnage. And let's face it, in the last movie he WAS directly responsible. It was pretty clear that he is an awful awful therapist. But nevertheless I was rather annoyed that in a later part of this movie, when push comes to shove, he seemed to share Pleasance's therapy technique from part 5 of shouting at the patient in the hopes that they'll snap out of it. I mean seriously, why can nobody write Loomis like he's a bloody professional, eh?
Yes, that IS a cameo from Weird Al Yankovic. (YAY!)
In summation, the positive points are that we have sympathetic characters which we get to actually spend some time with. We also have certain scenes where some kind of artistic creativity appears to be employed. On the negative side, Zombie still hasn't stopped throwing shock value white-trash characters into the mix who are not only entirely unsympathetic but rather boring. Also the attempt to form a connection between Myers and Laurie through shared hallucinations was rather bizarre. Another slightly more minor problem is the disappointing ending to Dr. Loomis' character arc.
When this turned out not to be the expected train wreck, I was actually quite hopeful that I might enjoy it. But none of its interesting imagery makes the characters any more interesting. While I still preferred this to the bizarrely overrated "Halloween H20" it's an uneven film with odd pacing and a confused message.
D+
Ranking the Halloween movies:
10) Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) E-
How do you jump the shark this badly and yet manage to remain so unbearably dull? Now Michael is being controlled by a bizarre cult who use a special rune to make him kill his own family. What stupid nonsense is this and why isn't it more fun?
How do you jump the shark this badly and yet manage to remain so unbearably dull? Now Michael is being controlled by a bizarre cult who use a special rune to make him kill his own family. What stupid nonsense is this and why isn't it more fun?
9) Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) E+
After a promising early scene with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it's clear that no one working on this has a clue how to make a decent Halloween film. Very little happens for the majority of the runtime. Some fans praise the sequence whereby Laurie Strode faces Michael Myers down in the final act, but to be quite frank that is too little too late. If Laurie is supposed to be such an important character in this sequel, why is she so ridiculously under-developed? Even the final act seemed to be lacking in thrills.
After a promising early scene with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, it's clear that no one working on this has a clue how to make a decent Halloween film. Very little happens for the majority of the runtime. Some fans praise the sequence whereby Laurie Strode faces Michael Myers down in the final act, but to be quite frank that is too little too late. If Laurie is supposed to be such an important character in this sequel, why is she so ridiculously under-developed? Even the final act seemed to be lacking in thrills.
8) Halloween 5 (1989) D-
Very little effort appears to have gone into this sequel and there's very little in the way of characters or story structure. This is semi-bearable lazy filmmaking. A few neat sequences like where Jamie (the new heroine) is hiding in a laundry chute, save this from being a complete waste of time.
Very little effort appears to have gone into this sequel and there's very little in the way of characters or story structure. This is semi-bearable lazy filmmaking. A few neat sequences like where Jamie (the new heroine) is hiding in a laundry chute, save this from being a complete waste of time.
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7) Halloween (2007) D+
Rob Zombie's first reboot film tries to take the material in a new direction, but Zombie rather undermines his own efforts with his shock-value style. There's little in the way of fear here and plenty in the way of unpleasantness. But there are all sorts of seeds of potential ideas which never seem to quite play out as effectively as they could.
6) Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) D+
A somewhat laudable attempt to recapture the rivalry between Loomis and Myers. The film is generally pretty cheap and nasty and the final 'twist' felt utterly stupid. Still, the film at least managed to hint at how interesting a story about Loomis' pursuit of Michael Myers could have been. It's just a pity that neither this movie nor the following sequels were at all sure how to make it work.
5) Halloween: Resurrection (2002) D+
Not a particularly good movie, but as a mediocre horror film this pushes all the right buttons. Even some goofiness from Busta Rhymes doesn't take away from Michael Myers' sinister presence here.
Not a particularly good movie, but as a mediocre horror film this pushes all the right buttons. Even some goofiness from Busta Rhymes doesn't take away from Michael Myers' sinister presence here.
4) Halloween II (2009) D+
Rob Zombie's second film is not good at all, but it has some rather stunning camera work, some compelling imagery and it does a great job of capturing Michael Myers' pure brutality. In spite of an uneven tone and an unclear message, this is about as creative as the series has ever been since the initial three movies.
Rob Zombie's second film is not good at all, but it has some rather stunning camera work, some compelling imagery and it does a great job of capturing Michael Myers' pure brutality. In spite of an uneven tone and an unclear message, this is about as creative as the series has ever been since the initial three movies.
3) Halloween (1978) B-
John Carpenter is a great director, but I do not think this is one of his better films. Working with a low budget and spoofing horror tropes, what makes Halloween special is the way it acts seemingly as a monster movie where the monster is a human being. No other slasher movie had really managed to capture their sinister villain in such an inhuman and monstrous fashion before.
John Carpenter is a great director, but I do not think this is one of his better films. Working with a low budget and spoofing horror tropes, what makes Halloween special is the way it acts seemingly as a monster movie where the monster is a human being. No other slasher movie had really managed to capture their sinister villain in such an inhuman and monstrous fashion before.
2) Halloween II (1981) B+
By starting where the first movie left off this was able to carry forward all the tension built up before as well as ramping up the violence. Much more active than the first movie and unlike the first film it has a fair bit of gore too. Begins with a very effective first-person camera sequence and builds up to a dramatic finale face-off against the evil Michael Myers.
By starting where the first movie left off this was able to carry forward all the tension built up before as well as ramping up the violence. Much more active than the first movie and unlike the first film it has a fair bit of gore too. Begins with a very effective first-person camera sequence and builds up to a dramatic finale face-off against the evil Michael Myers.
1) Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) B+
In a series with few real highlights, Halloween III turned out to be a great little Carpenter style horror film. It had a good sense of fun, it had some impressive imagery, it had a whole ridiculous combination of ideas and it had a compelling villain. Could have marked the beginning of a wonderful series of Halloween-themed horror films, but because it wasn't accepted by audiences, it marked the end of creativity in the Halloween franchise.
