Halloween II (2009)

Laurie Strode struggles to come to terms with her brother Michael's deadly return to Haddonfield, Illinois; meanwhile, Michael prepares for another reunion with his sister.

Director:

Rob Zombie

Writer:

Rob Zombie

Stars:

Sheri Moon Zombie, Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sheri Moon Zombie	...	Deborah Myers
Chase Wright Vanek	...	Young Michael (as Chase Vanek)
Scout Taylor-Compton	...	Laurie Strode
Brad Dourif	...	Sheriff Lee Brackett
Caroline Williams	...	Dr. Maple
Malcolm McDowell	...	Dr. Samuel Loomis
Tyler Mane	...	Michael Myers
Dayton Callie	...	Coroner Hooks
Richard Brake	...	Gary Scott
Octavia Spencer	...	Nurse Daniels
Danielle Harris	...	Annie Brackett
Richard Riehle	...	Buddy the Night Watchman
Margot Kidder	...	Barbara Collier
Mary Birdsong	...	Nancy McDonald
Brea Grant	...	Mya Rockwell

Storyline

Michael Myers is still at large and no less dangerous than ever. After a failed reunion to reach his baby sister at their old home, Laurie Strode is immediately taken to a hospital to be treated by the wounds that had been afflicted by her brother a few hours ago. However, Michael isn't too far off and will continue his murdering 'Halloween' rampage until he gets his sister all to himself.

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Plot Keywords:

halloween | hospital | michael myers | cow in the road | halloween costume | 

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Taglines:

Family Is Forever

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence throughout, terror, disturbing graphic images, language, and some crude sexual content and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

HalloweenMovies.com: The Official site of Michael Myers Official site [jp]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 August 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

H2

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£522,661 (UK) (9 October 2009)

Gross:

$33,386,128 (USA) (20 November 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Spectacle Entertainment Group, Trancas International Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 119 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Carpenter was offered a cameo in the film by Rob Zombie, but he turned it down.

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Goofs

The shirt that Laurie wore in the beginning of the film when she's walking with the gun and being pulled through the hospital, it's obviously not the same shirt used in the first movie.

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Quotes

Annie Brackett: Look at me. What is going on? Let me just call my dad, okay? We can talk to him.
Laurie Strode: You know what? I have a message for your dad. Tell him that Angel says "fuck you"!
Annie Brackett: Who is Angel? Laurie!

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Crazy Credits

Stills of crime scene photographs of Michael's murders are shown over the credits.

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Soundtracks

"I Against I"
Written by Paul 'H.R.' Hudson (as Paul D. Hudson), Darryl Jenifer (as Darryl A. Jenifer) and Gary 'Dr. Know' Miller (as Gary W. Miller)
Performed by Bad Brains
Courtesy of SST Records Inc.
By Arrangement with The Orchard

User Reviews

Killer Instincts

In my review of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," I wrote that those put off by "Death Proof" would also likely be put off by his latest. Go figure that one week later, I am applying the same notion to Rob Zombie's sequel to his 2007 remake of "Halloween." One of the most heatedly derided remakes to date, I found Zombie's take impassioned and sincere while transcending John Carpenter's minimal, workmanlike low-budget-horror-flick terrain. While not a perfect film, "Halloween" epitomized (to me, anyway) the creative potential of the remake when placed in the right hands.

"Halloween II" finds Zombie returning to the Michael Myers maelstrom while tightening already-established character arcs, employing a harshly gritty style (courtesy of DP Brandon Trost), and topping it all off with a heapin' helpin' of carnage. Whereas "Halloween" focused on the inception and evolution of Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) from a murderous youth to the hulking masked madman we all know and love, Zombie's thematic focus this time out is "family" (and its many incarnations), using the traumatized character of Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) as its axis.

Picking up one year after the fateful night her brother decided to come home, Laurie has become a punked-out version of her former virginal suburbanite self, and now resides with Sheriff Lee (Brad Dourif, sporting a Ted Nugent hairdo) and Annie Brackett (Danielle Harris). Meanwhile, the Eve of All Hallows is looming over Haddonfield like a shadowy blanket, with a rejuvenated, hooded-angel-of-death Michael Myers making a pilgrimage back home, guided by the specters of his younger self (Chase Wright Vanek) and his mother, Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie). In the meantime, Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) has become a pop-psychology celebrity, authoring yet another book on his last run-in with the notorious Myers.

With "Halloween II," Zombie drops the slick, polished look of the initial film, replacing instead with dark, grainy stock punctuated by flashes of neon and the soft focus of black & white. In many ways, the director has created a film that, like his characters, is schizophrenic in its style, cleverly threading complex dream sequences into reality, and cutting away from scenes with little warning. While the employment of dream sequences in most films is a cheap tactic for a "GOTCHA!" moment, Zombie keeps his motives ambiguous: do the dreams represent a psychic link between Laurie and Michael? the erosion of Laurie's sanity? Michael's distorted concept of pilgrimage? Either (and every) way, they give the proceedings a richly layered psychological weight that, in addition to their shock value, make us feel that the characters each have something at stake. The events leading up to the brilliantly-staged climax are both unpredictable and surprisingly affecting.

Unlike the "Saw" sequels (which have become the bane of the discriminating horror fan's existence), bathed in a hypocritical morality amid all the twisted flesh, spilled blood, and dungeon locations, Zombie is cognizant of death as something horrifying and destructive--the murders in "Halloween II" are played straight, executed with a fury that is disquieting; Myers has become a driven beast whose path of destruction possesses a joyless, workmanlike quality, removing any potential glamorization from the act. Every flesh-tearing slash, every helpless scream, cuts to the bone.

Quite admirably, Zombie uses his second go-'round with Myers as a chance to tie up character arcs and plot threads that felt truncated in the over-ambitious "Halloween": Loomis, who seems detached from most of the main plot, is given a chance to redeem his greedy, bottom-feeder ways; Sheriff Brackett gets to exhibit a paternal side, but also an authoritarian mentality once the code of law is broken (he has several great, emotionally wrenching scenes near the end of the film); as Deborah, Sheri Moon Zombie's detached, trancelike performance is apt for the physical manifestation of the voice guiding a psychotic mind. Amid the carnage of his corpse-strewn landscape, Zombie's interest in character interaction and moral ambiguity gives "Halloween II" a depth that, for those with the stomach to take it, is downright refreshing.