Released in 1981, Halloween 2 lives up to what it promises, a horror sequel. After the first film, which was shot on a very low budget, surpassed everyone's expectations by becoming the highest grossing independent film in history, major studios were making a series of imitators, one of them being Sean Cuningham's Friday The 13th (1980), which was released by Paramount and a blood stained or more commercial answer to Halloween. It's ironic that the same studios who turned John Carpenter's horror thriller down were making their own films about serial killers stalking teenagers, most of them being uninspired compared to the original Halloween. There are a few exceptions though, like Wes Craven's superb A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984).
Anyway, back to this movie. Universal Studios began approaching John Carpenter and Debra Hill with the idea of a sequel, for which they declined at first. Even Debra Hill said herself in a 2002 interview that a sequel was "The furthest thing from our minds". After Moustapha Akkad (finacer of the first film) agreed to make a follow up, Carpenter and Hill said that they would produce it and write the screenplay but only if the film were be to directed by someone else. Carpenter originally handed the opportunity to direct Halloween 2 over to Tommy Lee Wallace, who was the production designer and editor of the first film. Wallace didn't care for the script that Carpenter and Hill wrote and stated that he wasn't attached to the story so he dropped out of the project. The responsibility of directing would eventually go to an unknown director named Rick Rosenthal who had made a short film that Carpenter was impressed with which is the reason why Rosenthal got the job.
Carpenter and Hill decided to make this movie a continuation of the first film, it picks up exactly where the first one left off and takes place completely on the same night as the fist film. After it is revealed at the end of the first film that Michael Myers is not dead, police are out around town looking for him, along with Dr. Loomis who knows for sure that Myers is still alive. Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to the hospital after surviving from Michael's bloody rampage. She appears to be safe but Myers soon finds out about where she is and makes his way to the clinic and of course, all hell breaks lose. It appears that the nightmare isn't over yet and audiences will have to find out if Laurie (or anyone for that matter) will survive the rest of the night.
Production began in early 1981, Jamie Lee Curtis returned to play the role that made her famous from the first film, Laurie Strode. Dean Cundey, who was the cinematographer on the first Halloween, returned also to bring his unique visual approach. This time, to play Michael Myers, the filmmakers brought in a stunt man named Dick Warlock who had worked on many movies as a stunt man for many years. The always loyal Donald Plescence also returned from the first film to play Dr. Loomis, his performance feels just as focused as it was the first time around. Besides Jamie Lee and Donald, an entire new cast was added to play the residents at the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, which most of the film takes place at. There was a lot of tension on the set, Carpenter and director Rick Rosenthal had a different vision on what the finished film should be and and producer Debra Hill said that the movie was very difficult to be fully realized. When the film was finished, Carpenter was not happy with it and even said that Rosenthal should completely change his movie, stating that it wasn't frighting enough. Carpenter has said in an interview that he shot the opening scenes in the movie and that he was not happy doing it but that it had to be done to make the movie better. This is the film that you see today.
Released on October 30th of 1981, Halloween 2 was a box office hit and while Carpenter and Hill were not pleased with the film, audiences enjoyed it. Rick Rosenthal, while his experience with Carpenter may have not been pleasant, has said that he thinks the movie "holds up very well" and "is still really scary". Rosenthal would return to direct another Halloween sequel 20 years later, the 2002 film Halloween: Resurrection. As for my views on the film, I feel that this movie is just as great as the first film and just as scary and entertaining. This film was much darker in terms of style and of course, there is more gore this time around. While the first film has no scenes of graphic violence, we can all assume that John Carpenter was feeling (as Tommy Lee Wallace stated) the pressures of the market place. Films like Friday The 13th had much more blood and violence in them so Carpenter wrote Halloween 2 including more of that. I still feel that this movie is just as suspenseful and while not as pure as the first film, still a good movie, I would say that it's great even. The atmosphere is well done and includes really nice camera work from Dean Cundey. If you're a horror fan then this movie should please you.
Anyway, back to this movie. Universal Studios began approaching John Carpenter and Debra Hill with the idea of a sequel, for which they declined at first. Even Debra Hill said herself in a 2002 interview that a sequel was "The furthest thing from our minds". After Moustapha Akkad (finacer of the first film) agreed to make a follow up, Carpenter and Hill said that they would produce it and write the screenplay but only if the film were be to directed by someone else. Carpenter originally handed the opportunity to direct Halloween 2 over to Tommy Lee Wallace, who was the production designer and editor of the first film. Wallace didn't care for the script that Carpenter and Hill wrote and stated that he wasn't attached to the story so he dropped out of the project. The responsibility of directing would eventually go to an unknown director named Rick Rosenthal who had made a short film that Carpenter was impressed with which is the reason why Rosenthal got the job.
Carpenter and Hill decided to make this movie a continuation of the first film, it picks up exactly where the first one left off and takes place completely on the same night as the fist film. After it is revealed at the end of the first film that Michael Myers is not dead, police are out around town looking for him, along with Dr. Loomis who knows for sure that Myers is still alive. Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to the hospital after surviving from Michael's bloody rampage. She appears to be safe but Myers soon finds out about where she is and makes his way to the clinic and of course, all hell breaks lose. It appears that the nightmare isn't over yet and audiences will have to find out if Laurie (or anyone for that matter) will survive the rest of the night.
Production began in early 1981, Jamie Lee Curtis returned to play the role that made her famous from the first film, Laurie Strode. Dean Cundey, who was the cinematographer on the first Halloween, returned also to bring his unique visual approach. This time, to play Michael Myers, the filmmakers brought in a stunt man named Dick Warlock who had worked on many movies as a stunt man for many years. The always loyal Donald Plescence also returned from the first film to play Dr. Loomis, his performance feels just as focused as it was the first time around. Besides Jamie Lee and Donald, an entire new cast was added to play the residents at the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, which most of the film takes place at. There was a lot of tension on the set, Carpenter and director Rick Rosenthal had a different vision on what the finished film should be and and producer Debra Hill said that the movie was very difficult to be fully realized. When the film was finished, Carpenter was not happy with it and even said that Rosenthal should completely change his movie, stating that it wasn't frighting enough. Carpenter has said in an interview that he shot the opening scenes in the movie and that he was not happy doing it but that it had to be done to make the movie better. This is the film that you see today.
Released on October 30th of 1981, Halloween 2 was a box office hit and while Carpenter and Hill were not pleased with the film, audiences enjoyed it. Rick Rosenthal, while his experience with Carpenter may have not been pleasant, has said that he thinks the movie "holds up very well" and "is still really scary". Rosenthal would return to direct another Halloween sequel 20 years later, the 2002 film Halloween: Resurrection. As for my views on the film, I feel that this movie is just as great as the first film and just as scary and entertaining. This film was much darker in terms of style and of course, there is more gore this time around. While the first film has no scenes of graphic violence, we can all assume that John Carpenter was feeling (as Tommy Lee Wallace stated) the pressures of the market place. Films like Friday The 13th had much more blood and violence in them so Carpenter wrote Halloween 2 including more of that. I still feel that this movie is just as suspenseful and while not as pure as the first film, still a good movie, I would say that it's great even. The atmosphere is well done and includes really nice camera work from Dean Cundey. If you're a horror fan then this movie should please you.