The story picks up directly following the events of the first Halloween making it feel like a real continuation of the original immortal classic. After Doctor Loomis shot Michael and he fell out the balcony, he was no longer there which leads to a crazy exciting game of cat and mouse between Loomis and Michael Myers and later also on Michael Myers and Laurie Strode.
Director Rick Rosenthal and cinematographer Dean Cundey do a good job with capturing the feel of its predecessor. In fact Halloween 2 surpasses the original movies atmosphere in some ways. Probably because it plays in night time the entire movie giving this one a very cold and eerie atmosphere. John Carpenters score which sounds more aggressive this time may contribute to this as well. So does also the hospital setting that gives the movie a very claustrophobic feeling.
Donald Pleasence again delivered an Oscar worthy performance as Doctor Samuel Loomis. Even though he spent 15 years with Myers he still is not in control of the situation nor does he know what Michael is up to. Loomis is very hysterical in his attempts to finally put his adversary down so much that he is really having a hard time justifying his actions to others as he tries to explain himself and to warn the others about the absolutely deadly threat posed by Myers so much that he himself could wear a straight jacket anytime soon.
Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode. She is not having as much screen time as in the original but that alright. After all it's Loomis who is the real protagonist of the first two films with Laurie being the deuteragonist. Despite her smaller role she did as good as in the first movie.
But now lets talk about Michael Myers himself. This time played by Dick Warlock. Despite Warlock being the shortest actor to play Michael Myers it doesn't bother in the slightest. His slow walking, movements and postures ensure for an threatening figure and supernatural force you don't want to mess with. Seeing him creeping around on empty hallways, being one step ahead of Dr. Loomis and playing with his victims in a sadistic way, again add a lot to the atmosphere and make Michael Myers a great villain you will remember. The kills are great. Especially the bath tube kill and the syringe one. Michael is more brutal as he is in the original which obviously comes from the higher movie budget and the fact that Friday the 13th was such a huge success. You can say that this version of Michael Myers was the template for the T-800 and the T-1000 in both Terminator 1 and 2 and even Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men does have some little Halloween 2 Michael Myers in him.
There are some minor flaws in this movie. My biggest issue with the movie is not really a flaw though but walking with an tiny scalpel is visually not as stunning as wielding a big kitchen knife. Michael should have sticked with that one. Actual flaws would be the fact that you could see Annie's eyes blink despite being dead or Michael landing on grass in H2 despite him landing on the dirt after falling down the balcony in H1. Or the one where you can see behind the set when the hospital explodes. Some may consider it a big flaw that Laurie wasn't screaming "Help me" right after she saw Loomis and the other but can you really think clearly when you took some medicines that daze you? I probably couldn't.
Unlike some others I like the plot reveal of Michael and Laurie being sibling and I think it extended on the original plot very well. Having Michael killing for no reason may work in the original but it really is not good story telling making sequel after sequel and say: "He does this just because..." And Michael Myers would probably not as iconic as he is now without some good and even bad sequels.
Anyway despite minor issues I call Halloween 2 my favorite movie of all time and give it a 10/10. And remember Happy Halloween Silver Shamrock.
Director Rick Rosenthal and cinematographer Dean Cundey do a good job with capturing the feel of its predecessor. In fact Halloween 2 surpasses the original movies atmosphere in some ways. Probably because it plays in night time the entire movie giving this one a very cold and eerie atmosphere. John Carpenters score which sounds more aggressive this time may contribute to this as well. So does also the hospital setting that gives the movie a very claustrophobic feeling.
Donald Pleasence again delivered an Oscar worthy performance as Doctor Samuel Loomis. Even though he spent 15 years with Myers he still is not in control of the situation nor does he know what Michael is up to. Loomis is very hysterical in his attempts to finally put his adversary down so much that he is really having a hard time justifying his actions to others as he tries to explain himself and to warn the others about the absolutely deadly threat posed by Myers so much that he himself could wear a straight jacket anytime soon.
Jamie Lee Curtis is back as Laurie Strode. She is not having as much screen time as in the original but that alright. After all it's Loomis who is the real protagonist of the first two films with Laurie being the deuteragonist. Despite her smaller role she did as good as in the first movie.
But now lets talk about Michael Myers himself. This time played by Dick Warlock. Despite Warlock being the shortest actor to play Michael Myers it doesn't bother in the slightest. His slow walking, movements and postures ensure for an threatening figure and supernatural force you don't want to mess with. Seeing him creeping around on empty hallways, being one step ahead of Dr. Loomis and playing with his victims in a sadistic way, again add a lot to the atmosphere and make Michael Myers a great villain you will remember. The kills are great. Especially the bath tube kill and the syringe one. Michael is more brutal as he is in the original which obviously comes from the higher movie budget and the fact that Friday the 13th was such a huge success. You can say that this version of Michael Myers was the template for the T-800 and the T-1000 in both Terminator 1 and 2 and even Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men does have some little Halloween 2 Michael Myers in him.
There are some minor flaws in this movie. My biggest issue with the movie is not really a flaw though but walking with an tiny scalpel is visually not as stunning as wielding a big kitchen knife. Michael should have sticked with that one. Actual flaws would be the fact that you could see Annie's eyes blink despite being dead or Michael landing on grass in H2 despite him landing on the dirt after falling down the balcony in H1. Or the one where you can see behind the set when the hospital explodes. Some may consider it a big flaw that Laurie wasn't screaming "Help me" right after she saw Loomis and the other but can you really think clearly when you took some medicines that daze you? I probably couldn't.
Unlike some others I like the plot reveal of Michael and Laurie being sibling and I think it extended on the original plot very well. Having Michael killing for no reason may work in the original but it really is not good story telling making sequel after sequel and say: "He does this just because..." And Michael Myers would probably not as iconic as he is now without some good and even bad sequels.
Anyway despite minor issues I call Halloween 2 my favorite movie of all time and give it a 10/10. And remember Happy Halloween Silver Shamrock.