Halloween II

It may not be as great as the original, but in general, Halloween II is actually one of the better horror sequels. Taking place on the same night as the original (October 31, 1978), Michael Myers has survived bullet wounds, and is out for more carnage! And of course, he makes another attempt to do away with Laurie Strode (the Jamie Lee Curtis character).

This sequel is a little more gruesome than the first Halloween movie. Part of the reason has to do with some of the methods Michael Myers uses to kill some of his victims: He drowns one victim in scalding water and he uses an IV to drain out the blood of another. In addition, there's a scene where a kid is admitted to the hospital because he is bleeding orally, which resulted from an obvious Halloween prank. (Ugh!)

Here's an interesting piece of trivia: The Practice/Ally McBeal producer Jeffrey Kramer appears in this film. Look for him as the coroner examining a charred corpse.

The original has its critics, but for me, it's a masterpiece, a film that really brought the genre to life, question is, does the sequel do justice to the first?

Brave to do a direct continuation of the first, meaning that night of terror truly does continue, it's no wonder poor Laurie Strode had her problems.

I've got two copies of it, and maybe it was the way it was filmed, but it doesn't look as slick as the first, some of the camera work looks cheap. The opening music is horrid, true eighties synth, it's not good. The original music is so much better, when they do use the original incidental music it works so much better.

A few clichés, including the useless security guard, bits of nudity and deserted hospital, but overall I still think it's a pretty good movie. Enough scares, and moments to make you jump, albeit delivered with less subtlety, which is what made the first work so well.

Overall, it's still a good watch. 7/10.

Halloween 2 was a nice try to follow up a slasher classic. I know that it was made because the first film made a nice amount of money but for some reason I can just tell they tried to keep it on par with the original. In some aspects they succeed but in the end we get a routine horror sequel. I guess it's unfair to expect so much out of it but when you're the follow up to a well made horror film it's pretty hard not to.

The main problem with this sequel is that it moves entirely too slow and the one location it stays in(the hospital) gets boring pretty fast. As Michael slowly stalks the halls we get the feeling that the film is also moving at the same pace.

Another problem is that it follows the slasher routine by adding characters that are just there to be victims for our killer. The characters in the first film were likable and were pretty developed, even if you knew they all wouldn't make it to the last frame. In this film we get total brain-dead characters who are just asking to be taken out by Myers. The only new character worth mentioning is the character of Jimmy played by Lance Guest. He gives a decent performance and is the only ne character added to the mix worth mentioning.

One issue that most Halloween fans debate about is whether or not The Shape, as he is commonly called, needed a backstory. I admit that in the first film is total lack of a motive made him much more frightening because it wasn't reason that was driving him to kill, it was just the fact that he was pure evil. In this film the reason he is after Laurie is revealed and it does kinda strip that aspect of the character and make him less scary. However, for story purposes for this sequel, it would be pretty hard to have a 90 minute film and not explain anything about its killer. For this film in particular i appreciate the fact that they added a method to his madness, it just brings down his fright level a few notches. At least the explanation is well-crafted and comes as some sort of a surprise.

A definite highlight of the film is that it picks up on the same night of the original. It added a level of suspense and consistency that made the story in the sequel much more interesting.

Donald Pleasance gets more screentime in this film and you can tell he is having fun with the role. He's quite good in this film and maintains the same dignity that made his character likable in the original. Jamie Lee Curtis gets less screentime in this film. She's still good in this film but more of her would've been appreciated. I also wish we could've seen more of the strong powerhouse that we saw in the original but she is still effective in her scenes. Michael Myers himself is given more screentime something i wish would not have been doen. He was a far more threatening presence when he was reduced to the shadows and the background throughout most of the original. More of him makes him less scary.

In the end it's a fairly good sequel to the original i just wish it could've stayed away from the 80's slasher mantality that made Friday the 13th so popular. However when the essence of the original shines through in this film you begin to think it's a cut above its many imitators

Halloween 2 continues the story line abruptly ended in the original. Laurie Strode (Curtis) ends up in the hospital due to trauma and injury from the earlier film's attacks by Michael Myers. Unfortunately for her, Michael finds her. The hospital is oddly deserted, but that adds to the creepy atmosphere, allowing Michael numerous places to hide, and various nurses to slaughter. Donald Pleasence reprises his role as Dr.Loomis, trying to stay one step ahead of Myers killing spree. The showdown between the killer and the doctor remains a very gripping sequence. All in all, a very worthy follow up to a classic that can never be duplicated.

As far as I am concerned this was the last Halloween movie with Myers worth watching. I prefer the third movie which has nothing to do with him to all the mess that follows. This movie is a continuation of the first as it is still the same night. Myers has of course gotten up and Jamie Lee has been taken to a hospital to recuperate from her wounds. Of course this one tries to shock us with its revelations and such, but nothing to shocking. There are kills and once again Dr. Loomis is obsessed with getting Myers. Some good kills are to be found as is to be expected. Though I always feel sorry for the guy that gets hit by the car as he is obviously not Myers. There is a television version of this one that totally blows as it is very toned down and they even have a happier ending. Watch the uncut theater version as it is much better.