SummaryPicking up precisely where its predecessor left off, Halloween II follows the same ill-fated characters as they encounter the knife-wielding maniac they left for dead in the first Halloween. It seems the inhuman Michael Myers is still very much alive and out for more revenge as he stalks the deserted halls of the hospital where his siste...
SummaryPicking up precisely where its predecessor left off, Halloween II follows the same ill-fated characters as they encounter the knife-wielding maniac they left for dead in the first Halloween. It seems the inhuman Michael Myers is still very much alive and out for more revenge as he stalks the deserted halls of the hospital where his siste...
There's some variety to the crimes, as there is to the characters, and an audience is likely to do more screaming at suspenseful moments than at scary ones. The gore, while very explicit and gruesome, won't make you feel as if you're watching major surgery. The direction and camera work are quite competent, and the actors don't look like amateurs.
First, the critics are stupid as hell.
Second, THIS IS THE 1981 FILM NOT THE 2009 ROB ZOMBIE FILM! To all you people who think this is Halloween II (2009), you're wrong and you need to search that movie on this website again.
Third, I really liked this movie. It's a direct sequel to the original, the acting is pretty good as well as the opening. Even though the sequels don't have good explanations to how Michael Myers would have survived, I don't blame that problem on this film. I know this movie has more gore, which could turn some people off, but I still enjoy this film.
When it's good, it's because it's imitating its predecessor (but it suffers from tired spilled blood) and when it's bad, it's because it's imitating its own imitators. [31 Oct 1981]
Could be the work of any journeyman, give or take a few hundred gratuitous pop-culture references. Let no one accuse Zombie of stinting on the gore, however.
A totally unnecessary and extremely poor sequel to the original "Halloween". Although Dean Cundey's photography goes a long way toward recapturing the look of the first film, director Rick Rosenthal is no Carpenter, and the emphasis here is on graphic blood and gore rather than the skillful manipulation of the audience.
There are incredibly almost never any really terrific scares in 92 minutes - just multiple shots of violence and gore that are more gruesome than anything else.
If there's a movie, that serves as a sequel for a movie that wasn't primarily designed for any sequel, this type of a movie is perhaps the best you can expect. Not saying it is a great film, but, it is likable to some extent. .
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Good : It serves as a direct sequel to the original classic. It (initially) picks up the factors of what made the original Halloween so great. Most of the times, we feel as if Michael Myers is everywhere, but at the same time, nowhere. The last 10 to 15 minutes are quite intense. It doesn't spend more time setting up the characters that were in the original film, and simply focuses on furtherance of the story. This might be on the negatives for some people, I am aware about it. What I don't know is why. We already know about the characters from the first movie. It is simply a direct continuation of the first film. Rather than a sequel, it feels like the second part of a two parter. If you haven't seen the first film, you won't know them. You should've watched the first film, before watching any sequel or second installment. Yes, this movie doesn't work as a standalone movie. But, even if it did, there would obviously be at least some things you need to know from the first film. I will talk about the decision of going gory in the bad aspects, in a much elaborated manner. We just consider for now that it is gory. Some of the gory kills are awesome. Particularly one with a nurse and hot boiling water in the tub. I won't say how the kill is brought about, but the kill is insane to watch (I don't want to give the spoilers). The music is pretty much the same. Carpenter didn't redo or remix the original score, but made it slightly different and it works for the movie. One final thing. This movie makes the original somewhat better - may it be by giving a good continuity to the story or by making some bad story decisions. If we cut away the end credits of the first film and the opening credits of this film, we get one giant Halloween movie. I would say that if Halloween wasn't given any sequel, I would've been totally fine. In fact, that would've been the best decision. But, this film exists. And not as a mere cash grab. So, whenever I rewatch the original, I can never help myself not watching this movie, right after the completion. That **** happens very few times with me. And whenever it does, I love it. This is perhaps the biggest positive of this film. .
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Mixed : I liked how Myers was related to Samhain (Google that **** if you want to know more about it, and it's not a spoiler here) but there has been absolutely no build up to that part. And right after that we get another twist which makes Myers a focused killer. That explains a lot of things, but again, some parts of both the movies are (kind of) contradicted as he killed many people in a random manner. .
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Bad : In my positives, I said that, initially, it picks up the factors of what made the original film good. At the beginning, it resembles a lot to Carpenter's film, but slowly and steadily it shows its inferiority. It loses the subtleness of the first film gradually, and, it focuses on more gore and unnecessary nudity. 1980 gave us Friday the 13th which had poor story and focused on gore and it got popular. This movie did not need to be a response to that. Apparently, Carpenter did some reshoots to make it more Friday-ish. That was a mistake. It could've been just like the previous film, without any Friday **** And, if they wanted gore, they could've done it by being primarily focused on the story and suspense. Also, Michael Myers walks like Frankenstein. The reason that we loved him was because he lied somewhere between human and evil. His gestures were all human. Here, he resembles a zombie. This is nothing but another response to Friday the 13th. Also, there are some illogical things in the screenplay. (Not a spoiler) Michael Myers is related to Samhain because the a character sees "Samhain" written in blood on a board. It was definitely Myers as per the story, but why would he do that? Also, if you clearly follow the story, all Michael did to write that feels totally stupid. Completely illogical. And there are other stupid things. Some of the characters are merely stock characters who are there just to get killed. A lot of them are stupid people who do stupid and nonsensical things to make us laugh, forcefully. It had a potential to be much better than this. .
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Conclusion : I won't say it is a well deserved sequel for the original (by which I mean the original doesn't really deserve this), but I would say that it deserves to be the sequel to the original. There are flaws in this movie. But it can be watched - right after the original. It will never serve as a standalone film, but as a sequel to something that wasn't really designed for a sequel, it does its best to make itself worth being a sequel to an amazing film. .
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Rating. .
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Score : 6.8/10
Grade : B
This movie takes place exactly after the final events from the last movie in 1978, from now on, Michael Myers will hardly focus his killing hunger in Laurie Strode, while she go to a hospital because of her fight with Michael in the frist movie, a big blody chase will happen in that hospital. Directed by Rick Rosenthal and Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill.
In the first movie the story was good because it was functional in making we care about the characters, in this sequel, we don't really care more about any other character, we still care about Laurie, but only because of what we saw in the first one, if you only watch this one, most likely won't care about anyone, but considering that this is a sequel, that is not a problem, we still gonna care about Laurie, and maybe care more about other characters that are in here again, but in overall with other characters, we don't really give a damn, wich is a problem, in the first movie i did cared about other characters, like Laurie's friends, in here it didn't had that appeal, so a lot of the deaths weren't very shocking. The movie have some dialogues that aren't really interesting, but still, it doesn't dominates the whole film, there are some natural dialogues that people would really do. They decided to do some revelations in here that for me, was kind of out of place, it was like nothing to do with anything, it is a spoiler, but i don't that, that worked out. In this story they decide to go for Michael Myers in a more mystical way, going more for a supernatural path, that, for me, immediately takes away the fear a bit, it made things not so easy to relate and fear as in the first one, but considering the way that they are going in here, it was ok.
The Michael Myers look in here, is a bit different, in his mask now, you can see his eyes most of the time, personally, i prefer how they did in the first movie, where in his eyes in the mask, it was all black, but i get it, it is a small change for things not look the same, is a good change after all. The kills are good, not great, but good, comparing to the first movie, Myers have a more diversified storage, he use now different weapons to hit his victims, there are also scenario things that he use wich was different, he also is a stalker, but not by far so creep as in the other movie, where you could not just feel the despair and also relate yourself with that situation, in here, since that you are in a hospital, the stalker thing got a little weaker, but still worked a bit.
This movie isn't even by far as scary as his predecessor, i didn't had much moments during this one that i felt unsafe or creeped out, they couldn't repeat that atmosphere where anything could come out of anywhere in any moment, you pretty much knew where things was going to happen, it didn't had much surprises in his attacks, there is some jump scares, some tense moments, but still, it ain't by far as scary as the 1978 one.
The movie becomes really good when the one on one moments start once again with Laurie and Michael, the persecution was tense, how broken she was after the events that already have happened, her will to escape from him was really nice to watch, while Myers quietly was walking behind of her. These moments were so dope, that reforced how badass the character of Laurie Strode is, she running around, in a very weak position, in unknown territory, that was really nice to watch.
Jamie Lee Curtis was definely badass, she didn't had much dialogues, but where she gain me again in this movie, was at the moments where she figures that Michael is there after here, her faces of rage or fear was very nice. Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis was once again very good, i could get his affliction on Myers, his need to caught him and also how feared he was of him at the same time.
The soundtrack is once again made by John Carpenter, and it is once again fantastic, it isn't the exact same as the others, it does have some peculiarities that are very nicely done, the soundtrack in here really pumped me up, it was done, once again, with maestry.
As a slasher movie this definely worked, it ain't that much of a horror or a tense film, but it can be fun to watch the one on one between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers.
Obviously better than H4-6, but still doesn't hold a candle to the original. I'll give HII some credit for trying to wrap up the Michael Myers story (not for good sadly), however, the HII doesn't even attempt to succeed on the original's scares, but rather feels more like a cash in. It just becomes a generic slasher, but far more boring than even Friday the 13th mediocrity. You might be more satisfied watching H20, which is another attempt at recreating Michael Myers' epic "conclusion"... (not for good sadly).
Acting: Not that great. The character of Dr. Loomis got very annoying. But, he seemed to annoy all of the other characters as well so maybe that was intentional. I doubt it though. Michael Meyers is, well, Michael Meyers. he's a silent big dumb lumbering character. Laurie Strode is in the movie for a whole 15 minutes total at best. all Jamie Leigh Curtis (speaking of her, Tony Curtis died today or yesterday I'm not sure which. But RIP Mr. Curtis. and Gloria Stewart.) had to do was scream and run. Just like the last one to be honest. That's all that any characters had to do. It was just weak or annoying performances all around. 2/10
Plot: Actually, brace yourself: There was no plot. It was simply 90 minutes of Michael Meyers walking around killing people. The first one had intrigue, it had stakes. You actually cared what was going on and why these things were happening. With this, there's none of that. It is 90 minutes of solid killing. No stakes, no plot devices no deviation form that plot. Nothing. It was an empty plot. 0/10
Screenplay: There was no screenplay either for 60%-80% of the movie. It was again, just Michael Meyers killing. 50% of the lines that were there were just "we have to find and kill Michael Meyers. He isn't human" or a variation of that. The rest of the lines were dull and unimaginative. 0/10
Likableness: well, despite everything else, I liked the kills. There were some interesting kills in the movie. Some were ridiculous but others were interesting and well done. There is nothing else to like in the movie. 3/10
Final Score: 5/40 12% (S)
Also, I will say this. This movie is unfortunate because THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE LAST ONE!!!!
TRIVIA TIME: 1. Believing Rick Rosenthal's version of the film to be too tame, John Carpenter shot a few gory scenes that were added into the film despite Rosenthal's objections.
2. In the scene where Michael tries to attack Laurie as she's climbing through the window the scalpel that he's holding was actually just an eraser on a stick.
3. To get the role of Michael Myers, **** Warlock revealed that as he passed by a room, the Michael Myers mask was on a table. He put the mask on and walked into Rick Rosenthal's office and stood there. After Rosenthal continuously asked him who he was and he didn't reply, he took off the mask and asked if he could play Michael Myers.