"Halloween 2" Review - Written by Anthony T

Halloween 2
Year: 2009
Director: Rob Zombie
Studio: Dimension Films
Stars: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 104 Mins





I’m one of a very few horror fans that have been looking forward to the day that “Halloween 2” came out, as I enjoyed Rob Zombie’s first “Halloween” film. Going into this film, I was hoping that yet again that some major horror critics were wrong about this film and Rob Zombie’s vision as a whole.

The film takes place after the first film, where Laurie Strode is still struggling to come to grips with Michael Myers’ death. She’s transported to a hospital thinking that the nightmare of the first film is over. However Michael reappears very much alive in the hospital trying to finish her off for good, but is unsuccessful.

A year later, Laurie is still haunted by those events, as she tries to come to terms with her past and forget about it. But soon two things will happen that might drive her insane. Dr Loomis has written a tell-all book that exposes everything including her dark secret and the events that caused the massacre and Michael is very much alive and in hiding. He plans his revenge, as he returns to Haddonfield for deadly reunion with Laurie, his sister.

I’m a hardcore horror fan that doesn’t understand, why us fans are whining about this film and not “The Final Destination 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. Rob Zombie gets a lot of heat for the two Halloween films, as they’re both original takes on the franchises main characters.

“Halloween 2” was just as good, as the original remake. Director Rob Zombie, who getting a lot of unjustly heat, does a very good job with this film. People, It’s 2009, not 1978. I liked how he goes all out and makes this his own take. Not many writers and director do that with remakes. Horror fans should be praising him for this, not bashing the guy for trying to something different for an established film, instead of just trying to copy the original or remake. Zombie goes for more of a David Lynch type feel to this film with his direction and its dark imagery. By doing that, it continues to give new angles on the mythology. If another director did this, then it would have the feel of a film that was copied or unimaginative. He also did a very good job with the handling of the death scenes. He slows the film down on a couple of scenes to give the scenes its true horrific nature. By doing that, it makes the images very bloody and shocking. That what I think makes these two films that Zombie has done very entertaining and ballsy. Another thing that was nice about this, the way that the music is placed in the film. I know a lot of you that saw this film, hated the fact that the theme music doesn’t play until the very end, but that’s a good thing here. By doing that, it makes the film stand out on its own, as I didn’t miss the music for one bit.

Zombie screenplay does a good job separating the two films apart. I like how he makes the story more of a character study of Laurie Strode, than another study of Michael Myers here. It helps make this film bolder than the original, as you don’t see a character study of a victim, in horror films. He makes Laurie very flawed and traumatized from what happened in the first film, as the character is completely different. But the main thing that makes this film different from the original “Halloween 2”, Zombie ignores that film completely. He makes this his own film, by making the film’s story feel darker and less cheesy. Zombie, in the screenplay, makes sure that the characters are very different from the first film, which you don’t see that in most horror films. That what I think makes the characters still interesting and the violence, horrifying.

If there was one complaint that I had with this film was that some characters from the first film were underused here. I would have liked to seen more of Dr. Loomis here, as it felt like the character was there so that the hardcore Halloween fan would complain. I’ve also would have liked to have seen more of the Laurie/Annie friendship here, as I thought that it wasn’t focused enough. Even though I didn’t like that, this film is on par with Zombie’s first “Halloween” film.

To me, “Halloween 2” seems to me like it’s one of those films, where if you liked the first film, then you’ll like this film. Rob Zombie should not be getting the heat over his vision of Halloween, as it truly a terrorizing vision of a classic iconic horror character. “Halloween 2” is another very interesting take of a beloved horror classic that keeps you on the edge.

Now, expect these two Rob Zombie films to be ruined, when the Weinstein’s make “Halloween 3D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” which they’re thinking about doing.

Review Rating: Four Stars.