Sequels give the sense of surprise the cold shoulder.
Even the best sequels can’t replicate the shock of the new, of seeing something we haven’t seen before.
It’s one reason “Halloween II” is light years better than Rob Zombie’s 2007 horror reboot.
That film telegraphed every punch, stab and disembowelment, all the while replicating some classic “Halloween” scares from the superior original.
Here, Zombie wisely hits the dimmer switch and doesn’t show us every move Michael Myers makes.
The sequel picks up more or less where Zombie’s reboot left off. Young Laurie Stroub (Scout Taylor-Compton) is being stitched up after her vicious battle with her oversized kin (Tyler Mane).
Cue the iconic “Halloween” music. Or … don’t.
This is Zombieland now, and the ties connecting the new Myers story to the John Carpenter original are all but severed.
The action moves ahead roughly one year – just a few days before Halloween. Laurie now lives with Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) and his teen daughter (Danielle Harris). She’s safe, but the ghost of Michael Myers keeps haunting her. Little does she know Myers in the rotting flesh will soon be back to haunt her in person.
“Halloween II,” shot in grimy, grainy 16 MM, establishes its lurid tone from the opening moments. Sure, Zombie resurrects his hillbilly shock material, but the film feels much more like a Zombie original than his “Halloween” ever did.
Few recent horror films can match the unsettling soundtrack behind Myers’ slayings, or the awful noise coming from his newly dead victims. There’s less outright gore here than in your average slasher film, but Myers’ brutality – and willingness to bludgeon his victims beyond recognition – makes this sequel a thoroughly unpleasant experience for non-horror fans.
Zombie also sneaks in some snarky musical drops – like a video replay of The Moody Blues singing “Knights in White Satin” and a radio blasting “The Things We Do For Love.”
The film’s obvious monster remains the masked one, but Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) gives him a run for his money. The good doctor is out peddling a book based on the events from the first film, and he doesn’t mind trampling on the memories of the deceased if it means a few more copies fly off the shelves.
The weakest addition here comes in the form of the lovely Mrs. Zombie, once again playing Mama Myers. Sheri Moon Zombie appears before her son in ghostly visions, egging him on to kill a few more innocents and “reunite” their family.
For all of Zombie’s flourishes, “Halloween II” remains a slasher film, and that horror template means massive gaps in logic and few legit scares. The film ends without a lame sequel setup, so let’s hope the bloody tale of Michael Myers ends here, and that Zombie turns his twisted sight on fresh material.
(Photo: Tyler Mane plays killer Michael Myers in “Halloween II,” the latest horror film not screened for critics- Photo by Marsha LaMarca, Dimension Films, 2009))
Related posts:
on 
on 
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Boy it sounds like you and John Nolte saw two completely different films.
I think horror movies tend to divide critics more than other film genres. I read John’s review and I can’t thoroughly disagree with his points, but I found this one far more effective than the last Myers feature. Zombie is also a far better craftsman than most of his horror peers, and I appreciate that.
I could have done without Mama Myers. The terror of the original was that there was no reasoning to Myer’s madness. He wasn’t a mama’s boy gone awry. He was pure evil. Jason Vorhees was the mama’s boy not Michael Myers.
Rob Zombie is one of the worst directors in the business today. He makes McG seem like James Cameron. His films have all been atrociously bad. It’s a sad commentary on film that hacks like Zombie get green-lit to take horror classics (even if they weren’t great movies to begin with) and remake them in the worst, torture-porn manner possible. I once saw most of House Of 1000 Corpses by mistake on cable, and someday want to punch him in the face for wasting almost two hours of my life (I was virtually hypnotized into being unable to reach for the remote because I couldn’t believe it could actually be that bad). He’s the only director I can think of who makes Michael Moore look like a genius by comparison. Yuck….
Ultimately, I don’t see the appeal in 2009 of a Michael Myers or a Jason. At least Freddy has charisma … or something to separate him from other killer drones.
Zombie needs to move on … as he promises he will after part deux.
haven’t seen the film yet going to see it tomorrow. i am a horror fan and thought Zombies 2007 halloween was a mixed bag and have always loved the john carpenter original. i disagree with des on how zombie’s films are all bad i thought ‘The Devil’s Rejects’ was a good film and the fact that Des would punch zombie well that is just pathetic because yeah you were forced to watch it you could have turned it off at any moment.
I really dug The Devil’s Rejects and thought Zombie was starting to peak as an artist. Then I saw his Halloween. He’s likely neither as gifted as his fans say, nor as lame as his (many) detractors proclaim.