Customer Reviews

Halloween II (Unrated Director's Cut)

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(40)
1 star:		(98)

 

 

The Amazonites have spoken and this movie got killed, lambasted by some as 'the worst Halloween movie', though there's no way it can approach the horror of the botched Curse or the Busta-Rhymes-was-the-best-part Resurrection.

I'm still not sure why this was given an August '09 release rather than...October/Halloween. Presumably, they didn't want to run up against the latest Saw offering, and perhaps they sensed the buzz of Paranormal Activity. Instead, they ran it against The Final Destination 3D, which still fared better.

Folks seem to love or hate the Rob Zombie Halloween excursions. Say this about Zombie...he is a horror movie fan and he tries something more personal this time around. Yes, we all know and (presumably) love the original Halloween II, where Michael Myers stalks Laurie in the eerily empty corridors of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital. And yes, we all know that it was revealed that Laurie was, in fact, Michael's sister, a plot twist conceived by John Carpenter when he ran out of ideas. So what should we expect when someone remakes 're-boots' or jump-starts a series and then remakes the sequel, too?

Yes, there are similar elements and plot points from earlier Halloween films, including the original Part II (the hospital, the sister angle, which we knew from the first Zombie installment, etc). But this is not a remake of the original Part II. Rob Zombie is going his own way with the blessing of the Akkad clan, and I think he does some interesting things story and plot-wise. There are clearly some expressionistic nods to Italian horror directors (Bava, Argento), and there's a strong nod to the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and general insanity after you've been chased by a knife-wielding lunatic. The early scenes---again, picking up right after the events of the original---are well done, if unsettling. There's the frenetic activity of the paramedics and authorities, the hospital atmosphere, the loving close-ups of emergency surgery and various injuries, and the spooky recurrence of The Moody Blues on TV. There's a very nightmarish feel to everything and the looks and sounds are appropriately unsettling. There's a focus on the trauma---the screaming! the terror! The film is much more concerned with the idea that this Laurie Strode is losing her marbles, and is hardly the wholesome and pure Laurie of the previous series. Zombie prefers some of the more disturbing elements of the material over the 'scary ones'...which in his world are nearly one and the same. There is always the risk of wallowing in the downbeat versus showing that the filmmakers actually had any fun making this. I think they did, but Halloween II definitely toes the line.

Like most horror flicks, this is not the sum of its parts, but I always give points for atmosphere and demented touches. Actually, the weakest part of the film is the stalking and slasher action itself. It is predictable, methodical, absolutely brutal, and dare I say...sometimes boring. Michael stabs...and stabs...and stabs...and then stabs again...and again...and again. We get it. Am curious what they cut, because it's a hard R rating here. No, Mr. Zombie does not ease up on the slasher gore, and we get at least one close-up of a knife in the head.

The better elements are the psychological angles (exploring...well, insanity), and the Loomis plotline. This is not the same Loomis, tireless in his effort to stop evil on two feet, but rather a burnt out, cynical, media-obsessed sellout who may or may not have an ounce of altruism left in his shell. Again, Malcolm MacDowell is excellent if underused this time. There's also a bit of plot-timeline fudging toward the end during the 'final showdown'.

The movie is demented, and extremely violent and brutal...perhaps too much in that it distracts from the fresh or different elements that Zombie tries to infuse. I still liked this better than most of the rent-a-hack horror output that comes along. Give credit to a horror fan making horror films and trying something else. Of course, you can't win in this genre. You will be condemned if you make the same old movie (which people want to see) or you'll be condemned if you try something out of left field (because people want something fresh). If you want the old Part II, go watch it, it's a different film. But lordy, this is a heck of a lot better than the latter stages of the original Halloween series.

The DVD looks and sounds great. I believe Zombie shot this on 16mm and converted it, so the images look grainier and darker...it's a very stark and appropriate look for this film. The extras include a plethora of deleted scenes, most not essential but some interesting bits, plus the inevitable alternate ending. Note that the ending here differs slightly from from what you saw in the theater (if you were such a fanatic), since this is the 'director's cut'.

The only thing that would have made less sense was if that white horse was a unicorn!

Seriously, did every character have a lobotomy since the first remake? Everyone takes such an abrupt turn in personality it's as if we're watching a whole new cast of characters with the same names. When did the ghost of Michael's mom turn evil and insist on dragging that poor horse around? What was she spouting, apocalyptic nonsense? Who wrote this insanely pretentious dialog? Oh wait, that would be the same idiot who also directed this crap.

When did Michael Myer join a hippie commune? What was with that beard? Did I miss something? Was he auctioning for the next Grizzly Adams movie?

This is the way you kill a franchise.

I wanted to like this movie. I really, really tried to like it. And I did love the first 10 minutes or so, but the rest of the movie is just not good. Maybe it isn't all bad, but it sure isn't a Halloween movie. I was so dissapointed in the film. After the awesome 2007 remake I just knew this movie would be great, but Zombie goes in a totally different direction. While I can respect that fact that he wanted to try and do something unique, it just did not work. Sorry. If you are a fan of the series, then I will tell you to check it out simply because it is technically a Halloween movie, but I would not suggest buying it.

I purchased this movie because I had been a fan of the original Halloween and Halloween II, so I had to get the remakes of both movies. While the first remake was pretty good for a Rob Zombie movie, this one does not disappoint either. To this day, even in the remakes of this movie, there's something about that white mask that just sends chills down my spine every time I see it. I don't know if it's because of the realism that someone could actually go out there and start murdering people, or if it's the difficulty in recognizing who's face the mask actually is. Whatever it may be, this movie scared me just as much as the first remake. If you are a true horror fan, you will definitely get Halloween II for your collection.

First we are treated to a 20 minute psych-out as Zombie creates a homage to Rick Rosenthal's original sequel, leading us to think this may be another rehash, but no it's all a dream. Boo.

However, you think things might be ok, since Zombie appears to be wanting to go his own way this time and create something original. Unfortunately he has almost nothing original to add.

Zombie tries to go artsy with these visitations from Myers dead mother. (glowing white like some sort of angel and being followed about by a white horse) I'm assuming this is just Myers mental state and not a real ghost...since I have no idea why Myers mother would come back and direct her son to kill people...unless Zombie just couldn't help channeling Jason Voorhees once again into this thing. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it seems that Zombie really should have done a Friday the 13th reboot. He seems to love those mother-son/abusive childhood elements.

Otherwise he throws in a lot a elements that are cobbed from the various bad sequels: The psychic link between Myers/Laurie (mirroring the psychic link between Myers/Jamie from Halloween V), The bizarre "vacation" Myers takes between Halloween holidays (from Halloween IV & V. What is he doing all that time?! Apparently he`s eating dogs all year and no one seems to notice)

The one thing Zombie does add that is his own is his treatment of the Dr Loomis character: he destroys it. This more than anything reinforces my belief in Zombie's obsessive love for the Myers character. Zombie is now not just happy with making the original film's villain the hero, but turning Dr Loomis into the films villain! Here, Loomis is just another exploitive, selfish element of the society that Myers rages against. It's no wonder Myers went bad, he didn't even have good doctors treating him. The whole character could have been excised, but I'm assuming Zombie got a thrill out of corrupting the hero.

Brad Dourif does a good job as Sheriff Brackett, surprisingly being an authority figure that doesn't seem to represent Evil Society, (breaking from Zombies usual theme) However, rather than representing an oppressive or exploitive authority figure, he actually seems to represent the incompetent authority figure. Of course this all comes crashing down on Brackett's head as his own daughter becomes a victim of Myers, aka Zombie's personification of rage against society. The implication being that if people like Brackett had been able to do their job right, such forces would not be unleashed.

As far as the killings go, Zombie indulges in soulless violence. He seems to think that SFX and quick cutting are enough. Simple brutality is supposed to awe us here. What Zombie does not realize is that that era is over. Audiences are so desensitized now that it's not enough. He does not seem to have an inkling that creating a world we can believe in and characters we can care about are how one creates an emotional response.

The ending is a convoluted mess I don't feel like explaining in detail...suffice to say that Zombie rips off the ending of Halloween IV. He just takes way more time and tries to cover up the simplistic idiocy of it all with gobs of cryptic nonsense.

What are we to make of all this? That Hollywood has given up and decided that fan-fics are the way to go now? How long until some internet goober's Halloween fan-fic porno is considered worthy of a film treatment? Is the film industry really going to stop allowing artists to make films and just allow talent-less panderers hold up a mirror to the audience?

First of all, I like some of Rob Zombie's music. I have nothing against him. But he tried to push "zombie" type stuff in this movie and not only did it not work, but it ruined the whole point.

In the original movies, the character of Michael is mysterious, he is silent, and there is almost a sadness or feeling that he is missing something deep down. In the Zombie films though (at least this one, haven't seen the first one for a long time) this character is completely gone. Now Michael is apparently some old guy with a beard who eats raw dog meat and actually makes grunting noises while he kills. Now his character is protrayed as angry, ruthless, and just out to hurt people, completely unlike the original Michael.

The main thing I hate about this film is that Rob Zombie tried to make this into some sort of shocking grindhouse zombie movie. Michael's sister apparently lives in this middle class house, but her bedroom and bathroom look like the back room of some heavy metal band. Posters with cuss words all over them, a poster of Charles Manson, basically something that has nothing to do with the story but had to be added because it's a "zombie" movie now. When she finds out she is Michael's sister and becomes angry, she insists that she wants to go partying (really realistic). So they go to some party with people in really unrealistic mostly gothic looking costumes and topless women just hanging around dancing (is this a halloween party or a Zombie concert?).

The death scenes just *had* to be made especially disgusting, such as Michael stomping on someone's head, sawing someone's head off, etc. As expected there are crude jokes about dead girls and general depravity.

In the first movie I was actually interested in the storyline about Michael's long lost sister. In this movie it gets old. Now the ghost of her dead mother and Michael as a child follow him around and there is some weak storyline where Michael is supposed to find her so they can become a family again. In the end there is no conclusion to this.

Strippers, violence, sex, goth chicks, heavy metal, parties, topless women, the F bomb repeated over and over, am I missing anything? this whole film made me feel like I was watching a backstage movie of a Rob Zombie concert. Poorly done.

I've been a huge fan of the Halloween series since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I've seen all of the Halloween movies dozens & dozens of times. Of course I love the original Halloween & the original sequel Halloween II. I will say I was a bit nervous going to see this movie because I did not want to be disappointed like I was with the 2007 remake by Rob Zombie (or "re-imagining"). But that movie has since grown on me a bit. Anyways, I found that I was one of the few who actually enjoyed this movie. I loved that it was so dark. I loved that we actually got to see Laurie Strode become a totally different person, completely consumed & affected by the tragedy she endured in the first film. That's something I like to see in characters, especially in horror films & you don't always get to see that. I really like how Scout-Taylor Compton pulled that off. I thought she was great & alot better than she was in the first film. She is a complete wreck in this movie. I also loved that Annie was in this film & we got to see Danielle Harris but I was a little disappointed in her death scene because well, they really didn't show it. But I felt really connected to these characters after the first film which is always nice so I loved following them in this sequel. I just really liked this film. It took a few viewings to really understand it & understand what Rob was going for but I do now & I like that he took it in a new direction. At least it wasn't the same thing done over again like in many of the previous Halloween sequels. I will say that I was disappointed that they didn't use the same child actor to play Michael in this one. Also, I'm not quite sure which ending of the film I prefer. The theatrical ending is just okay while the unrated ending is completely shocking but I didn't like that Michael was unmasked. I will say that it is weird seeing Michael with such a crazy beard looking like a hillbilly but then again, it does seem more realistic. I don't really think that Michael Myers the serial killer would take time to find a way to shave!! Anyways I guess this is one of those films where you either love it or you hate it. You definitely need to try and have an open mind when watching this, especially if you're an avid Halloween fan like myself but if you can just take it for what it is & accept that it's simply just a "re-imagining" then maybe you will learn to love it or it will grow on you.

I don't even know where to start......

First and foremost I am going to put this out there; I do not care for Rob Zombie. I never really cared for his music, not to say it is bad it just doesn't do anything for me. So when I first heard he was going into the realm of cinema I wasn't too excited about it. I totally detested "House of a 1000 Corpses", awful. My friend suggested to me to watch his version of "Halloween" claiming that it was actually pretty good. Being a fan of the old school "Halloween" flicks I figure I would give it a shot. I must confess that I enjoyed aspects of "Zombie's Halloween" (mainly Malcolm McDowell version of Dr. Sam Loomis) but overall didn't care for it. I figured I might as well watch the sequel, what a mistake.....

I will take back my original thoughts about Zombie's 2007 version of "Halloween"; I appreciate it much more after I watch this schlock of a sequel. In stead of providing text why this movie was awful I am going to note some key points.

* Don't know why Michael Myers was so pro-mask in the first film and in this sequel he would take it off quite a bit.

* Michael Myers looked like The Undertaker (the wrestler).

* Michael Myers eats a dog.

* I never thought I would get sick of seeing a white horse and a lady dressed in white. The lady in white is Michael's mom; the role is played poorly by Zombie's wife. I don't know who the horse is.

* Why waste 20 plus minutes on a no reason hospital dream?

* The character development of Dr. Sam Loomis wasn't believable as a money/media whore, given what had transpired in the previous film. Then the last minute "change of heart"?

* If a dollar could be given to repay the "government bailout" every time Laurie Strode cried, this country would be out of a recession.

* Speaking of Laurie Strode, Scout Taylor-Compton's acting was so horrible. Was she supposed to be a whiny Emo girl? I lost count how many times she used the F word and stated her life "sucked".

* Rob Zombie loves using the F word.

* The acting in this movie was truly poor.

* The over the top blood and guts was basically torture porn. It is like Zombie is trying so hard to be "dark" and "disturbing" and it comes off comical. For instance, Michael Myers was going out of his way to kill people. Some of these moments I was laughing so hard it hurt.

* Every character was unlikeable; I truly didn't care what happened to anyone. I am still questioning myself why I didn't turn the movie off.

* The entire supernatural/psyche aspect of Myers and Strode's relationship was totally out of left field.

* Does Margot Kidder know Rob Zombie? Her two small scenes seemed really out of place.

* Did I mention the white horse and the lady dressed in white? Oh and Michael Myers eats a dog.

This movie didn't receive the praise as its predecessor and I can see why. This movie at the end of the day was unnecessary; everything was really tied up in the first film. This movie was nothing more that a pot boiler. Recommended for a deflating your IQ or hard core Rob Zombie fan.

I just want to start by saying I like Rob Zombie. His music is good and normally his movies are too. Halloween 1 by Rob Zombie was an astoundingly fresh take on the decades old Haddonfield horror story. It was dark and reminiscent of the 70's. Rob is obviously sentimental about this period like me. You had to be there for you young uns. However H2 severely let me down because the lives of everybody in this movie were so disgustingly trashy that you were hoping for them to get killed and by the end of the movie you feel like you've been dragged through the gutter. It is very depressing and just makes you want to throw it off like a coat that's too heavy. We forgive you though Rob because we know you're capable of much better. Try again and maybe we'll give you another chance.

After watching the remake, I was looking forward to the sequel. It has elements from the original sequel, but goes off in various directions. I was not thrilled with the casting of young Michael in the first film and even less with the updated version. The depth taken to reveal more of young Michael was unnecessary and distracting. As were the spirit sequences with Michael's mother; which to me seemed forced to give Mrs. Zombie more screen time. In addition, the older Michael just didn't seem like Michael. It's definitely more gory and dirty than the first; overall long and disappointing.