Three years and a dozen copycats later, John Carpenter & Debra Hill returned to their baby to give it the proper finale it deserved. And now here we are in 2018 and up to number eleven in the series so yeah it didn't go quite as planned. As most fans know, the film takes place directly after the original and sees Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) taken to the hospital, with Michael Myers following close behind as Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance) attempts to find him. The film this time around was directed by Rick Rosenthal and he excels at getting the right look and mood that John brought to the '78 original. Cinematographer Dean Cundey would also return and even though the two films are three years apart, you really could edit the two together into a big supercut and it would look like the same film.
The score also brings back the iconic tunes with a synth flavor, with John Carpenter and his friend Alan Howarth bringing a different but still enjoyable rendition of the classic film's music. The returning cast is hit or miss in this one, with the biggest disappointment being the lack of Jamie Lee Curtis. I understand that the script doesn't call for her until those final moments, but if you're going to have Jamie Lee come back, you should take more advantage of it and not just leave her mostly comatose throughout. Donald Pleasance is wonderful as always playing Dr. Loomis and even in this and the many sequels to come he always did the best job he could with the material and clearly enjoys playing the character. It's a good thing too, because the new cast of characters are really dull and even in the early days of the slasher film they come off as too cliche. Three characters in particular you don't get to know enough to feel bad for them when they are eventually bumped off even if one or two are surprise kills.
The other major problem with 'Halloween II' is that you can tell it hasn't been pieced together well, with an opening murder being thrown in just to up the body count along with people disappearing or other quick cuts here and there. This is because the film was to be more like the original, with atmosphere and traditional scares being quickly replaced by more gory deaths and exploitative nudity. If you haven't checked it out yet, grab the Scream Factory Blu-Ray and check out the TV cut to see a better idea of what was originally intended. Overall though, it's not that they threw in the gore that makes 'Halloween II' a downgrade, but rather it's sloppy attempts to throw it in that keeps it down for me personally.
Even to this day, I still prefer 'Halloween II' above the others (though come October 19th, I may change my mind). It's still a solid sequel that you could easily watch as a double feature with the original and it still has the best team behind the camera. It's a solid 'good, not great' movie but one I'm sure most of you will still enjoy for the holiday.
4/5
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