When Rob Zombie's Halloween was released it was a blast of fresh air that was sorely needed in the Halloween franchise. It was well made, scary, enjoyable and ended up making more money (unadjusted for inflation) than any other Halloween movie had before.
Pretty much right after the release, and subsequent success of Halloween, the producers green lit a sequel. And due to the overall good word of Rob Zombie's version, the producers gave him carte blanche do do whatever he wanted for the follow up.
While he worked on the exciting follow up more reboots were hitting the theatres. Friday the 13th came back and tried to reboot the series. The film started off really nicely but ended up rather weak at the end. Another reboot included the worse than the original Prom Night and news of an all new Nightmare on Elm Street.
Even though the reboot was working and making money at the box office, it seemed like a new craze was taking off. One that has been tried many times in cinema's history but always only lasted a few years. That craze was 3D and movies like the fourth Final Destination and My Bloody Valentine raked in the cash.
So when Halloween II was announced for an August 28th, 2009 release date it seemed to be coming in a turbulent time for the horror industry. Even still, after the great success of the first (ninth) film hopes were held high for the latest entry in the Halloween saga.
Halloween II opens with a great 10 minute sequel that echoes the original Halloween II. But sadly, as soon as that opening ends, the movie falls apart and sinks in the overweight of it's own ambitions. It is truly amazing that the man most responsible for the best Halloween film since the original could go on to make one of the worst entrants in the series.
Before the bad is discussed, let's mention the good. The entire surviving cast returns for this movie as does Sherri Moon Zombie as Michael's mother and for the most part, all the returning actors deliver solid performances. The opening scene is scary and tense and echoes not only the original Halloween II but Zombie's 2007 entrant in the series. That's about it for the good.
Where to begin with the bad. To start off with, expect for Brad Dourif and Danielle Harris, the returning actors (who are all playing the same characters) seem to be playing somebody else. The characters are not at all like the people they were in the first movie. I understand the idea that the events of the first film changed these characters, but to such a degree just didn't work.
Then there is the casting of young Michael Myers. A new child actor plays him and other than having the same hairstyle, this new kid just can't compare. He is bland and boring and unlike Daeg Faerch he just doesn't seem menacing, scary or believe. And Sherri Moon returns as Michael's mother, is given a much larger part, and totally destroy's all believability. Her acting wasn't strong in the previous film but here it is just terrible.
Which brings me to the story. Supernatural links, ghosts, an egotistical Doctor Loomis, psychiatry sessions, and a whole slew of contrived moments make up this loose collection of scenes that somewhat resemble a story. What was Rob Zombie thinking when he wrote this. Its as if he took everything that worked for Halloween and removed it for this film.
Even Michael Myers is bad in this film. In the last film he was perfect. Tyler Mane embodied everything that one could ask for in Michael Myers. Here, not only is he walking in fields for most of the movie, but he looks like a homeless guy (which isn't scary). A long beard and tattered clothes and he barely ever wears his mask. (Incidentally, it is never explained how he survived and why there is no hole in his mask after taking a close up shot to the head at the end of the first film.) In this film, for some reason, Myers grunts and grunts and grunts and even says something near the end of the film. What? Why?
Halloween II is long and boring and not very well edited. It is very dark and shot terribly. Most of the time it is to hard to see what is going on. 2007's Halloween left a lasting impression on my psyche, this film I can't wait to forget about. With bad death scenes, stupid characters, bad acting, bad lighting, pretty much bad everything Halloween II has to be one of the most disappointing films I have ever seen. So much promise based on the first film and nothing delivered (minus the first 15 minutes). That first 15 minutes really elevates this review and without it I wouldn't be surprised if this film even got 20%.
Film Rating: 44%
Breakdown (How Halloween II scored 44%):
Production Design: 7 out of 10
Cinematography: 5 out of 10
Re-playability: 2 out of 10
Originality: 7 out of 10
Costumes: 5 out of 10
Directing: 3 out of 10
Editing: 3 out of 10
Acting: 5 out of 10
Music: 5 out of 10
Script: 2 out of 10
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