Halloween 2 is one of those rare occasions when a sequel is as equally enjoyable as the first film. Halloween is technically a much better film than Halloween II, but Halloween II has a higher re-watch rate.
Rick Rosenthal gave us a pretty uneven film with H2, and it's rumored that Carpenter had to do a number of re-shoots after trying to make something of Rosenthal's shoddy work.
Halloween II picks up directly where Halloween left off. Michael is now carrying around six bullets with him - which should have left him a little slow. But, we all know Mike is one crazy son of a gun and isn't gonna allow six slugs to the torso to slow him down.
He kills his way to the medical facility where Laurie is admitted and stalks the eerie halls of Haddonfield Clinic. The clinical setting is truly a saving grace for H2. The whole place is eerie. It's a perfect place to set the film.
Halloween 2 climbs the gore pole this time. Instead of relying on suspense throughout, the gore angle is exploited - and poof! - Halloween 2 becomes a bodycount slasher film made popular by films like Friday the 13th and The Burning.
Nevertheless, H2 does a really good job. There's some good stalk sequences. Jamie Lee hardly has any dialog this time. She's left in a virtual state of 'unspeaking' as she does what she does best...run from masked killers. (Although, she's not doing much running. She's pretty much incapacitated and limps heavily) Donald Pleasance is still putting on quiet a show. He proved even more so that he's obsessed with Myers, eventually throwing his on well being on the line to try and end the reign of terror inspired by Myers.
Anyway, there's a little 'unevenness' throughout, but it's still manageable. The editing looks as if it was done by a five year old. but we're able to overlook this and see this for the giant cheese spectacle it really is.
Great atmosphere. Creepy location. Everything that made part one famous, but on a more sporadic level. This doesn't mean it's done better, but in a broader theatrical sense considering the body-count slasher film was in it's explosion at the time.
Rick Rosenthal gave us a pretty uneven film with H2, and it's rumored that Carpenter had to do a number of re-shoots after trying to make something of Rosenthal's shoddy work.
Halloween II picks up directly where Halloween left off. Michael is now carrying around six bullets with him - which should have left him a little slow. But, we all know Mike is one crazy son of a gun and isn't gonna allow six slugs to the torso to slow him down.
He kills his way to the medical facility where Laurie is admitted and stalks the eerie halls of Haddonfield Clinic. The clinical setting is truly a saving grace for H2. The whole place is eerie. It's a perfect place to set the film.
Halloween 2 climbs the gore pole this time. Instead of relying on suspense throughout, the gore angle is exploited - and poof! - Halloween 2 becomes a bodycount slasher film made popular by films like Friday the 13th and The Burning.
Nevertheless, H2 does a really good job. There's some good stalk sequences. Jamie Lee hardly has any dialog this time. She's left in a virtual state of 'unspeaking' as she does what she does best...run from masked killers. (Although, she's not doing much running. She's pretty much incapacitated and limps heavily) Donald Pleasance is still putting on quiet a show. He proved even more so that he's obsessed with Myers, eventually throwing his on well being on the line to try and end the reign of terror inspired by Myers.
Anyway, there's a little 'unevenness' throughout, but it's still manageable. The editing looks as if it was done by a five year old. but we're able to overlook this and see this for the giant cheese spectacle it really is.
Great atmosphere. Creepy location. Everything that made part one famous, but on a more sporadic level. This doesn't mean it's done better, but in a broader theatrical sense considering the body-count slasher film was in it's explosion at the time.