Halloween II (1981) Review
When coming up with a successful slasher sequel you need to do three things:
- Make the body count higher.
- Give more details to the mythology.
- keep consistent flow to make it feel connected to the first.
Now it’s been three years since John Carpenter’s Halloween hit the big screens With it being a massive hit, it was time to make the sequel. This is my review of Halloween II.
When we last saw Laurie Strode she was hiding in a corner after Dr. Loomis had shot Michael Myers six times in the chest. When Loomis looked, Michael Myers was gone, blood left in its spot. We get that awesome line from Laurie “Was it the boogeyman?” Which Loomis replies “As a matter of fact, It was”.
The sequel picks up the story the very same night, just moments after Laurie was put into the ambulance. We see Loomis telling people to call the cops and say “He’s gone. He shot him six times and he’s gone.”. We then see Michael walking through the alleys trying not to be seen, trying to survive the gun shots he took. The cops show up and they see the carnage Michael has done to that small town. Sheriff Brackett finds out that his daughter Annie, was one of Michael’s victims that night and rushes to the scene.
For being made three years later they manage to keep the same feel as though Carpenter directed it, which he didn’t of course. This time it was directed by Rick Rosenthal in his directorial debut. He definitely had big shoes to fit in with this sequel.
We continue with Michael finding a new knife and killing another teen, whose death face is amazing by the way. While Loomis is looking for Michael he spots someone in a Myers mask and makes him run into the street, he does and gets plowed by a car into a truck and the guy starts on fire. If you ask me it is an amazing kill scene, really well done for this movie.
As Michael is looking for Laurie we find out that she is Michael’s younger sister. Michael needs to kill her so his job is done according to him. Loomis ends up finding the proof of Laurie being Michael’s sister in a drawing in a school. Also finding the word SAMHAIN in red across the chalk board. Samhain being a huge part of Michael’s mythology going forward in the series. Michael finds out Laurie was talking to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, so he slowly makes his way there. Once Michael gets there, he starts taking out people one by one in traditional Michael Myers fashion. We get a couple amazing death scenes which includes the killing of the security guard, The hot tub/spa tub scene which is really amazing special effects makeup and a couple kill scenes with a doctor and some nurses which are awesome too. Once Loomis finds out that Michael has gone to the hospital, he makes it his duty to finally take Michael down for good. So we get to our final act of the movie and Laurie trying her best to get away from Michael while other people are starting to find the bodies.
Loomis finally gets there in time to save Laurie once again but Michael is more determined to kill his baby sister than the last encounter. They end up going into this oxygen room and Loomis gets stabbed, Laurie grabs Loomis’s gun and shoots Michael in the eyes. I got to say that was lucky shooting that she got both bullets in one eye a piece, and Michael is bleeding from his eyes making the mask bleed. which if you ask me is an awesome effect, Michael is also kind of blind. Loomis still being alive, because that mofo wont die until Michael does, starts turning on the oxygen machines confusing Michael.
Loomis tells Laurie to run before telling Michael “It’s over” and shoots him. In doing so he blows up the room with a massive explosion that leaves Laurie thinking it is over. Well not quite, Michael engulfed in flames still tries to get Laurie. However I think the heat is too much for him and Michael falls down dead. Laurie is saved once again for the second time with Michael left burning and we get an awesome shot of his mask being on fire. What I love about the ending is we are left with the song Mr. Sandman which perfectly ends the movie in the best way.
What I love about this film is how great it really is, they added to Michael’s story and upped the kill count. They didn’t get too gory because they still wanted to use suspense like Carpenter did. It got gorier as the series went on, which I will talk about when I review IV & V. Halloween and Halloween II are two films I think everyone should see, to see how to make two epic horror slasher films. The special effects were spot on, they didn’t go over board and the acting performances were awesome too. The Cinematography was fantastic in this film, especially in the ‘Burning Michael’ scene.
I give this horror sequel 5 out of 5 skulls. If you want a Halloween tradition like I do, then grab a bowl of popcorn and grab your boyfriend/girlfriend and enjoy these amazing two films back to back. you will not be disappointed.
