I can't do it. As much as I love the original "Halloween". I can't bring myself to say much of anything positive about "Halloween II". Maybe it lacks the directorial brilliance of John Carpenter. Perhaps it's the deer in the headlights look on the face of Donald Pleasance every shot that he's in. Maybe it's the wig that Jamie Lee Curtis is wearing. Whatever the reason, "Halloween II" is not a good movie. I have to give it points for picking up at the exact moment the original closes on. There are some interesting shots by director Rick Rosenthal, but the characters and the story are fair at best.
There are a few decent kills by Michael Myers, but he is not nearly as menacing here as in the original. His walk and overall physical presence in this movie are no comparison to the first. You would also think that the isolated hospital where the story takes place would set up some scares but it just never happens. We end up with stupid nurses and even dumber ambulance drivers hanging around just waiting to become Michael Myers' latest victims. In the end, this potentially stunning tale screeches to an uninspired conclusion after such an incredible start courtesy of Carpenter.
Next up in the Scream Factory Boxset, giving the television cut a 1st time look for my 31 Days Of Horror.
Neat Horror more so for the fans of the legendary Michael Meyers.
definitely better than the first one
I didn't think the original Halloween could get any worse, but it did. This piece of carp was absolutely atrocious. And still no explanation of Michael Myers: why did he kill his sister originally? Why (and when?) did he kill his parents? Why is he so hellbent on killing Laurie whom he apparently doesn't even know? Why is he seemingly indestructrible? Where do his superpowers come from? (He can single-handedly impale and LIFT a human being on a surgical scalpel) Where does he get his regenerative powers from? (He plunged his hand into scalding water but was never burned.)
I'm watching these only because (1) it's October, and Halloween is soon approaching and (2) this is one horror movie franchise I've never watched in its entirety. I have no idea if Michael Myers shows up in the rest of them but for the love of all that's right, can someone at least take the time to make a plausible story out of this? It's really difficult to like a movie that has more holes than Swiss cheese. To date, the Halloween series has failed to impress me at all...unless you consider the eye-roll factor. :rolling_eyes:
This part is much better than first one in production, but the script is still trash. I know Michael is the bad guy but he is human right? He had two shots in his head and obviously he's keeping alive. What the hell?.
What I like about this movie is that the arc involving Laurie, Dr. Loomis and Michael Myers comes to a conclusion. Of course there are a lot more sequels, but this one provides a good ending, at least one that John Carpenter thought it was appropriate. I don't think he originally planned the first film to have a sequel, but it was not disappointing what we got though.
Michael is chasing Laurie again and everyone who crosses his path goes see God earlier (or the other guy), we learn a bit more about Laurie's past and that's about it. Poor Laurie, she can't take a single break and has to fight for her life over and over again. Michael's mask is not the same from the first film, which bothers me a bit, the first mask is just perfect. Unfortunately, they never managed to recreate the mask from the original movie in any sequel.
There are some good shots, I enjoyed those where we are in the point-of-view of Myers while he stalks some victim and walks through the neighborhood. Rick Rosenthal did a very good job as a replacement for Carpenter. The opening scene is really good, the music complements it so well while we stare at the pumpkin and as the camera gets closer and closer it reveals a skull inside of it, pretty neat.
The soundtrack is just perfect, fits so well with the horror, suspense and plot created.
Michael is almost indestructible, he must be some monster by this time. I would have preferred if they hadn't transformed him into this undying creature that doesn't even get injured. Good movie nonetheless.
Raised above the level of other early-80's slashers by the presence of Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance, but otherwise it has more in common with the "Friday the 13th" movies (poor characters, bad acting, bad dialogue, no plot, elaborate deaths) than the original "Halloween" which relied on quality, acting and suspense.
Not only is this a good horror movie, it is a good film and if the first rates a 10/10, this is certainly of a 9. It is that good.
I Rated this One a 2.5/5.. It's a lil weaker than the first one Plot Was Off loved the pace.. Writing and Directing Received no Points IMO... Characters was cast good but the acting and dialogue was a bit off.. Overall An Average Film with a good thrill and A lot More Violence.
Now this is interesting. So many people out there love the first Halloween film, which is surprising to me, because I really feel like it lacks essential elements for it to actually be memorable. It may have birthed the slasher genre, but it had bad acting, barely any violence, the violence it did have was confusing because you don’t even see it, and the victims were completely random, so you don’t really care about them all that much. That being said, Halloween II picks up immediately after the first and serves as a companion film – if you watched the first and second movie back-to-back as a three-hour film, it would be much, much better. But how is the sequel as a standalone film? Let’s get into it.
As mentioned above, Halloween II starts off where the last one ended, Michael Myers has been shot out of Laurie’s window – but when they looked for him, he was missing, meaning he survived. This film is more or less a manhunt as Michael Myers still attempts to track down and murder Laurie. Why is she so important for this deranged psychopath to risk his life again? You actually find out in this movie.
If only they made a three-hour film to begin with. As a standalone movie, it does alright, but all the character development is left in the original while this is basically just a continuation, or part two if you rather. If you stitched the two movies together it would work seamlessly and there would be no need to watch any more sequels after this. A lot about this film was brilliant and worked miles better than the first, but as a companion to the first movie, it actually fixes those initial problems as well. I no longer have the complaints I had before, and that’s shocking for me when watching a sequel. I’m also shocked to see on RT, they have the first rated around ~90% and this is a rotten 31%. Really? Flip those scores and you’d have something closer to accuracy.
This movie had slightly better acting, but only slight. Its real improvements came down to removing all the confusion the first provided. Michael Myers now has an actual purpose and direction, it’s no longer random; you actually see where and how he kills people – there’s still little gore, but that serves as a great alternative (the first didn’t show either) – and you know why he’s doing it as well…which also explains all the kills in the first movie too. Come on, that’s brilliance right there. The only real problem the movie had was that it didn’t feel like a standalone film – it needs the first movie to work, but in my honest opinion, the first needs the second in order to work as well.
I really wish I could give Halloween a combined score. In fact, I would really like to see a fan edit version where they make one big movie using both the first and second film. If they did that, you would probably see a pretty good score, but what we have instead is two sort of incomplete films in my opinion. The first only works with the second and same vice versa. This movie on its own makes more sense where the first didn’t, but the good parts of the first film don’t exactly transfer to the second either. It’s a double-edged sword, really – they are things that work well together, but not so much apart.
From a story point of view the sequel fits perfectly with the previous entry and cleverly picks up right from the last moments of the first film on the same Halloween night. The film has most of the same core cast that survived the previous entry and had this been the end of the franchise it would have served as a fairly compelling ending. Where the film falls down in comparison to the original is that the focus seems to be leaning much more towards trying to find new ways to kill people and the film struggles to build any real tension a lot of the time. Gone are the careful tracking shots and framing that worked so well in the first and the POV shots seem thrown in without any real thought as to how they worked so well before. It doesn’t help that the score, which had been such a creepy part of the original now comes with added synthesisers that just don’t work and only serve to make the film less tense than it should be.
I never understood the amount of hate towards this movie. It delivered what all sequels should - a higher body count. Nothing new to report plot wise. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.
Actually not that much of a step down compared to Halloween, Rick Rosenthal’s directing (while obviously not as good as Carpenter’s) gets the job done. His sense of building tension is decent and he clearly studied the directorial flourishes that made the first one special. It feels like more of the same, and in terms of directing I’m fine with that. The synths even feel a little beefed up this time around, implying that you are indeed watching something bigger and better. The problem is that Halloween was always way too thin to build a franchise around, so this doesn’t bring much to the table creatively. The acting, dialogue and characters are still pretty shit, while the story doesn’t really attempt to build on the mythology of the first one. It’s very much a direct continuation, keeping that small scale, contained feel. The horror sequences are nowhere near as memorable as the first one either, probably because they already used most of their ideas. There’s a really cool scene involving a car crash, but besides that I don’t see much sticking with me. Halloween is a film that kept me mildly intrigued throughout, this one I find slightly dull from beginning to end.
4/10
At least in one important respect, Halloween II is better than the original in that the later film has more action, and the sequel has more of a conclusive ending. The first film, of course, ends with Michael Myers still on the loose, and in the sequel, Myers "apparently" gets fried to a crisp.. John Carpenter continues Halloween II with the same interesting first-hand filming style, putting us behind the camera as Myers stalks around the neighborhood. What gets a bit annoying about the sequel is the unlikable nurses and EMT guys and the unnecessary, shoehorned relationship angles. I know Carpenter and Debra Hill needed a device to propel the plot forward, and I know Myers needed randos to kill - unlikeable hospital personnel were as good of candidates as any - but except for Loomis and Laurie, I couldn't have cared less about any of these characters. That's why I think, except for the general favoritism original films of any franchise receive, Halloween II takes a backseat in most people's minds to the first movie. In any case, this was a fun watch, and it gave viewers a satisfying conclusion, so it's a solid sequel for that reason.
As sequels go, Halloween II isn't bad, just nowhere near as good as the first one. It's certainly more visceral, but much of the tension is gone. There are some rather odd story choices here and there, and also some slight pacing problems. Let's just say that Halloween II is NOT the one I pick off the shelf when I want to watch a Halloween film.
Underrated Halloween sequel, this movie blends the suspense and gore masterfully. Gorier than its predecessor with some creative kills.
6.5/10
Nowhere near as good as number 1, wtf.
Annoying as Hella people making stupid decisions and just well being stupid and annoying just for the sake of it.
If I had to suffer anymore of them bloody nurses and pathetic ambulance drivers I was ready to pull my hair out and that creepy one that kept sniffing round Laurie I wanted to punch,
Then the hungover
pissed up Doctor was ridiculous. It got so boring waiting for Michael to start doing his thing at the end and finally put an end to my pain and these annoying pathetic terrible characters, I was bloody cheering when he ended them, that's when I wasn't distracted by Laurie's awful wig.
I did enjoy how this carried straight on from the first, that was always a selling point for me and I enjoyed the Alternate Ending.
Always good to have one last unexpected scare just when you think the movie is all said and done.
I have never touched Halloween franchise before and been meaning to watch this for years. Now that I've seen it, it's more of the same really but still a quite thrilling ride. It captures a lot of the style of the first film, from the wonderfully dark atmosphere to its brutal kills, although it loses its building suspense and subtlety of the original, and the decision to set the film as a straight continuation of the first make it much more compelling. Overall, it's about as good of a sequel as you can ask for.
It's way better than the original
"Halloween II" lacks the directorial flair of John Carpenter's "Halloween". Rick Rosenthal does his best to emulate the look of this movie's predecessor, but doesn't quite get there. Perhaps it's the deer in the headlights look on the face of Donald Pleasance every shot that he's in. Maybe it's the wig that Jamie Lee Curtis is wearing. Whatever the reason, "Halloween II" is a letdown when set next to the original. However it's a decent enough slasher film, which by the time it was made, was following the beats of other recent and successful "killer-on-the-loose" movies.
I have to give "Halloween II" points for picking up at the exact moment the original closes on. There are a few decent kills by Michael Myers but he's not nearly as menacing as in the original film. His walk and overall physical presence are not as convincing.
There are a lot of stupid nurses and even dumber ambulance drivers hanging around in the darkened hospital, just waiting to become Michael Myers' latest kills. These characters are not only annoying but obvious victims for Michael Myers. But hey, that's the Horror genre, right?
Still, this is an effective enough slasher film. I personally consider this to be the end of Michael Myers. "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" came next and provided proof of the end of the Michael Myers story arc.
"Is this a joke? I've been trick-or-treated to death tonight."
I know many people say this is one of the better sequels to a horror film, but I was a little bored while watching this, wondering why it was made in the first place. The first one ended on a perfect note and could've been done with until the Halloween 2018 movie came out. That being said, it was still serviceable.
A great follow up. The movie starts getting schlocky here, but manages to be tense and entertaining.
Halloween II follows in the steps of the original to produce a very safe but entertaining sequel. Whilst it does overindulge in gore, the suspense is still palpable and the change in setting is interesting enough. But for me, the film ends up feeling too safe, almost copying the blueprint set up in the original film. It's good, not great, but still miles better than the low points for this series.
Like Jaws 2, this is the best of the sequels. Even if it doesn’t offer anything new. Just Michael after Laurie yet again. While killing his way through a hospital to get to her.
Michael Myers’s massacre continues in Halloween II. This story picks up where the first film ended; in the wake of the murders a full scale manhunt for Michael Myers begins, but the body count continues to rise as Michael pursues his killing spree. Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis return to reprise their characters, and Pleasence delivers a particularly impressive performance. Additionally, director Rick Rosenthal does a good job at shooting the action and kill sequences. Still, there are some weaknesses in the plot and with the character development. Yet despite having a few problems, Halloween II is a solid slasher film.
A good sequel of the original Halloween, I liked the fact that this film took place in a hospital. A lot of good kills, the kill with the hammer and boiling water were especially great. Definitely a solid sequel.
They killed him (many times) and he still ran away… I get the idea but even in the 80-ties it was rather weak. ;)
A much anticipated Sequel to a Horror Masterpiece, Halloween II picked up
where the first Halloween's excellence
left off. Rob Zombie's Halloween II was
very entertaining, but Rick Rosenthal
nailed it as John Carpenter's replacement!
Not quite as good as the first. It has a lot more violence but that doesn't make it more scary, maybe a little more entertaining. Michael Myers really can take a bullet or six.
Scared me to death as a kid but let's get real. If this would be a new release, this would not do well at the box office. I doubt an 18 year old would give this a high vote.
However, given for the time (with like zero convincing special effects by today's standards) this is a truly well made flick. The sound alone has a Jaw like feel. And David Pleasant fits in perfect.
So, well made movie for the time but puhh... bored me stiff watching it.
Sure this sequel is full of random kills as Michael Myers tries to get his hands on Laurie Strode in a hospital. The film is still way better than both Rob Zombie's films.
Hell it's a classic in its own right. The first is still the best though. I just prefer the TV version since Jimmy is seen alive. Otherwise it’s like he died slipping on blood.
The kill count is bigger and the kills are more creative than the first. There’s also some suspenseful moments.
I wonder why she didn't bother honking the horn to alert the doctor. The doors on the cars were open. Also, wonder what happened to Jimmy; he just fainted in the car and never came back.
Shout by Saint PaulyBlockedParent2019-04-13T15:12:46Z
Watching Michael chase Laurie and Dr Loomis chase Michael, I felt like I was watching trivial pursuits.