While Halloween (1978) was written, directed and scored by John Carpenter to all but perfection, it’s direct sequel Halloween II (1981) is only written and produced by him. Instead, the slasher sequel was directed by new-comer Rick Rosenthal, who is apparently most known for directing Halloween II and Halloween: Resurrection (2002).
It says a lot about a director when the films they’re most known for are the second and eighth entries in a slasher series – and when you’re following John Carpenter, you’ve got big shoes to fill. While Carpenter didn’t direct this entry, he did write it, which is interesting in the sense that we get to compare and contrast the two films.
While Halloween is basically perfect, Halloween II is an adequate sequel – it isn’t any better than the original by any means, but it isn’t as shlocky as the sequels that would follow. Donald Pleasance, Jaime Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, and the score return, but the magic has faded away – like seeing your high school crush on your ten year reunion.
The movie, while written competently, feels all too much like what the later Halloween entries would become – specifically, there is a scene where a costumed teen is killed because he is mimicking Michael Meyers. On the same night as the first Halloween, there are already copycats. Not only that, but the teen is killed by a police car doing 90mph down a residential street into a trailer, pinning the teen between the car and the trailer, the latter of which then explodes into flames.
The score even seems off somehow, like a great cover version of Carpenter’s work, but not quite hitting the same mark. It feels too polished.
I think the faults might be leveled at Carpenter’s script – I feel like the work was almost neutered from the very beginning. The story continues on from the ending of Halloween, but sadly, feels like a loose vignette of a story that plods along until it is time for the the memorable set pieces: the aforementioned exploding Michael Meyers copy, the hospital hot tub, and the finale where Michael Meyers is killed (of course).
Gone is the feeling of intense dread following our main characters, instead replaced with the guy from The Last Starfighter (1984), (Lance Guest), and a string of characters acting like pastiches instead of humans.
I’m being hard on Halloween II, but it’s not really all that bad. It’s just not particularly great either. I give it a 2.5/5.
The Porkchop Express 