Review of Halloween II (1981) by Tim S — 27 Aug 2011

Halloween II may not have been directed by John Carpenter but it was written by him and he was somewhat involved with the project (albeit indirectly). This sequel picks up where the first one left off, with Michael Myers still alive and stalking what we later to find out to be his sister.

Now, as I said in my review of Halloween, I can understand why they decided to tie things together and make things more complicated, but I don't believe it was all that necessary. The story dynamics are handled in a ham-fisted sort of way and don't really create anything solid and simple as the previous film.

We find out that Laurie Strode is Michael's sister and that her identity was kept a secret in a "secret file from the government." That just reeks of a first draft story idea that they just seemed to go with and never question, even though it's incredibly silly.

Michael also seems to be less interesting this time around. He is one of the pickiest murderers I've ever seen - at least in this sequel. It's less about the stalking and build-up and more about just murdering random people for seemingly no reason, other than he's trying to get to his sister.

I don't know, I just find it a great step back instead of forward. The film's not completely worthless, however. The entire main cast, as well as the secondary cast members, all came back to reprise their roles, making it one of the best sequels in a continuity-sense.

Unfortunately, the sum isn't greater than the parts, making this entry feel more like an out-and-out slasher without any magic of the original.