Review of Halloween II (1981) by Luciusmcgibbon — 09 Dec 2012

This sequel was at best the first sign, and at worst the very reason, that the magic of Carpenter's 1978 classic could never be re-captured again. This movie has a few strong points: the hospital makes a creepy (if misused) setting, the story wisely picks up right where the first movie left off, and frankly, it's just more Michael.

.. However, there are so many areas where HII fails short of the original that the whole project ends up failing. Michael suddenly takes on some very unbecoming traits for the sole purpose of driving the plot; witness the zombie-like pace with which he "chases" Lauri through the hospital basement.

.. he looks like he'd rather stretch the scene than actually catch her. They also did away with many tension-building elements, such as the silent stalking that made the first one so stylishly effective, Finally, this was the movie that introduced the whole brother/sister backstory, and while this was a tastefully moderate piece of plot exposition, it was the beginning of the "let's explain what Michael Myers is thinking" phase that stripped all the mystery from The Shape and ultimately gave us abortions like "The Revenge" and "The Curse.

" I have a soft spot for this movie if only for the few bits of atmosphere carried over from the first one, but I have to see it for what it is: the first step in turning a great movie into a crappy series.