Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Sherri Moon Zombie, Danielle Harris, Malcolm McDowell

Written & Directed By: Rob Zombie

Grade: B

What made the Halloween remake stand out was how it brought a new identity to Michael Myers. Rob Zombie brought his own interpretation on Myers past to the table and explored that. The first half of the movie that focused on Myers’ childhood was actually my favorite part. Sure the chase, kills, and even most of the characters were fun, but this was more or less the same of what we have seen Myers do for decades. Of course, it was necessary to show this, but once we got in to this stage of the film that new spin that we got from Zombie wasn’t quite as prevalent.

Halloween II takes that initial goal of bringing something new and even more specifically unmasking the unknown in the series. Michael Myers has always been a mysterious being; that’s what makes him such a monster. You have no idea what’s going on his head or what his true motives are. Thus, majority of Michael Myers fans who enjoyed this aspect of the films aren’t going to be happy with Rob Zombie’s Halloween II. Zombie makes some bold moves in how much he changes in this movie and the identity he gives Michael Myers. I respect him immensely for this boldness and how he brings a completely new chapter in the Halloween series; a rarity in sequels or remakes, let alone for a film that is essentially both.

It’s been one year since Laurie Strode (Compton) was attacked by and shot Michel Myers (Mane). She is living with her best friend, Annie (Harris) and goes to a shrink on a regular basis to deal with the attack. She continues to have nightmares about Michael Myers attacking, killing, and even taking over her psychologically. Laurie continues to tell herself that Myers is dead. This is believed to be the truth, but his body was never recovered. Dr. Loomis (McDowell) is having trouble as well since that night, but not in the same way. He has just released a tell all book called “The Devil Walks Among Us,” that reveals personal information on the victims and their correlation to Michael Myers. He’s being accused of holding responsibility for Myers’ monstrous state and the victims and lives he destroyed forever. Dr. Loomis doesn’t show much concern for this or the idea that Michael Myers could still be out there.

Thanks to Dr. Loomis’ book Laurie finds out that she is Angel Myers, Michael Myers’ sister. This causes her whole world to come crashing down and she feels betrayed for not being told this before. She becomes restless and decides she needs to go out and have a good time so her and her friends go to a Halloween party. After her wild night, she comes home to see that Michael Myers is back and has left his mark. He goes after Laurie along with the child version of himself and his deceased mother (Zombie) who holds the presence of a dark angel. She lets Michael have his fun for now and tells him soon they will bring his sister home to them.

Overall, I enjoyed the film a lot, but that isn’t to say that there weren’t elements in the film that were a bit off. The one that stood out the most to me was Michael Myers’ animalistic motions. When he kills people he really makes sure that they are dead, slicing and dicing over and over again, grinding in to bones and flesh. In the original series, some deaths might have been slightly longer than others, but there was an element of near effortlessness, as if he was that powerful and deadly that he barely had to try. That goes along with how slow he walks when going after his victims. Once he gets them where he wants them, Michael quickly ends their life. He always did so silently, making it harder to read him. In this film, his motions are large and almost exaggerated at times. There’s also heavy grunting during most of his killings when heavy breathing was the most we heard before. As much as this didn’t seem quite Michael Myers like to me and although I prefer the approach the original films had to Michael Myers subtly in killing, just as most of the oddities in the film, this has justification behind it. A major theme in the film and reasoning that is given to Michael Myers’ killing is the need to take out his anger on others. Repeated stabbings and grunts of anger follow this concept. Despite the length and slight excessiveness of the deaths, they should still satisfy most. There is plenty of blood and most of the bodies are severely mutated. There’s a few good chases, especially the one involving Laurie on the run from Michael who wants to take her back to his shack.

Following that reasoning another thing that might rub some people the wrong way is the reoccurring white horse and the images of Myers’ mother and his childhood self. The white horse represents Myers’ built up anger and his need to unleash it on others. The images of young Myers and his mother do get a little iffy when Laurie begins to see them and is even physically restrained by them, yet clearly no one else can see them. The image of young Michael emphasis how he can’t let go of the bloodlust that drove him that Halloween night.

The image of his mother is his inspiration for continuing this and for going after his sister specifically so they can be a family again. At times, Michael’s obedience towards his mother reminded me a bit of Jason’s motives. Still, it’s a fairly common theme for horror killers to be driven by their mother’s approval and doing right by them even in their own sadistic way. After all, Psycho did this before Friday the 13^th and Jason’s back story didn’t seem less dignified or authentic because of that. I do understand that in the original Halloween, Michael seemed to show nothing but hate for his family although we never really knew why. That changed in Rob Zombie’s remake though and given that his mother was one of the only people who was ever kind to Michael it makes sense that he would listen so completely. After all, she could very well be part of his sub-conscious holding on to her.

This is again where it gets a little messy since he isn’t the only one that can see her. Michael seemed to be influencing Laurie’s mind to some extent through her dreams that seemed to have a large piece of him taking over her mind and actions. Has Michael indeed gotten in to Laurie’s mind? This could have even happened by knowing Michael’s history and finding out that she is related to him without any direct control from Michael. It’s just a little unclear what the nature of the images we see are and in what capacity they exist. Some might find it a little far fetched, but I was able to accept and enjoy this aspect. If there was a little more insight and explanation on it, it could have worked a little better though.

There are a few things that seemed to be thrown in for the heck of it. There is a lot of swearing in the film, which I normally wouldn’t even comment on, but there is one particular scene where this just seems out of place. When a hospital worker crashes his car and is being crushed by his vehicle he says ‘Fuck’ at least 20 times in a row. It’s just a really awkward moment that lingers. This is the only time I had any problem with the language though and luckily soon enough this particular guy was dead and his babbling finally stopped. There is a scene of a strip club and the owner, an old man who refers to himself as a green monster, having sex with one of his young strippers. Michael comes in and kills them, which does go along with the ‘anyone who has sex will die’ rule that is common in Halloween films, but it seems out of place. We are with these characters for less than 5 minutes and they don’t add anything to the central story going on elsewhere. Michael gets plenty of kills, several teenagers who are about to have sex, so there really wasn’t any reason why this scene needed to be shown. These were really the only two elements that seemed to be put in without reason.

Laurie is a very different character than she was even in the previous film. This makes sense though since she went through so much. She is far more drained and even shows a familiarity with darkness a bit. Her transition throughout the film is strong as well and shows how she is battling with her own demons because of Michael and what she has learned about his relationship to her. I liked the final change she went through in the end, but I do think it could have used a little more build up. Although the dreams contribute to this somewhat, it is a sudden change. If there was more build up, taking her in to this state it could have been very effective.

I didn’t really like what Rob Zombie did to the character of Dr. Loomis. What always drove him was protecting the world from Michael and trying to warn others of the monster that he truly was. He was the one person who really understood Michael’s capabilities. In this film, all that drives him is greed and commercialism. I expected him to snap out of it when it was clear Michael was back and Laurie abducted. He did show that he cared about what happened to Laurie, but it seemed more out of guilt than any dire need to put a stop to Michael once and for all.

Michael Myers not wearing his mask in 70% of the film was far less of an issue than fans might expect. His mask was part of his mystery, because you could never read him and he seemed less human by seeing a mask instead of his face. This film is all about unmasking Michael though so of course having his mask off for a good part of the film makes sense. Luckily though, his face is so dirty and since there is constant darkness and shadows around Michael, his face almost serves as a mask in itself. We aren’t seeing a face of a typical guy. He’s still not highly recognizable and there is a darkness reflected in him. Also, the poster of Myers wearing a hoodie looked pretty ridiculous. Luckily, the darkness covering Myers helps his black attire blend in with the shadows around him and it ends up looking just as natural as what he has worn in past movies.

The trailer for the film lacked the dimension, story, and revelations that the film is really about. I was pleasantly surprised that the film built off the first one so well. The first gave Michael a new past, but kept the same killing and stalking that Halloween fans were used to. With the second film, Rob Zombie kept on going in that direction, but without holding back at all. The hospital sequence in the beginning is reminiscent to the original Halloween 2 movie, but aside from that this is an entirely different film in almost every way. For me this was refreshing, because I actually didn’t know what to expect and was constantly surprised and intrigued with what did end up happening. Zombie didn’t let remake or sequel standards confine him, but created a new identity for the film and world around it based on his interpretations of Myers’ past and motivations. Myers was always about the mystery, but if you want to enjoy this movie you have to let go of that. As you go in to there is an element of mystery there, but this film is about uncovering it. We have seen plenty of Myers films full of the mystery of his madness and I get that some might feel that straying away from this makes it less authentic, but there is also a certain fascination in understanding the mind of a killer as notorious as Michael Myers who we have witnessed kill in film after film. More depth is added to the character, which in the case of Laurie could actually make him more terrifying. She wasn’t just a random culprit, she is a part of Michael that he has set out to get back and won’t stop until he does. She is part of the madman than she has feared so much over the past year.

Halloween II definitely has its issues and strays drastically from the original material. These changes may be too much for a lot of people and I completely understand if it is. For those that are craving something new and unique that sheds an entirely new light on Halloween or those who are intrigued by the mind behind the monster that is Michael Myers, Halloween II is the film for you. The bottom line though is that it takes chances and is innovative in bringing a new viewpoint on Michael Myers and the Halloween legacy.