SPLATTERdrome

Release Date: October 30th, 1981

Director: Rick Rosenthal & John Carpenter (uncredited)

Screenwriter: John Carpenter & Debra Hill

Genre: Horror

 

 

Halloween II isn't so much a proper sequel as a caricature of the first film; distorted and exaggerated in such a way that we recognize the signature attributes of what's being emulated, but would never confuse it with Carpenter's film. This is clear right from the opening sequence as director Rick Rosenthal does everything possible to make his sequel feel like a direct continuation of the first film, but botches things badly, beginning with the Wile E. Coyote-esque silhouette Michael’s body leaves in the grass and followed up with some memorably ludicrous Dr. Loomis dialogue, including the line, “You don't know what death is!”, which he shouts at a concerned neighbor before comically fleeing the scene. Oh brother.

 

Cartoonish execution aside, Halloween II does indeed pick up right where the original ended, Michael Myers having been shot several times in a confrontation with Loomis before mysteriously disappearing into the night. Rosenthal has some success imitating the camera technique and general visual aesthetic from the original, but those are about the only elements which bear a resemblance to what came before. Halloween II may appear but to be cut from the same cloth, but it thoroughly abandons everything that made the first film work; it never prioritizes suspense, storytelling, an attention to detail, or even a basic adherence to common sense; all elements which helped define the first film as a taut, persuasive thriller. Instead we get a sloppy, aimless retread mired in random violence and rife with genre clichés.

 

My biggest issue with Halloween II is how it utterly abandons the lead characters from the previous film. Our returning heroes are now ancillary. Dr. Loomis is reduced to a parody of himself, endlessly erupting with shtick like, “I shot him six times!”, and, “He’s not human!”, to anyone who will listen. Jamie Leigh Curtis feels forgotten in this screenplay, which centers around a forgettable ensemble of new faces that can't hold a candle to our returning heroine.

 

The primary setting of the film is Haddonfield Memorial Hospital where Laurie is being treated for the injuries she sustained in the first film. Almost immediately after arriving she receives sedatives and is put to bed. We barely see her for the next 45 minutes. Ok, so this movie will be about Dr. Loomis then, right? Well, there are a few scenes where we follow the doctor around town as he attempts to pick up the pieces alongside the local police, but these are brief and mostly used to remind us of events we’ve already seen. Ok, so then who is the focus of the movie?

 

You may be disappointed to learn that the majority of Halloween II concerns the antics of a group of undisciplined hospital employees as they are quietly pursued by an emboldened Michael Myers. Between abbreviated scenes of Laurie in bed and Loomis wandering around Haddonfield, we get the pleasure of watching this inept crew of nurses and paramedics as they stumble around an empty hospital, get frisky on the company dollar, are startled by stray cats, and casually smoke dope in the break room. You know, typical medical professional behavior. Speaking of which, why on earth would a hospital be almost entirely empty on Halloween night? The kids in Haddonfield must not go too hard if no one needed their stomach pumped on the best party night of the year.

 

Even after many viewings, I’m continually disturbed at how much of a departure Halloween II is from the original film, especially considering that Carpenter and Hill returned in screenwriting and production roles. They were on set, so you would think they could have pointed Rosenthal in the right direction.

 

I suppose it makes sense if you look at the year this movie was made. Friday the 13th had been a massive hit the year before and grisly, formulaic slashing was the new craze in low-risk, high-reward horror production. In this context, it’s not surprising that John Carpenter, in a complete one-eighty, stocked this sequel with disposable characters who are merely waiting in line to die; it’s what fans of popular horror expected to see in 1981. In this way Halloween II is a snake eating its own tail; the slasher zeitgeist of the early 1980s having been directly inspired by the original Halloween’s considerable financial accomplishments only a few years prior. It takes the idea of being a victim of your own success to a new level.

 

I can accept that the forces behind Halloween II prioritized marketability over continuing the style 1978’s Halloween had established, what I find indefensible is Carpenter and Rosenthal’s inability to make that shift with integrity. The execution of this film is disgraceful; Carpenter’s screenplay is wooden and illogical, he creates a world dependent upon absurdly contrived conditions and populates it with characters who say and do things which lead only to incredulous head-scratching and indignation. Michael is no longer clandestine or haunting, Rosenthal reduces him to a nondescript strongman who now plows through glass entrances and busts through solid doors like The Terminator. Every frame of Halloween II reeks of insincerity and hastiness, it’s far from the sequel fans of this series deserved and one of the worst in a franchise with more than a few low points.