Halloween 2 (4 Stars)

This wan't intended to be the third film in my John Carpenter mini-marathon. I watched "Halloween" yesterday with my son Benjamin, and he insisted on seeing the sequel. I could hardly refuse him, could I?

I vaguely remember watching the first seven Halloween films in the early 2000's. I rented them from Lovefilm, a company which which was later purchased by Amazon. I watched all seven films in quick succession, and I remember them getting worse from film to film. The only films that I later bought on DVD were the first two films, although I haven't watched the second film in the last 12 years (since starting my blog).

"Halloween 2" begins immediately after the events of the first film, so it's still 31st October 1978. The bodies of the teenagers killed in the previous film still haven't been collected. Michael Myers is alive, despite having been shot multiple times. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital with light injuries, including a sprained leg. The killer goes to the hospital to kill her, murdering various members of the hospital staff while he searches for her. Almost the whole film takes place in the hospital.

The body count is bigger, though only slightly. In the first film five people died, plus one off camera. In this film six people are murdered, plus two off camera, and there's one accidental death. The murders are more explicit. Does that make the film better or worse? It's a matter of opinion. I can't decide.

John Carpenter wrote the screenplay for "Halloween 2", but he wasn't able to direct it because he was busy with "The Fog". The film was given to Rick Rosenthal, who'd never made any films previously. When the film was completed, John Carpenter was involved in the post-production, and he wasn't happy with some scenes, so he re-filmed them. Carpenter claims to have directed about half of the completed film, but he wasn't credited as director.

John Carpenter intended this to be the end of the Michael Myers saga. The murderer was dead, so the films were over. The studios knew a cash cow when they had one, so they carried on making Halloween films without Carpenter's involvement. That's sad. "Halloween 2" was adequate, but the following sequels were far inferior. Maybe "Halloween 2" would have been up to the quality of the first film if John Carpenter had directed the whole film from the start. We'll never know.

Success Rate:  + 8.2

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