Movie review time, kiddos. Today we have Rob Zombie's Halloween II, the sequel to his 2007 "re-imagining" of the Michael Myers saga.
This movie is a lot like Transformers 2 actually.... Not in concept, style or direction, no; but rather, if you like the first Transformers then you probably liked the second one. It's no question that Rob's first take on Halloween was a hit or miss, love it or hate it type flick. You have the old school Halloween fans who hail John Carpenter's original as a horror classic (and for good reason: it IS a classic). Then you have the Rob Zombie fans who will love and praise just about anything he does. ...And then you have me: a fan of both. Can the two come together to make a cohesive and enjoyable film experience?
Like I said, if you liked the first one, you probably won't be disappointed by this one. The film picks up fresh where part one ended (only to jump forward a year later after the introduction scene). The movie starts with a mentally troubled Laurie Strode, dealing with the demons of her previous Halloween. In typical Michael Myers fashion, after Michael's "death" at the end of the first film, his body conveniently disappeared after a car accident immobilizes the coroner's van that was transporting him. Is he dead? Is he alive? This sets the groundwork for our film's story, which I won't go any further into for the sake of not spoiling the film.
The original cast is in place (with one glaring exception, but we'll discuss that later) and for the most part, they all do great jobs. My only real problem with the acting in this film came from Scout Taylor-Compton (playing Laurie Strode). Not to say she was bad in the role or anything, but if you hated the crying and screaming she spent the last 3rd of the first film doing constantly... it's gotten worse. A lot of new characters also suffered dearly from under-development. Laurie has two new friends, Mya and ...uhh. ....umm.. friend number two.... Yeah, I got nothin'. Her other friend was entirely un-developed and gave me not a single shred of emotional attachment. She was hot though, so there's that.
Danielle Harris and Brad Dourif reprise their roles as Annie and Sheriff Brackett, respectively. These two were easily the best actors in the film. I love Brad Dourif as a very emotionally driven father in the wake of a horrendous killing spree, and Danielle Harris is just as enjoyable and talented (and hot) as ever. Malcolm McDowell returns as quite the dick-headed Doctor Loomis. Seriously, he got rich off his books about Michael and now he's a real asshole. Not much more to say, really.
The only re-cast in the film was the young Michael Myers. Daeg Faerch had apparently grown too big (and his voice too deep) to pull off the kiddie act any longer, so they recast. Where I guess I see the point in that, at the same time I really don't. Michael Myers spent 15 years in that asylum, did the "kid version" absolutely have to be that young? To have Daeg Faerch back in the role is as believable as establishing "well, this is Michael in the asylum at age whatever." Overall, I think the recast was pointless and actually hurt the film. I had zero emotional attachment to kid-Michael this time around, which was an element that seemed so important to the first one.
Overall, the film was an improvement over the first. Mr. Zombie's distinct visual style was a lot more present this time around, and the direction he took the film in was a pleasant (and much needed) departure from the tired Myers formula. Would I want another? Hell no. Was this Rob's best film? Not a chance, but it's easy to say this was superior to the first in almost every way and left a good taste in my mouth after over 25 years off disappointing Halloween sequels. I give the film a 7.5 out of 10.
On a side-note, you have fans of the series claiming Rob Zombie ruined the franchise. To those people I say: quit your bitching. While Rob took the series in a direction you may not have liked, it doesn't suddenly sweep all the shitty entries of Halloween under the rug. Halloween 5, 6, and Resurrection will always be shit-piles, period. Michael Myers' corpse has been dragged through far worse than these two films, trust me.
This movie is a lot like Transformers 2 actually.... Not in concept, style or direction, no; but rather, if you like the first Transformers then you probably liked the second one. It's no question that Rob's first take on Halloween was a hit or miss, love it or hate it type flick. You have the old school Halloween fans who hail John Carpenter's original as a horror classic (and for good reason: it IS a classic). Then you have the Rob Zombie fans who will love and praise just about anything he does. ...And then you have me: a fan of both. Can the two come together to make a cohesive and enjoyable film experience?
Like I said, if you liked the first one, you probably won't be disappointed by this one. The film picks up fresh where part one ended (only to jump forward a year later after the introduction scene). The movie starts with a mentally troubled Laurie Strode, dealing with the demons of her previous Halloween. In typical Michael Myers fashion, after Michael's "death" at the end of the first film, his body conveniently disappeared after a car accident immobilizes the coroner's van that was transporting him. Is he dead? Is he alive? This sets the groundwork for our film's story, which I won't go any further into for the sake of not spoiling the film.
The original cast is in place (with one glaring exception, but we'll discuss that later) and for the most part, they all do great jobs. My only real problem with the acting in this film came from Scout Taylor-Compton (playing Laurie Strode). Not to say she was bad in the role or anything, but if you hated the crying and screaming she spent the last 3rd of the first film doing constantly... it's gotten worse. A lot of new characters also suffered dearly from under-development. Laurie has two new friends, Mya and ...uhh. ....umm.. friend number two.... Yeah, I got nothin'. Her other friend was entirely un-developed and gave me not a single shred of emotional attachment. She was hot though, so there's that.
Danielle Harris and Brad Dourif reprise their roles as Annie and Sheriff Brackett, respectively. These two were easily the best actors in the film. I love Brad Dourif as a very emotionally driven father in the wake of a horrendous killing spree, and Danielle Harris is just as enjoyable and talented (and hot) as ever. Malcolm McDowell returns as quite the dick-headed Doctor Loomis. Seriously, he got rich off his books about Michael and now he's a real asshole. Not much more to say, really.
The only re-cast in the film was the young Michael Myers. Daeg Faerch had apparently grown too big (and his voice too deep) to pull off the kiddie act any longer, so they recast. Where I guess I see the point in that, at the same time I really don't. Michael Myers spent 15 years in that asylum, did the "kid version" absolutely have to be that young? To have Daeg Faerch back in the role is as believable as establishing "well, this is Michael in the asylum at age whatever." Overall, I think the recast was pointless and actually hurt the film. I had zero emotional attachment to kid-Michael this time around, which was an element that seemed so important to the first one.
Overall, the film was an improvement over the first. Mr. Zombie's distinct visual style was a lot more present this time around, and the direction he took the film in was a pleasant (and much needed) departure from the tired Myers formula. Would I want another? Hell no. Was this Rob's best film? Not a chance, but it's easy to say this was superior to the first in almost every way and left a good taste in my mouth after over 25 years off disappointing Halloween sequels. I give the film a 7.5 out of 10.
On a side-note, you have fans of the series claiming Rob Zombie ruined the franchise. To those people I say: quit your bitching. While Rob took the series in a direction you may not have liked, it doesn't suddenly sweep all the shitty entries of Halloween under the rug. Halloween 5, 6, and Resurrection will always be shit-piles, period. Michael Myers' corpse has been dragged through far worse than these two films, trust me.
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