10 Things You Learn Rewatching Halloween II (2009)
1. In Summary
Rob Zombie's Halloween II is one of the strangest films in the franchise, and for this franchise, that's really saying something. On the one hand, it's far more enjoyable than its predecessor simply because it's something entirely original and Zombie takes some big risks, even if they don't always pan out. On the other hand, this thing is edited to sh*t, increasingly grotesque, further wastes some great characters, and is borderline unwatchable in parts. It tries to trade in the grounded realism of Zombie's prior film for a more surreal approach but winds up kind of tripping over its own feet in the process. While Zombie's ambitions here are something to be admired, and it's easy to recommend as a watch just for what a strange ride it is, this is still far from the franchise's upper echelon.
Haddonfield High Superlatives:
Best Kill: Michael stomping a man's face in with his boot.
Funniest Scene: Zombie's heavy-handedness earns more than a few laughs in the sequence that cuts back-and-forth between Laurie eating a vegetarian pizza and Michael eating a dog.
Biggest Dick of a Character: Loomis. It's not even a contest.
How Awful of a Town is Haddonfield?: 6 out of 10 (lets Loomis run ads all over town for his book that openly exploits them, all of Laurie's friends seem like terrible people who would be awful neighbors)
Scream Queen Award: Brad Dourif as Sheriff Brackett. He goes all in here and delivers what is probably his best on-screen performance, really selling Brackett as a worn-down and troubled sheriff who's just trying to protect his family.
Ranking of the Films Revisited Thus Far From Best to Worst: Halloween (1978), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Halloween II (1981), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988), Halloween II (2009), Halloween (2007), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Check out our previous Halloween Retrospectives below:
Halloween III: Season of the Witch
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers