Saturday 23 August 2014

Halloween 2 (1981) - Michael Myers returns!

(WARNING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS)
I was very excited to seeing the sequel to the first Halloween film, after we witnessed Michael Myers escape his supposed 'certain death'. I've seen this film receive many different opinions - positive and negative; mainly positive though. I am one of the positive voters, as in my opinion it is simply a fantastic attempt as a sequel to the previous slasher. I found most of the film very good, especially some of the death scenes which built suspense and momentum! However, I can only think of two ways to criticise it. The acting in some scenarios was a letdown in my opinion, and when Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is attempting to escape through the ventilation grill, it took forever for Michael Myers to walk over to her and pull her back down.
This moment in particular was a bad scene for me; however you may argue that it's just about the character of Myers - as he walks everywhere in the film no matter how far his victim is away from him. He is always acting like a suave guy, full of confidence on his murder plot.
Anyway, I'll stop the criticism for the time being, as aside these few aspects, it was a phenomenal film. It was directed by Rick Rosenthal and was written by the famous John Carpenter, lasting an average time of 92 minutes. The film begins by concluding the previous film, and showing us how Myers escaped his death scene at the hands of Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence). From this moment, the entire sheriff's department begins a huge search for the lunatic murderer, and meanwhile, his intended victim Laurie Strode is taken to Haddonfield Hospital to be treated for wounds inflicted by Michael. 
Only Loomis & Sheriff Brackett (Charles Cyphers) - whose daughter had been murdered by Myers - seem aware of Myers' presence in the town, and a young man unknowingly alerts Myers to Laurie's location. When Myers reaches the hospital he eliminates virtually the entire staff in his pursuit. Meanwhile, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) - who had been assisting Loomis during the planned pickup of Myers for his trial - meets up with Loomis to advise him that Myers is after Laurie for 1 reason: she is his sister - born 2 years before he was committed. Loomis is forced to overpower the U.S. Marshal who was to return him to Smith's Grove, and head for Haddonfield Hospital to stop Myers' blood spree. The question for the rest of the film though is - are they too late?
The film has a significant amount of jump scares, and consists of the good old classic eerie silence throughout the majority of the run time. In terms of suspense, the film is very successful in keeping the audience at the edge of their seats, and similarly, the momentum is impressive for a film made in the early 80's. In comparison to the original, I find them to be very successful slashers, and very similar in the way the film is developed from start to end. However, the start of this film was more exciting than the first in my opinion, as it began with a whole search being organised for the escaped killer, however in the original, it began with a background on the lives of Michael Myers and why he was delivered to a mental hospital. 
I would definitely say that this horror classic is as scary as its original, but for me not as good as the original. It had its fantastic moments full of true horror and gore, and plenty of eerie moments to be broken by the chilling creepy music that sometimes accompanies Myers and the victim he is tracking down. In my opinion, after this film, the franchise begins to decline in terms of quality as it begins to lack the key ideas that come with the first and second Halloween films, so make sure you sit down and enjoy this film and the previous one! It is definitely worth a watch - I have seen most of the horrors from the 80's and I must say, this was very unique to the horror genre at its time. Fantastic slasher. 


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