Halloween II Discussion

Welcome to our Roundtable Discussion of Halloween II. Here, Killer Film will analyze Rob Zombie’s film with Donny Broussard, Serena Whitney, and Jon Peters giving their opinions. We hope you’ve seen the film, because this discussion will probably talk about things in the film that will be spoilers for those that haven’t. Now, let the discussion begin!

Jon: Having seen the film first (here), I’ll lead the talking. I want to start with you Donny, since we’ve talked before, and we have wildly different opinions on Halloween II. I thought this was horrible, a certain step back from Zombie’s previous work. This might be one of the worst in the entire Halloween series, in my opinion, outside of Curse of Michael Myers, but you really dug it, Donny. Give us your opinion.

Donny: Alright, first of all, I didn’t love the flick, but I did enjoy it.  I didn’t like the new kid that took the place of the awesome Daeg Faerch, and while I didn’t mind ghost-mom, the kid irritated the hell out of me.  With all that said, I was quite happy with how brutal Michael Myers is in this flick, and I also enjoyed the new Loomis.

I love slasher movies, and I really do dig Zombie’s style.  So the fact that I got to watch Michael Myers kill lots of people was a treat for this horror fan.  I personally don’t care that this flick doesn’t follow the previous franchise’s conventions.  I was happy that Zombie made his own movie and didn’t try to just remake the previous stinkers.  Lets be honest here, most slashers, the Halloween sequels included are not all that great.  They offer up a little late night fun and that’s about it.

Jon: Now, we’re polar opposites on this film Donny. Serena, we have similar thoughts on Zombie’s first Halloween film, but we both really like the guy from his music to his films. What did you think of Zombie’s Halloween II how crazy is Donny on this?

Serena: Jon, I was so disappointed by Halloween 2 it wasn’t even funny. The film starts off strong with a frightening prologue that felt reminiscent of the original Halloween 2 from 1980. Unfortunately, Zombie made it very clear that after those 20 minutes were done, any fans of the Halloween series were not going to like the rest of the film as he turns the movie into a music video rather than the sequel fans were promised.  Now, I had already gone in the theatre with doubts because I knew Zombie had free reign to do whatever he pleased with this film. I was actually one of those few fans out there that preferred the theatrical cut of the last Halloween film. It was leaner, scarier and it didn’t inject a needless and disturbing gang rape sequence in the mix. (There’s no rape in Haddonfield!) After watching both the workprint and the director’s cut, I knew that the sequel would be all over the place.  I just didn’t understand some of the executive decisions made with this project. Why is Sheri Moon Zombie imitating Mrs. Voorhees? Why did he replace the scary young Michael Myers with a random kid with long blond hair? Why did he turn Dr. Loomis into a male Gale Weathers?  Halloween 2 was a very pointless sequel in my opinion.

I think Donny’s love for Rob Zombie has glamored him into believing H2 was awesome. lol It’s okay though. At least somebody got something good out of it. I just lost 12.50.

Jon: Okay, now that all of our feelings are out there, let’s start getting into this. Remember back when Zombie said no to a Halloween II, and there was potential the Inside directors, Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, were going to do this film. I think they would have made the film way more psychologically interesting, but that’s neither here or there. Now that Zombie’s take on Michael Myers is done, did you like his interpretation of the Shape as a Ted Bundy-like murderer?

Donny: I enjoyed Zombie’s new take on the Shape, but I wouldn’t compare him to Ted Bundy.  Bundy won’t come back to life after getting shot in the face. The trouble with sequels, and even more so with remakes, is the fact that most people can’t just enjoy them without comparing every second to the originals.  Most slasher flicks are pretty silly, but we watch them anyway.  This version of the Shape wasn’t perfect, but he sure did kill a lot of people and that’s what slasher killers are supposed to do.  So, Jon if I’m crazy for enjoying a slasher flick then call me crazy sir, and Serena, if anything could have glamored me into enjoying this flick it would have been Zombies hottie wife and she’s completely clothed throughout the entire movie.

Serena: I love Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury and even though they probably would have done a better job with this sequel, this was Zombie’s nut to crack. Unfortunately after the first twenty minutes, I didn’t find Michael Myers scary at all. However, this may be from all the spoiler-heavy trailers the general public was witness to. It pissed me off how the scariest parts in the film (i.e. Danielle Harris’ bathroom scene and the nurse in the hospital sequence) were featured in the highly watched tv spots. He seemed less of an enigma in this film and that’s what makes Michael Myers so scary in the first place.

Jon: Let’s talk about the mask, or about the near non-use of the mask. Zombie built this element in the first film, where Myers hides behind a mask, like a security blanket. Here, he only puts it on when he kills. I don’t get it. The whole homeless look was ridiculous. What about all of this and was this the worst mask since 6?

Serena: What I didn’t like about him not using the mask was the fact that it wasn’t explained how there was no bullet wound in his face. Laurie and Annie have permanent scars on their face, where are his scars?  See in the original Halloween films the audience didn’t need an explanation for Michael’s invincibilty. He was the “boogeyman.” In Rob Zombie’s version, Michael is actually a person who has memories, angst and grunts and hollers when he’s stabbing someone.  When Zombie personalized Myers, he also took away his invincibility. He should have kept the mask on the whole time, although I do respect the fact that he was trying to change it up a bit with the homeless look…didn’t like it, but I respected it nonetheless.

No mask can be as bad as the mask(s) used in Halloween: 20 Years Later.

Donny: Come on!  Shouldn’t a moderator be a little more neutral?  Jon, by now everyone in the free world knows you didn’t dig the flick, it’s time to get over it.  I could care less if he gives an explanation on why Michael doesn’t have a bullet wound.  I just want to watch a slasher killer do what he does best.  I’m not saying that a slasher flick doesn’t need to have a solid story, but I do think that years of conditioning have made it alright to bring a dead slasher back without the need for an explanation.  I thought the mask looked good, I loved the homeless look, and I would have loved it even more if he would have taken the mask off and thrown the darn thing in the trash.

Jon: Okay, enough bashing for a minute. What did we all like about it? I enjoyed Scout Taylor-Compton a lot in this. She was very good. I also dug some of the lighting, like the one where the farmers come up behind Myers at night to kick his food stealing ass. The shadow of Myers in the headlights was cool, as was the whole Halloween concert sequence.

Serena: I enjoyed Scout Taylor-Compton’s performance in this film a lot more this time too. She wasn’t yapping like a dog or sticking her fingers in and out of bagel holes like she did in the first film and I thought her scene with the psychiatrist at the beginning and her very last scene in the film showed how she is growing as an actress. Unfortunately, I still couldn’t stand her character though.  Laurie is a f*cking pain in the ass and she really doesn’t show any “final girl” skills in this film whatsoever. The person that I really enjoyed seeing onscreen was Brad Dourif surprisingly enough.  One of Zombie’s smartest moves with this film was developing the Sheriff Brackett character further and Dourif really gave it his all. It made me forget he was the man who played Chucky. lol  I also liked the tense stalk and chase sequence in the hospital as well as the scene with Annie getting attacked in the bathroom. Having the violence take place off screen with Annie really amped up the intensity and it made it even that much more disturbing.

Donny: I liked the brutal killing!  I liked the hot chicks!  I liked the killer music!  Oh my goodness, I actually enjoyed a movie.  Does that mean I can’t be a critic anymore?

Jon: Back to bashing: I felt the music to Carpenter’s classic is as vital to the character as is the mask, and those are two things Zombie got rid of. What’s with these remakes and not using the music cues? First, Friday the 13th, and now Halloween II. As much as I like Tyler Bates scoring work, am I alone in wishing Carpenter’s score was here?

Donny: I for one wish Zombie wouldn’t have used any of Carpenter’s score, in either one of the flicks.  Carpenter’s original will never be beaten, so the best we can hope for is that a filmmaker make the subject his/her own.  I say if your going to remake a flick, then throw our everything including the kitchen sink and make your own damn movie.  I do love Tyler Bates’ style and enjoyed this score very much.

Serena: I understand why Zombie didn’t want Carpenter’s score in the film, because he wanted to make this “The Devil Rejects” of the Halloween series. In fact, there were scenes when I was thinking the score had been recycled from TDR in the sequel. I personally preferred the lack of use of the score in this film. It didn’t feel like a Halloween movie at all,  so it shouldn’t have sounded like one either. When the original score did however come on in the last scene, I felt like I had been bitch slapped across the face.

Jon: I’m thinking Donny feels like a rat in a corner on this. Sorry, bud, you just got a vastly different perspective on this than Serena and I. Final question time: Where does Zombie as a writer/director go from here, and what about this franchise?

Serena: Kill the f*cking franchise already. It’s done. This movie sucked more than Lindsay Lohan on a casting couch.  I don’t want to see another sequel. (Especially if it follows “the twist” at the end of this film.) I had written an article a few months ago entitled, Could H2 ruin Rob Zombie’s career? After hearing the news that he’s remaking The Blob, (really? ) I’m afraid my theory may be right.  I love Rob Zombie, but I think he got stuck making studio films rather than concentrating on his original material.  Halloween 2 made me feel like maybe we have seen all Zombie can show us.   I’d like to believe there is still hope.

Donny: While I didn’t love the Halloween remakes, I did enjoy them.  But I don’t think Zombie or anyone else should make anymore of them.  I also think that Zombie needs to concentrate on writing/directing his own material, and I hope he doesn’t tackle The Blob, another flick that doesn’t need to be remade.

Jon: I think that says all that needs to be said about Rob Zombie’s Halloween II. If you two have anything else to say, go ahead!

Donny: I had a good time at the movies, but I hope Zombie can move on into uncharted territory now this is finished.

Serena: All I have left to say is, ‘why the hell was Weird Al is this movie?’ Random.

That does it for Killer Film’s discussion of the film, but we are just horror nerds with our opinions. Feel free to let us know what you thought, who you agreed with, and anything else, by commenting below!