Halloween II (2009)

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For as much as I enjoyed the first Zombie 'Halloween' movie, there's something about this one that just plain irks me. A lot of it has to do with my confusion about certain scenes that take you right out of the movie - one specifically involving a horse. If you tell me that I just don't get it, then this is one case where you'd be right. I think Zombie tried to add a little art to this otherwise brutal piece and, at least for me, it just didn't work. Some claim that it's better than I remember, but I'm just not seeing it.

As the film opens, we see young Michael Myers (this time played by Chase Wright Vanek) hanging out at Smith's Grove Sanitarium, where he is one day visited by his mother (Sheri Moon Zombie) who gives him a gift - a statuette of a white horse. This would come into play later (as I mentioned), but it does leave the audience with a "what the hell was that" reaction. Anyway, the film then picks up right where the last one left off, so potential spoilers for the ending of the first one here, but I'll try not to go into too much detail.

Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) had a face-off with Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) at the end in which she survives. She is soon taken to the hospital by Sheriff Lee Brackett (Brad Dourif - a big name in horror I forgot to mention in my last review), and paramedics pick up survivors Annie Brackett (Danielle Harris) and Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) where Michael's unconscious body is taken in a separate ambulance which, spoiler alert, he eventually escapes in order to have a movie. One full year passes with Laurie living with Annie and her father while Michael is presumed dead. While Laurie is still haunted, others have tried to move on, but as these movies go, we know what's to come.

Honestly, that's pretty much it. In many ways, it ends up being your typical slasher flick, and it does a good job of embracing the brutality that Zombie seems to be able to capture so well. There IS a thing or two to enjoy about this movie. For example I like the update look for Myers, the overall mood of the film, and Taylor Mane makes a pretty damn good Michael Myers. With that said, however, I do think the film tries to go a little too deep with things like symbolism, and it fails to deliver on the "fun" we get with these titles.

While the previous film, at least in my opinion, makes for a half-decent horror remake (which is a hard thing to pull off), this one just plain lacks. I guess I get what Zombie was going for in the artistic spectrum, but I don't quite get why he went that route when things could have been explained away in a much more simplistic manner. Either way, these Zombie movies exist, there's only the two, and they exist on their own little 'Halloween' island. I think if you want a deeper, darker, potentially more brutal 'Halloween', these might be the ones for you. As for me, however, I tend to lean towards (and this may be blasphemy to some) the newest films. More on that soon!

Rebooted Body Count: 21
​Rebooted Total: 45

​2/5

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