Halloween II: Review By Vamp

As soon as I heard the news that Rob Zombie was going to be doing a sequel to his remake of "Halloween," I was immediately interested. Ever since then, I've been obsessed with gleaning any amount of information I could find on the movie, and the contents within. However, with as much as I DID find, I wasn't prepared for the level of insanity that Rob Zombie created with this movie. First and foremost, I wish to abolish any thoughts that this movie is a remake of the original "Halloween II." It simply isn't. The first five minutes or so is, in fact, a hospital scene featuring Michael terrorizing Laurie, but after that it takes a completely new and crazy turn. This movie is part remake, part new entry, but it definitely defines one of the best entries into the series as a whole. Now, some people say that Zombie's first was better than this one, but I have to disagree. While I loved Zombie's first one, this one outstrips it, and then some. It's completely insane, and I mean that in the best way possible. I've always been someone who enjoys seeing remakes of movies, as long as they're done correctly ("The Amityville Horror" was a travesty, for example), but the first "Halloween" remake was one of the very few remakes that have blown me away. It kept the storyline of John Carpenter's classic (which, to this day, is still my favorite slasher movie of all time), and revamped it into something new in and of itself. It was awesome. This movie takes that epic vision a step further. What I most liked about the movie, was the fact, as I stated earlier, that this isn't another remake. It's a sequel TO the remake, that takes the characters into an all new, terrifying adventure. This movie has every bit of the spirit that Zombie's first did, and more. It adds all new twists, all new kills, but it keeps the same old Michael Myers that we all love, but adds more to him, if that's possible. I know many disliked the remake that Zombie gave us, but I'm one of the many who thoroughly enjoyed it, and looked forward to this movie with immense anticipation. I must admit to a certain fear that I'd be let down with it, since I was really hyping it up in my head, but it was every bit as awesome as I'd imagined, and even more insane than I could have even dreamed. This one definitely handles itself immensely well, and is definitely one of my favorite movies of the year so far.

The director of this movie is, of course, Rob Zombie, who has a notoriety in the film industry as one of the most twisted and insane horror directors out there. While I've never seen "House of 1,000 Corpses" or "The Devil's Rejects," and cannot compare what he's done with the "Halloween" movies to them, I can say that both "Halloween" and "Halloween II" have been phenomenal. Zombie's vision is, in my mind, some of the best I've seen. I love the original "Halloween" series, and this new one, is definitely great as well. It introduces a more brutal outlook on one of our most beloved and terrifying slashers. Zombie does this perfectly. He manages the camera as I've never seen done before. His camera angles really add a sense of utter creepiness to the film. One scene that shows angles really well, is in the opening hospital scene, when Michael is terrorizing the hospital. The angle when Michael takes it out on an unsuspecting nurse is absolutely awesome, and makes for one really creepy sequence. Filters are also used very well. An excellent example of this, is when Michael is going after the people inside of The Rabbit in Red strip club where his mother once worked. There's a red glow about everything that really brings an incredibly eerie feeling to the scene as Michael tears sh*t up. Zombie definitely does great with the directing of this movie. Zombie proves even more talent with this movie, as he is also the writer of the movie. Zombie's remake was very well done, in and of itself, but some of that was not his work. This movie seems to be all Zombie as he takes over the reigns, and takes Michael Myers' legendary history into one of the most insane directions that any other of the series has taken. This isn't a bad thing, either, as it proves that something new with something familiar can be a very good mix. Zombie does a great job at writing, and creating new characters for the movie to make things interesting. Zombie really does well with the writing. He makes this movie his own, and it works wonders.

The visuals of this movie were handled spectacularly. One thing I've learned that Rob Zombie can deliver with the style of his "Halloween" movies, is the visuals. Since it's a "Halloween" movie, you can expect some excellent kills and such, anyway, but Zombie takes all of this a step further. His visuals are there not only to scare, but to stun. I'll start of course with the look of Michael Myers. This movie does a little explaining of what happens to Michael after he escapes, and where he's been for an entire year. What I liked, was the fact that he hasn't been walking around with his mask the entire time, but rather without it, looking like a bum. This generally means the people are going to be leaving him alone since bums, as it is, are generally an avoided lot. As I'm sure many have been discussing ever since the trailers for this movie was released, Michael now has a hood over his mask. However, the hood isn't really used throughout the entire movie. It's just in one or two scenes. I've heard some express their dislike for this new look, but I myself think it gives Michael an even more eerie look, and makes things interesting for him, as it delves deeper away from his sanity, in a way, if you call Michael Myers sane in any way. Michael is also missing a chunk of his legendary mask, and this, I also feel, adds a certain sense of eeriness. You see more of the eye, and it brings out a really menacing quality in his face that I really thought was creepy. It worked very well. Now, for the real fun of this movie: the kills. There are a lot of kills in this movie, and as I always liked to do with slasher films, I'll bring up what I thought was the most intense and gruesome kill. I think that the kill that really stood out for me in this one, involved one of the workers at the strip club, The Rabbit in Red. Michael doesn't use any sort of knife or anything, but rather, he uses his foot, and connects it with the man's face quite a few times. That is definitely a fate I wouldn't wish on anyone, since Michael is a seven-foot behemoth. Speaking of kills, the blood in this movie looks incredibly realistic, as does the gore, and it really makes the movie that much more intense, since the blood looks so real, that you're sucked into the kills, and sort of terrified by them. It's a nice effect that is handled well, and since blood is a must in slasher movies, I'm always glad to have it utilized well in the kills and such. Sheri Moon Zombie is another visual feature that I wish to bring up. In this one, she's pale as a ghost, and draped in a very creepy white looking dress. She's become a vision, but the vision is one of absolute eeriness. So if you were wondering how the visuals in this movie were handled, then worry not, for they are done extremely well, and make for an incredibly insane, but great movie.

The storyline of this movie is something that is really fun and was done very well, in my opinion. Many people bash Zombie's originality with these characters, but I don't understand why. He does such an excellent job with the story. With the first movie, the remake, he had to establish his characters, and do the original story, so as to bring about Michael in a new light, and he did that INCREDIBLY well. Now that Zombie has brought the characters back in his new light, he takes the series in an incredibly new direction. To say that Zombie's new vision of "Halloween" is absolutely gruesome, absolutely disturbing, and absolutely awesome. What I most liked about this movie's storyline, is the fact that it deals with the minds of those who survived Michael's reign of terror. For instance, Laurie, who was once a shy, goody-two-shoes kind of girl, has now become reckless, and loves to party. Annie Brackett, who was the exact opposite of Laurie, is now like a recluse, who barely leaves the house. Meanwhile, Dr. Loomis is in complete denial about what happened to Michael, as well as everything else. He's kind of become a dickhe*d, for lack of a better word, whereas to begin with, he was a rather nice man. Now he just wants to further his career, make money, and go about life at a break-neck pace. Sheriff Brackett, in the mean time, just wants to put the whole thing behind everyone, and get on with his life. This is something that the other movies didn't really touch on: what happened to the minds of the people effected by the events. I mean, sure enough, in "Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers," Jamie Lloyd is now in a psychiatric hospital, and in "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later," Laurie has moved away, and changed her name, but even these things just kind of disappear. As good as those movies are, in my mind, this movie defintiely elaborates on these feelings, and makes the movie, in some sense, realistic. I really liked that. So between the new way that this movie takes itself in the series, and the elaborations on the psychosis of the characters, I feel that the storyline of this movie was very well done, and it really helps the movie along VERY nicely, and that's probably the reason why I liked this movie so very much.

This movie starts out exactly where it's predecessor left off. Laurie Strode (Played by Scout Taylor-Compton of "An American Crime") is wandering down the street when Brackett finds her, and she is rushed to the hospital where she is immediately sent into surgery and recovery. Meanwhile, the cops are still at the Myers house, and they cart Loomis off to the hospital as well. The coroners then take the body of Michael Myers (Played by Tyler Mane of "X-Men") away so that he can be examined. However, on there way to the hospital, as the coroners joke with each other, and aren't keeping their eyes on the road, they hit a cow, and crash terribly. However, as the driver is killed, and the passenger attempts to free himself of the wreck, something starts to bang at the back doors of the van, and we see Michael Myers, alive and well, break out of the back. He comes around the front, checking on the driver's state of death, and coming to the one who is still trying to break free. However, the passenger, not realizing who it is outside of the car, calls for help, but stops short as he looks up into the face of the very dead body that he had not very long ago, lifted into the back of the van. Michael then proceeds to kill this coroner. As he turns around from his work, he looks up, and sees a most unusual sight, although he doesn't seem to be surprised, as it reminds him of a dream that he had had long ago when he was in the psychiatric institution: his mother, Deborah Myers (Played by Sheri Moon Zombie of "Grindhouse") holding the reigns of a large white horse. She then tells Michael that it is nearly Halloween, and that it is time to bring their family back together. So Michael makes his way back to Haddonfield, Illinois. At the hospital, Laurie awakens, and goes for some help. As a nurse is helping her, a terrible thing happens. Michael arrives, and as he attacks the nurse who was helping her, Laurie runs for it, as best she can with a large cast on her leg. As she reaches a little security shack and gets helped by a nice security guard, as is inevitable, Michael finds her, and as he is about to strike her dead, Laurie awakens from this dream, screaming. We find out that it has been a year since Michael terrorized her and her friends and killed her parents. She is now living with her best friend, Annie Brackett (Played by Danielle Harris of "Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers") and her father, Sheriff Lee Brackett (Played by Brad Dourif of "Child's Play"). Annie and her father treat Laurie as if she was a member of the family, and it seems that, for the most part, they have moved on. Although Laurie still has to go through psyhiatric evaluations with her psychiatrist, Barbara Collier (Played by Margot Kidder of "Superman"). In the meantime, Dr. Samuel Loomis (Played by Malcolm McDowell of "Exitz") has been working on a new book, which is finished, and now he is promoting it. However, Loomis has changed since he had to deal with Michael, and was almost killed. He's become more brash, and more full of himself, as he bosses around people. It's the same person, he's just changed so much in the course of a year. He is tired of being blamed for what happened in Haddonfield a year ago. Tired of being the one who had to account for what Michael did to those poor children. And as such, he's written an incredibly brash book that his assistant of sorts, Dr. Maple (Played by Caroline Williams of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," where she plays a bit part), tells Loomis is a very distasteful release, as it really messes with the lives of people traumatized by the events of Halloween a year ago. Sheriff Brackett, in the meantime, has gotten a hold of a copy of Loomis's new book, and finds out that Loomis reveals that Laurie is Michael's sister, something he didn't want her to find out, as her life has already been messed up enough as it is. He tries to get a hold of her, but only finds out from Annie that she's left the house already to go hang out around town. As Laurie goes about the town, she sees that Loomis's new book has come out, and goes in to have a look. As she reads, she finds out the terrible truth about her identity. She freaks out, and heads over to her friend Mya Rockwell's (Played by Brea Grant of "Battle Planet") house, so that she can get away from things. In the meantime, Michael has made his way into Haddonfield, leaving behind a very bloody trail of destruction. He has another vision of his mother, accompanied by his childhood self (Played by Chase Wright Vanek of "Dear Demon Lima") as his mother instructs him to bring her baby back to her. Michael hastes to obey, and sets back to his original path of destruction. Meanwhile, Laurie relates to Mya and their friend, Nancy McDonald (Played by Mary Birdsong of "Adventureland") what she found out about herself. They say she nees to relax, but she wants to party, and so they do. However, they soon stumble upon Michael Myers, whom Laurie thought was dead, and was only visited by in her dreams. She hastes to get away from the very man whose been plaguing her nightmares for years, but finds it harder and harder, as she realizes the truth about herself, while other forces try and stop the seemingly-immortal behemoth that is Michael Myers. All of the actors and actresses in this movie do a great job with their roles, and really deliver them nicely, getting down their feelings, emotions, and other such characteristics very nicely. Tyler Mane once again proves his prowess as Michael Myers as he goes about killing people. His walk, his angered grunts (something altogether new in Michael Myers) and his head tiltings really bring the legendarily creepy mask to life nicely. Chase Wright Vanek, though a shock at first, being so different in appearance from Daeg Faerch, picks up where Daeg could not due to a growth spurt, very nicely, and really brings the childhood Michael into new levels of creepiness. Sheri Moon Zombie, whose character Deborah Myers, in the first one, was an innocent woman with a lot of problem, brings the character into a nice change as Deborah has become an evil ghost of sorts, the drive behind Michael's insatiable bloodlust, and she does insanely well, making it a very creepy. Lastly, Scout Taylor-Comptons Laurie Strode is played excellently, and her slow transformation from goody-two-shoes into party girl, and then slowly into the unknown abyss of insanity is handled very well. Scout is a great actress, and I can't wait to see even more from her. So all in all, the actors and actresses did spectacularly with their parts. DEFINTIELY a great job on the casting of this movie.

All in all, this was one hell of a movie. Zombie really shows us how great of a director he really is by taking Michael Myers, one of our most beloved slashers, and taking him to altogether new feats of insane bloodlust, and delivering one hell of a tale along with it. This movie isn't, as some would say, a remake of the original "Halloween II." This is the sequel to the remake of the original "Halloween" that is taken in a direction that is insane, disturbing, brutal, and awesome. The Director of this movie does great with the camera-work, utilizing angles and filters to his extreme advantage throughout the entire movie, creating a very eerie and sinister look for this brutal movie. DEFINITELY a great job on the Directing of this movie. The Writer of this movie also does a great job at creating a whole new tale for Michael Myers, and carrying it out excellently with new characters and kills, while at the same time using the same characters and setting. It definitely worked nicely for the movie. DEFINITELY a great job on the Writing of this movie. The Visuals of this movie are, of course, done incredibly well. Michael's new look is absolutely terrifying, and the kills and blood are utilized insanely well to add to the terrifying feel of the movie. DEFINITELY a great job on the Visuals of this movie. The Storyline of this movie is not a remake of "Halloween II," but a whole new movie in and of itself that bears the same title. It does a great job of deliving into the characters' psychosis, and how they individually cope with the events of the previous Halloween. It's an effect that I truely enjoyed, and coupled with new characters, a new story, and new kills, it made it a VERY enjoyable movie. DEFINITELY a great job with the Storyline of this movie. The Acting ties everything about this movie together. All of the Actors and Actresses deliver performances as characters that are COMPLETELY Convincing, COMPLETELY Believable, and COMPLETELY Realistic, as well as delivering performances as characters that you can REALLY feel for, though I'm not entirely sure that you can RELATE TO any of them, on VARIOUSLY different levels. DEFINITELY a great job on the Casting of this movie. So if you were iffy about this movie because you thought it was another remake, then you should DEFINITELY see it because it's DEFINITELY NOT a remake. It's very well done, and very well worth the watch. So give it a try. I'm almost POSITIVE that you will not get disappointed with this movie in the SLIGHTEST. I know I didn't!!!!!