Review:Halloween 2

After hearing all the negative reviews of Halloween 2 I went it not knowing what to expect, I mean I somewhat enjoyed Rob Zombie's first take on the franchise,and I ain't ashamed to admit I dug Halloween 2.

This one picks up a yr after the horrible events that befell Laurie.She has moved in with Annie Brackett(the lovely Danielle Harris)and her father Sheriff Lee(Brad Douriff)She has become a completely different person,no longer the good-girl,she is all punked out and doesn't know who she is or what she is.She has terrible nightmares of Michael stalking her in the hospital,terrible visions of her killing Anne dressed up like Young Michael was on that fateful Halloween night and mysterious visions of young Michael and his mother.Meanwhile Dr. Loomis has become somewhat of a pseudo-celebrity who has another book coming out.I also like what Zombie did with the Loomis character,none of us ever expected to somehow hate Dr Loomis.And as all of this is happening we learn that Myers body was never found.

Halloween 2 deploys very dark and grainy look to it and it spares no punches this time around.Michael is much more menacing and vicious this time around.He repeatedly stabs,decapitates,chokes and mashes anyone who gets in his path. People lobbied for a more menacing and scary Myers,well they got their wish in this one.This is not the mysterious shape that Carpenter used,but instead a much more realistic,demented ,driven and downright nasty Myers.

Zombie also tries to get us inside Michaels head for the first time in the franchise.For years I had always wondered what was going on inside this monsters head.Guided by visions of his dead mother(Sheri Moon) guiding a white horse and a younger version of himself,Michael sets out on a quest to find Laurie and in a sick-twisted way bring his family together.These dream sequences are quite the foray for Zombie.We the audience wonder if somehow Michael and Laurie have a psychic link ala Halloween 4 and 5 or whether both of them are completely insane or if just maybe Michael is a figment of Laurie's imagination. And this plays out down to the final scene in the movie.

Brad Douriff put on a great performance as Sheriff Lee Brackett,getting more airtime than he did in RZ's first Halloween.Danielle Harris who has also become a staple in the Halloween franchise now also was very likable and easy to root for,even Scout Taylor-Compton did a decent job for all the hate she gets.Cameos also included Margot Kidder and Caroline Williams.

In closing I really enjoyed what RZ did with this film. In trying to get inside the minds of his characters he made Halloween completely his own animal.I'm sure many people disliked this cause it wasn't what they wanted,but it's better attempting new idea's rather than rehashing the same old ones.

8.5/10