Halloween 2

Halloween 2

2009

Action (Horror)

Rated: R

Running Time: 105 minutes

Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris, Brad Dourif, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie

Directed By: Rob Zombie

Rating: 4.5 out of 10

Outline

Notorious killer Michael Myers is back to finish the job of killing his sister and his knife has been idle for too long.

Review

After a successful remake of the first Halloween movie, director Rob Zombie is back to tackle the second.  Zombie has quickly become one of the best horror directors on the market but missed with this film. The first Halloween remake was about modernizing an already successful first run. He did everything right with notorious serial killer Michael Myers. That included an in depth look at the killers childhood which was truly frightening. In this the second film, Zombie paid his homage to the original but wanted to make it wholly his own. It worked at times but not enough to keep the viewer interested. A few years have passed since Michael Myers carved his way through the populace of Haddonfield, Illinois. People are trying to forget the nightmare as best they can and move on with their lives. If you are familiar with this series at all you know Michael will be back until his work is done. That work is killing Laurie Strode (Taylor-Compton) and anyone who gets in his way. I liked the darker aspect of the story in this film. The dialogue is darker and more depressing than the first, the characters seem stressed and on edge like one would expect. All the same characters are back that survived the first but they have lost their luster though. The worst of the cast is the killing catalyst himself in Michael Myers. Zombie tries to humanize him so we see shots of the monster without his mask which doesn’t work at all. Taking the monster aspect out of Myers makes his uncanny ability to be everywhere at once come into question. Leave him a monster and the film has the right flow. Dr Loomis (McDowell) plays a money grabbing, novel panderer that grows tiresome and is a poor character shift for the once honorable doctor. The most bizarre thing about this film though has to be the dream sequences that keep popping up periodically. For some reason the viewer is inundated with clips of Myers mother (Moon Zombie) walking with a horse time and time again. It could have been removed entirely from the film as no one would miss it. Zombie seems fiercely loyal to his wife and putting her in every movie he directs which has worked before until this role. Rob Zombie is known for his almost too realistic versions of killing sprees and this film was no different. Without a doubt this is the most violent movie in recent memory. If you think you have seen violent stabbings in movies before be warned. Those were merely paper cuts compared to the killing strokes in this movie. If you are a fan of the violent and gory side of horror films you will not be disappointed. If you factor out unnecessary shots of dog eating and face stomping the violent scenes happen abruptly and often so you will not be disappointed in that department. Overall I didn’t hate this movie I just felt the story and characters seemed off. I cannot recommend this film though for the story is an off putting tale of trying to humanize a monster. When your main killing machine is the weak link it is going to be a pass. Keep a stab count though as they never seem to stop.

T Factor + If you do not need a strong storyline for your horror films then this could score way higher on the list

T Factor – If you do not like over the top killing scenes this could score lower on the rating scale.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th