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Halloween II: The Unrated Director’s Cut

Movie Grade: C-

DVD Features Grade: C-

Overall Grade: C-

Judging from Rob Zombie‘s first films (House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects), his execution of the first Halloween remake and its successor, Halloween II (now available on DVD and Blu-Ray in an extended Director’s Cut), it is safe to say that the first installment of any franchise Zombie spawns will suck, but a sequel might just be worth hanging around for.

With H2, Zombie manages to outdo himself by making a half-decent sequel film. Again, considering that its predecessor set the lowest standard possible for a horror franchise, this isn’t saying much.

In the Director’s Cut of the film, the first twenty minutes pick up right where the first film left off, then fast forwards to two years later. Laurie Strode is still getting over the trauma of being attacked and losing her parents while living with Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) and his daughter Annie (Danielle Harris). Meanwhile, the repugnant Dr. Loomis, still shamelessly milking his Myers connection to no good end, returns to Haddonfield, IL to plug another book — this one with some explosive secrets that will prove to be Laurie’s undoing. Meanwhile, Michael is lumbering along, hacking up hillbillies, strippers, truckers and other colorful stock characters of the Middle-American variety, waiting for Halloween to roll around so he can go hang with his baby sister.

Sheri Moon Zombie returns as the ghostly specter of Deborah, Michael’s dead mother, in a handful of sequences that succeed in further justifying Michael’s insanity, establishing a connection between Michael and Laurie (they both see visions of Deborah, clad in white and toting a white horse) and making sure Sheri Moon earns a paycheck. These sequences, though heavy-handed and completely incongruous with the theme of the first film, are visually arresting. When all members of the Myers clan appear in the same shot, the effect is creepier than anything else in the film.

With this sequel, Zombie has taken a somewhat intuitive approach to the characters, exploring the emotional impact these survivors might still be coping with. Unfortunately, whatever insight he might have to offer is ruined in the execution by bad acting and broad-strokes psychological jargon that reeks of some lazy Wikipedia-trolling. After Laurie finds out she is Michael Myers’ sister, she decides all she wants to do is go out and party, and just like that, the film devolves into formulaic drivel: three girls go out to get their drink on and get cut the fuck up. The ending here has been changed (and weakened).

As Dr. Loomis, Malcolm Macdowell turns in a laughable performance as the opportunistic blow-hard psychiatrist-turned-media-hound. His subplot serves as a painfully obvious comment on show business leeches and publicity whores. Watch for the Weird Al Yankovic cameo… scariest part of the whole movie. (Note:

Zombie skipped any promotional hocking for this film, perhaps to avoid any cries of hypocrisy that may have arisen.)

Neck and neck for the title of Least Likeable Character is Laurie, who, as in the first film, is screeching, obnoxious and poorly directed. In this cut of the film, a dreadfully written explosion is tacked onto the end of every scene she shares with Annie during which Laurie is found to be irritably bratty and prone to fits of rage. However, as Annie, series veteran Danielle Harris turns in a great, subdued performance, playing the role of the survivor for whom the shock has yet to wear off. The restraint exercised in the editing of her encounter with Michael makes for a very powerful sequence, when juxtaposed with the sadistically graphic, gore-soaked approach to every other murder scene in the film.

About that… for you gore fans out there, this cut of the film doesn’t disappoint. Rest assured, there are dozens more stab wounds inflicted, with loving close-ups on the tinted corn syrup and brain matter. Cringe inducing — and not in a good way. Two or three of the murders in this film bear resonance, if only because the characters dispatched are actually likeable. It’s worth mentioning that in Zombie‘s world, where the killers are the protagonists and sympathetic characters, the body counts are mostly comprised of irritating folk of little-to-no redemptive value. This might have been his worst offense with the first installment of Halloween and it would seem his viewpoint has softened a bit with this sequel. If his allegiance were to the victims of his films and not the killers, Zombie might turn out a stronger film. He’s getting closer, but he’s not quite there yet.

The DVD and Blu Ray special features include a music video, blooper reel, audition footage of the supporting characters and audio commentary track with Zombie. A sizeable heap of alternate and deleted scenes (most extraneous) rounds out the features. Fans should probably hold out for a 3-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition with more extensive features, sure to be released once this edition of H2 winds up on the clearance racks.

Movie Grade: C-

DVD Features Grade: C-

Overall Grade: C-