Film Review: Rob Zombie's Halloween II

It's been a long time since my sole viewing of Rob Zombie's remake of John Carpenter's classic Halloween, possibly at the cinema when it was released in 2007. Obviously, it's not a patch on the original, but I remember being quite positive about it at the time, I do rate Zombie's work quite highly, even if others don't. House Of 1,000 Corpses and The Devils Rejects were both top rate horrors (especially the latter.)

So, I finally got round to watching this sequel. Which doesn't mean it's a remake of the 1981 Halloween II, it goes off on it's own route.

Directly following the events of the first film, then jumping forward a year, we continue to follow Laurie Strode (Scout-Taylor Compton), and how she is recovering after the events of the previous Halloween, now living with Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif.) Meanwhile Michael Myers, who managed to escape, is wandering the countryside haunted by the apparitions of his mother (Sherri Moon Zombie) and the child version of himself (Chase Wright Vanek.)

Meanwhile, Dr. Loomis (Malcom McDowell) returns to Haddonfield to publicize the release of his new book, that lifts the lid on all the secrets of the Myers case, including one that really hits home with Laurie...

The usual strengths that a Rob Zombie film has are all here. Intense visuals (as with the Halloween remake, it's all about what you see, whereas the original Halloween is very much about what you DON'T see), perfectly chosen music, and a top notch cast. It's great to see some of the actors that show up in this albeit small roles - Dayton Callie, Richard Riehle, Margot Kidder, Mark Boone Junior - you don't see these people in enough films.

The weaknesses sadly outweigh the strengths this time though. My major issue was (and this may come down to the time elapsed since watching Zombie's first Halloween film) that I had no idea when the film was set. As the movie progressed the clothes, the way the characters talked, the music and the fact that there wasn't a cell phone in sight all pointed to it being set in the seventies, like the original. But we came to a scene where Dr. Loomis appears on a talk show, along with 'Weird' Al Yankovic (better not to ask), and Yankovic makes a joke about Michael Myers sharing his name with Austin Powers star Mike Myers, instantly dating this post 1997!

Dr. Loomis in this film raised more problems for me. With the exception of one scene at the very end, there is barely any point that this character is included (it's his book that provides the turning point for Laurie), but other than that, he really has little to do with the main plot. And this just gives time for his character to become even further removed from the one played by Donald Pleasance in the original films. Selfish and uncaring about whether Michael Myers is even alive or not, this is not how Dr. Loomis should be.

My final complaint was with the bizarre dream/ghost sequences featuring Myer's mother and him as a child, what are they? This is never fully explained as Laurie is experiencing them also (as nightmares, whereas Michael seems to be hallucinating whilst awake), and I can't help but think that this is an excuse to shoehorn the directors wife into his films again (a massive flaw with his previous films is Sherri Moon's weak acting.) But, sadly this becomes the entire focus of the film and turns the conclusion into a right mess, and the final scene into a bit of a facepalm moment.

Halloween returns to cinemas next year (in 3D, natch) and now being helmed by 'Drive Angry' director Patrick Lussier. I hope he can unravel the mess this left slightly, and at least a certain Mrs. Moon-Zombie won't be involved (right?)

**

A strong start with some intense moments, a great cast, some brilliant musical cues let down by utter nonsense that accumulates as the film rolls on. Watchable, but quite flawed.