"Halloween" Retrospective: HALLOWEEN II (2009)

HALLOWEEN II (2009)
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Danielle Harris, Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Brad Dourif

Much like the original Halloween II, the story picks up the same night as the first film. Michael Myers’ (Mane) reign of terror was unleashed onto Haddonfield on Halloween night. Laurie Strode (Taylor-Compton), Annie Brackett (Harris), and Dr. Loomis (McDowell) have all survived and are being taken to the hospital. Michael escapes the ambulance escorting him and has a vision of his mother dressed in all white with a white horse standing next to her. It is not long before he makes his way to the hospital to find Laurie.

One year passes and Laurie continues having nightmares about Michael and the events of that night. She currently lives with Annie and her dad Sheriff Brackett (Dourif). Dr. Loomis is now a best-selling author leading talks, discussions, and book signings all on the tragic life and effects of Michael Myers. He has become a cocky arrogant prick. It is very evident that he is now using the Laurie Strode tragedy as a way to boost book sales and not as a lesson on psychology and mental illness. Laurie finally learns the truth about her past after reading a passage in his new book.

One of the biggest problems with this sequel comes down to the character development. Zombie has stated his wanted this characters to go through change after the events of the first one. Why did Zombie’s “change” have to make them so awful? The audience should feel and care about the two leading characters of Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis. How is that possible when they both have become such despicable characters? I did not like Scout Taylor-Compton’s portrayal as Laurie in the first movie, and it gets even worse in this one. I think it was wise to have Laurie severely disturbed and mentally unstable as that seems quite normal for someone in this position, but I just do not care about Compton’s Laurie. McDowell’s Loomis is now left as an awful human being who does not seem to care about how exploitative he is being. There is no redeeming quality about him anymore. I personally think that Donald Pleasence would be appalled at the direction they’ve taken this character in. Who is to blame? Zombie? McDowell? Danielle Harris and Brad Dourif are both back again this time as Annie and Sheriff Brackett. You may notice pre-Oscar Octavia Spencer as one of the nurses in the opening sequence. Margo Kidder makes an all too brief appearance stars as Laurie’s therapist Dr. Barbara Collier. Chase Wright Vanek now plays Young Michael Myers in the flashback moments. Apparently original actor Daeg Faerch grew too much in between each movie and it was too noticeable for the scenes they needed for the flashbacks.

I saw the film when it first came out in theaters and hated it. I thought with some time and a better appreciation of the Zombie remake, I may come to an understanding with this sequel remake. I still stand by all of my original thoughts and views. The whole movie is an all-around mess. I am not even sure where it wants to go or what story it is trying to tell. What was the point in making this sequel outside of the Zombie fan base wanting another? Many of the kills are random and pointless. I felt like Zombie did not know what to do with Michael most of the time, so he is just killing these random people that no one really even cares about. I suppose you could say that about the majority of the films in the franchise. At one point, Michael slowly saws off a guy’s neck with his knife. It just felt gratuitous and unnecessary. We also hear Michael for the first time as he is grunting and moaning during each of his kills. I prefer the silent killer Michael used to be. We also have the bizarre Young Michael/Michael’s mother/white horse aspect to the mythology. Was this Zombie’s way of giving his wife more to do in the sequel?

I grew to have an understanding and appreciation of Zombie's remake of the first Halloween. I understood more of his choices, concepts, and ideas behind it. I wish I could say the same about this one. It received a terrible response from the critics as well as the audience base. Halloween: Resurrection sure killed off the series the first time around. Unfortunatley, Rob Zombie's Halloween II has killed it off again. There were talks of a Halloween 3D that was completely different and without the involvement of Zombie, but it never went into production. Part of me wants another film in the franchise just to end it on a high note, but that could also lead to more sequels and more unnecessary films in this franchise.

RATING: 1/2* ( .5 out of 5 stars)

My Ranking of the Franchise
1. HALLOWEEN (1978)
2. HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER (1998)
3. HALLOWEEN II (1981)
4. HALLOWEEN (2007)
5. HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)
6. HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)
7. HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)
8. HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (2002)
9. HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995)
10. HALLOWEEN II (2009)

"Halloween" Retrospective: HALLOWEEN (2007)

HALLOWEEN (2007)
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris, Sheri Moon Zombie, Daeg Faerch, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif, Dee Wallace

Boy, the Myers family sure is dysfunctional. Ten year old Michael (Faerch) kills his pet mouse while his mom Deborah (Zombie) and her boyfriend Ronnie are having a massive fight in the kitchen. At school that day, Michael gets bullied in the bathroom and later gets his revenge by killing the boy in the park. The day doesn’t get any better for Michael. It is Halloween night and he has no one to go trick-or-treating with. His mother is at work at the strip club, the boyfriend is passed out on his chair, and his sister Judith is upstairs with her boyfriend. The body count for the day does not stop at the bully as he brutally kills Ronnie, Judith, and Judith’s boyfriend. His mother arrives home to find the massacre and that he spared the life of his baby sister “Boo.” Dr. Sam Loomis (McDowell) is appointed to his care as he spends time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium. He spends many years working with Michael who does not seem to be progressing. He remains silent and spends his time making masks.

Fifteen years pass and it is Halloween night in Haddonfield, and Laurie Strode is sent to drop something off at the old haunted Myers house for her father who is the realtor. What she doesn’t know is that Michael (Mane) has escaped after all these years and has returned home. Later that day after school, she and friends Annie (Harris) and Lynda discuss their plans for the evening which involve babysitting and screwing around. What they don’t know is that a bloodbath of epic proportions will change their lives forever.

What you will notice pretty quickly is that Zombie takes a VERY different approach to this story. For a horror remake, it takes what we know from the original contemporizes it, adds more back story, and retains the original story. The first hour is more of a prequel as we go back to see the psychological aspect behind Michael and how he became evil. The second half is the Laurie Strode story we all know and love. It is shocking, gruesome, edgy, and frightening in a very different way than the original. Zombie wanted each act to have very different camera shots, filmed with different styles and levels. When you watch it closely, you can watch the shifts in tone and feel the change between the acts.

Zombie tries to humanize Michael more than what we received in the original. His family life and time at Smith's Grove delve deeper into his psyche and his fascination with masks is explored. The secret behind why Michael is after Laurie is revealed in this one. Zombie probably didn’t anticipate he would go on to make a sequel so he probably felt the need to tell the whole story in this one movie. Zombie is smart enough to know he needs to keep certain lines of dialogue, actions, and camera shots the same as the original to appease the fans. Some of it is a bit more subtle and may only be noticed by people that know the original backwards and forwards like I do. Much of the original John Carpenter score is kept as well with some additional music by composer Tyler Bates. I would have been livid if Zombie ignored that masterful score for a brand new track.

The casting and take on these iconic characters is important. Danielle Harris and Kristina Klebe excel at taking the characters of Annie and Lynda in a different direction to fit the teenage girls of this setting and time period. I do not appreciate Scout Taylor-Compton’s take on Laurie. She is not wholesome and innocent enough. She could have still kept those qualities while fitting her into a modern day Laurie. I have also overheard her in interviews talk about her approach to the character and try to claim her Laurie Strode is better than Jamie Lee Curtis'. Tisk Tisk Tisk. How dare she try to upstage the original Scream Queen. The overall casting of the supporting characters is pretty great with Malcolm McDowell, Dee Wallace, and Brad Dourif who are all legends in the genre. Mane and Zombie attempt to bring back who Michael is as a person and as a villain to make him scary again. Throughout the series, Michael lost the humanity and frightening aspect of himself. Most of the time he has just been an actor in a mask walking around with a butcher knife.

Can a die-hard fan of the original like this new take with a Rob Zombie twist? Possibly. I must admit that the first time I watched it, I was appalled. I thought Zombie was ruining what was so special and haunting about the original. One of the scary elements was that you had no context for why a six-year-old would kill his sister. The filmmaking was done on a very low budget, so there were no gory special effects or unrealistic kills. The camera work and lighting were executed precisely, oftentimes done minimally, adding to the suspense. Zombie basically throws all of that out the window. The majority of the movie is very rough, graphic, vulgar, and in your face. I have seen it a few times now and with each time I try to view it on its own merit without trying to compare it to the original. Shockingly enough, I have come to appreciate it. I do not love it, nor is it perfect. The film is way too long with some unneeded scenes and an ending that goes on for far too long. It has received some very harsh criticism which I completely understand. It is not a movie that will appeal to the masses nor will it appeal to everyone who loves the horror genre.

In regards to the concept of horror remakes, I really do not think there is ever a need. Many of these horror films are classics for a reason, so why bother remaking them? So many of them are horrible retreads where they just feel like a paint by numbers approach. I give Zombie some credit for actually doing something different with the story, while honoring the original by keeping some vital moments, lines, and camera work in tact. After watching the whole franchise, I actually think this Halloween is better than some of the other sequels and entries in the franchise.

RATING: *** (3 out of 5 stars)

My Ranking of the Franchise
1. HALLOWEEN (1978)
2. HALLOWEEN H20: 20 YEARS LATER (1998)
3. HALLOWEEN II (1981)
4. HALLOWEEN (2007)
5. HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)
6. HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)
7. HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)
8. HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (2002)
9. HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1995)

"Halloween" Retrospective: HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)

HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)
Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard
Starring: Donald Pleasance, Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Beau Starr, Wendy Kaplan

“I prayed that he would burn in hell, but I knew that hell would not have him.”

Much like how Halloween II picked up with the ending of the first one, the fifth entry in the series picks up toward the end of the fourth film as we see Michael Myers being shot down a mine shaft. Despite Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) telling everyone he was dead, we should all know better than that. He slips out another exit of the shaft and floats down the creek.

One year passes for our characters; Jamie Lloyd (Harris) is now spending time in the Children’s Clinic in Haddonfield due to the incidence that occurred at the end of the fourth film. The psychological effects Michael (Shanks) has had on her had left her mute as well as possessing some sort of psychic connection to him. She has her bad days as she suffers from the continual nightmares, shakes, and sweats, but she does have her good days full of huge smiles. Her only way of communicating is by minimal sign language and leaving messages and drawings. Dr. Loomis has overseen her recovery and knows due to her recent attacks that Michael must be back.

This film also marks the first appearance of The Man in Black. He is a mysterious stranger that arrives in Haddonfield that has some connection to Myers. He has a symbol tattooed on his arm and heads to the old Myers house. Fans of the franchise will notice they use a completely different house that looks nothing like the Myers house used in previous films. The concept and introduction of The Man in Black is poorly executed here. He makes a brief appearance in the middle of the movie and then comes back at the very ending. There is no real thorough explanation or reason why he appears in this movie. It really makes no sense until you watch the sixth movie. What would have happened if that never got made?

I criticized the second and fourth movies for having poor character development compared to the first movie. Maybe I should have considered myself lucky. We are introduced to more of Rachel’s (Cornell) friends including Tina (Kaplan) and some other truly obnoxious and annoying friends. Rachel is a smart character, so why is she friends with these idiots? You actually look forward and hope the Michael kills them off. Is that wrong of me to say?

Kudos to the make-up department for making Donald Pleasance burn make-up look far better than it did in the fourth movie. His character Dr. Loomis is getting more and more gruff and cranky with each movie. I actually think he gets a bit too rough with Jamie when he pleads for information out of her. He later goes so far as to use her as bait to trap him.

This is the only movie in the franchise that I have mixed feelings about. For being the fifth in a series, it really has some positive aspects to it. Don Shanks is one of the better actors to don the Myers mask and jumpsuit. The death scenes are getting far more gruesome and violent with each passing movie which makes it a bit more frightening at times. According Don Shanks in the audio commentary, the movie originally received an X-Rating due to the graphic nature of the kills. The stakes are higher for Dr. Loomis and Jamie which elevates the desperation and fear they each have of Michael. The camera work and over all film making is better here than in the fourth movie. My focus starts to veer and my patience wears thin with The Man in Black twist. They were probably trying to think of ways to continue the story or take it in a new direction, but they were not quite sure how to carry it out. The idea of a traumatized Jamie Lloyd in the hospital is all too reminiscent of Halloween II which feels like a cop out. You really need to watch 4 and 5 together, but 5 is the better movie.

RATING: ** 1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

My Ranking of the Franchise
1. HALLOWEEN (1978)
2. HALLOWEEN II (1981)
3. HALLOWEEN 5: THE REVENGE OF MICHAEL MYERS (1989)
4. HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)
5. HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)

"Halloween" Retrospective: HALLOWEEN 4 THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)

HALLOWEEN 4 THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)
Director: Dwight H. Little
Starring: Ellie Cornell, Danielle Harris, Donald Pleasance, Michael Patki, George P. Wilbur, Kathleen Kinmont

“Jesus ain’t got nothing to do with this place.”

Michael Myers has survived the explosion that happened ten years ago. As he is being transferred back to Smith’s Grove, he kills the medical personnel in the ambulance and escapes. Michael’s old psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Pleasance), is made aware of his escape and tries to warn the police of his return to Haddonfield. Why would they believe him? Michael’s been in a coma for years and Dr. Loomis is just a crazy old man.

Seven year old Jamie Lloyd (Harris) is his only surviving relative. Her mother Laurie Strode died in a car accident eleven months prior and has since been adopted by the Carruthers family. She cannot escape her mother’s past as she continually has visions and nightmares about Michael. Even the other kids at school poke fun and tease her about how the boogeyman is her uncle. On Halloween night, her older foster sister Rachel (Cornell) is stuck taking her babysitting when their parents leave for the night. Dr. Loomis has returned to Haddonfield and realizes that the evil has returned. His intuition is correct that Jamie is Michael’s next target.

Due to an impending writers strike producer Moustapha Akkad wanted the script to be finished in a quick time period. Director Dwight H. Little brought in his collaborator Alan B. McElroy to crank out a script quickly before the strike kicked in. Little and McElroy paid close attention to the continuity in the Michael Myers storyline and the time period. We see the effects of the ending of the second film on Dr. Loomis and Michael as well as the mention of what happens to the Laurie Strode character. It is fantastic to have Donald Pleasance back to the series. You just need to get passed the poor burn make-up job on his face. Yes, it may have been an easy choice to have Michael target another family member but that is part of the character. I wish more attention would have been given on the supporting characters. They come across a bit generic and obvious. The character of Rachel is similar to Laurie and she has the slutty friends just like Laurie did. Even the gang of bar patrons that want to take matters into their own hands are a bit laughable.

The film was not shot on the same Pasadena streets as the first film, but they were able to pull off the Midwestern neighborhood feel of Haddonfield quite well even though it was shot in Salt Lake City. I think the feel of the neighborhood is vital to the story, so the continuity in tone and feel continues there as well. The very ending is definitely an homage to the first film. I do not want to give too much away but the filming harkens back to the Dean Cundey camera work that sets up the first film and we get to hear the infamous John Carpenter score. I wish we could have used more of this style throughout the film.

One of my biggest problems with the movie is the lighting. One of Michael’s victims is thrown into the power grid and the whole town loses its power. The majority of the film is very dark and in turn poorly lit. The majority of the interior shots are lit by fire places, candles, and kerosene lamps which do not provide ample lighting. It was obviously a specific choice as an attempt to make the film scarier. In turn, it just fizzles out as I find it just makes the action harder to see.

Like the title suggests, the film provides a good return to the story of Michael Myers after the side step that was Halloween III: Season of the Witch which veered terribly off track. The overall concepts and focus on continuity help the film from being just your standard horror sequel schlock. To non-fans of the series, I am sure they still consider it pure crap. The main problem is that the film is just not that scary. There are some directorial choices that lack suspense. George P. Wilbur, who plays Michael Myers, is missing the physicality of giving the haunting and eerie feel of Myers. Even though he wears a mask and jumpsuit, there is still specific way to play that character. The actor has to be more than just this looming figure that kills people. True fans of the series, like me, can find an appreciation for this fourth entry, but it will not win over any newbies to the series.

RATING: ** 1/2 (2.5 out of 5 stars)

My Ranking of the Franchise
1. HALLOWEEN (1978)
2. HALLOWEEN II (1981)
3. HALLOWEEN 4: THE RETURN OF MICHAEL MYERS (1988)
4. HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH(1982)