One year on and Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) is unsurprisingly haunted by her brush with a now infamous Michael Myers (Tyler Mane). Myers himself is reportedly dead and Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcom McDowell) is set to release his new book on the case, meeting with disgust of his profiteering from the victims’ suffering.
Meanwhile, of course, Myers is far from dead and is making his way back home to find his sister, leaving a fresh crop of bodies as he goes.
Last Rites for the Original Slasher Film Franchise
It’s been all of five minutes since the last review of a horror film re-make, so let’s take a look at Rob Zombie’s sequel to his own previous re-telling of John Carpenter’s Halloween.
First off, Zombie’s 2007 Halloween had a little merit. Just enough, in fact, to justify the effort, helped largely by the exploration of a pre-teen Michael Myers. As was stipulated in that original review, Zombie was less bound to follow in someone else’s footsteps when putting together this sequel, but there was a simple oversight – namely, that this a slasher film.
The fact is that the minute the slasher genre peaked (way back in the 80’s), it was also as good as dead, with Wes Craven’s Scream, and the injection of satirical humour, standing out as one of the very few slashers that have come since to have been worthwhile.
It must be difficult, if not impossible, to satisfy both the viewers expectations (that many people will die violently) as well as Zombie’s own desire to create a more in-depth character of Myers, relatively speaking. The result is basically unmanageable, as characters who mean nothing perish on a whim and the added depth amounts to, well, not much. It might have been worth making this film in the manner of a Ring 2 (J-version, of course) with Myers himself rendered more low-key than the original, but who are we kidding? Had Zombie gone that way he would have incurred the wrath of horror fans and financiers alike, even if the result could have been a far superior film.
Halloween 2 Cast
One of the few marked improvements here is the role of Malcom Mcdowell, who has more to chew on as Loomis. Intent on building his career from the exceptional case of Myers, Loomis is seen to be sensationalizing past events with his book, ‘The Devil Walks Among Us’. Mcdowell lends proceedings an important touch of class, without which the film would be Halloween: the Grunge years, led by a cast of Zombie’s best friends.
Scout Taylor-Compton, who was more than passable in the original outing, again upholds her part of the bargain. The character of Laurie Strode is now traumatized further by the revelation that she is Angel Myers, Michael’s lost sister, and is half-way driven to the land of looney tunes before yet another confrontation with her murderous stalker.
As for Sheri Moon Zombie, there’s two sides to her continued involvement as mother Deborah Myers. Despite her character being dead, she reprises the role as a vengeful spirit, guiding Myers on his way.
This aspect, on the one hand, could be hailed as a creditable attempt to delve deeper into the Myers psychosis, without which the film would essentially be little more than a re-hashing of similar themes (i.e: people being stabbed). Of course, that’s unavoidable when considering that this is the 10th Halloween film. The symbolism of the white horse which comes attached to Deborah is also a link into the madness that is sure to overcome Laurie, but on the other hand, Sheri’s involvement could be put down to nothing more than the fact that she is Rob’s wife and so would hardly be left out of proceedings.
With Daeg Faerch (who played the original young Myers) now too grown up for the part, Chase Wright Vanek takes up the mantle, though his role, as with Sheri Moon Zombie, is extremely limited.
Halloween 2 Summary
There are holes aplenty with this sequel, as Myers apparently survived being shot in the head with no good explanation (bearing in mind that this incarnation is meant to lack the supernatural touch), and he has been presumed dead for over a year despite there being evidence to the contrary.
None of that matters though, because squeezing anything original from this franchise would be a miracle of film-making. With the director allegedly done with the series, it’s odd that he leaves room for a sequel that will never be made (suggesting that Laurie herself will likely continue her brother’s rampage). While Zombie does his best to leave a lasting impression, the only real scare of this film is in realizing that the franchise has simply kick-started all over again and we can expect another ten Halloweens over the coming years.
Everyone should know what to expect from this very disappointing affair, and Rob Zombie has taken a step backwards, after having shown that he has a promising future in horror.
- Producers: Malek Akkad, Andy Gould, Rob Zombie
- Director: Rob Zombie
- Screenplay: Rob Zombie
- Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcom Mcdowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane
- Released: Aug 2009 by Dimension Films and The Weinstein Company
- Running Time: 105 mins
