THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Michael Myers may not be the first slasher, nor will he be the last, but his impact on 1978's Halloween was so empowering that a sequel had to come around. So when Halloween II came around, you bet your ass that things took many turns and investment was strong.
PLOT
The 1981 sequel continues immediately after the events of the first film. Psychiatrist Sam Loomis saves the life of teenager Laurie Strode from his psychotic patient by shooting him down, causing him to fall off the balcony. However, the Shape (Dick Warlock) survives from his wounds and continues hiding from authorities while also continuing his killing spree. As Laurie recovers at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, Loomis continues his search for the slasher. The chaos would sadly continue on his end when he mistakes a costumed teenager named Ben Tramer (Jack Verbois) as his patient. When he chases him, he would shockingly die in a car accident. Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers) would then decide to stop helping in the pursuit, out of grief when discovering his daughter to be another victim of Michael's actions. This would leave Deputy Gary Hunt (Hunter von Leer) to aid the psychiatrist until further notice. Back at the hospital, a paramedic named Jimmy begins to have a crush on Laurie, but head nurse Virginia Alves (Gloria Gifford) chooses to limit his time around her. Michael would make his way to the hospital upon hearing a news broadcast that revealed Laurie's location. And when he gets there, he cuts all phone lines and disables every car in the area. This prevents everyone inside to escape his wrath as he slays almost every nurse, doctor and security guard he sees. When Jimmy finds one of the bodies, he slips in a pool of blood and gets knocked unconscious. When Loomis investigates a school recently broken into, he sees a sign Michael left behind saying 'Samhain'. At this point, he meets his colleague Nurse Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens), who instructs him that he is ordered by the governor to return to Smith's Grove. As they are escorted by a US Marshal (John Zenda), Chambers tells Loomis a shocking truth, that Laurie is Michael's sister. When her parents passed, she was adopted by the Strodes and the records were sealed to keep her and the family safe. Knowing the reason of the Shape to go after her, Loomis forces the marshal to go to the hospital. As they head back, Laurie has woken up and realizes that the boogeyman is near, choosing to hide as much as she can. She does try to leave with a car, but realizes that the car doesn't work. When Jimmy reemerges and tries to escape with the same car, he passes out once again. This time, the horn goes off and it alerts Michael. She begs for help once Loomis arrives with Chambers and the marshal. By the time she gets back inside the hospital, the boogeyman is right behind her. Loomis shoots him down again, but even after falling back down, he gets back up and continues his hunt for blood, killing the marshal in the process. As Chambers uses the marshal's radio to call for backup, Laurie and Loomis hide in an operating room with Myers following them. When he breaks into the room, he stabs Loomis. Laurie, remembering her brother after visiting in Smith's Grove during childhood, shoots him in the eyes which blinds him. As he blindly swings a scalpel, Laurie and Loomis fill the room with flammable gas. Just when Laurie leaves the room, Loomis sacrifices himself by igniting the gas, which appears to have killed Michael as well as his burning body collapses. Luckily for Loomis, he survives when the explosion throws him out of the room. The film ends with Laurie being transferred to another hospital, traumatized yet grateful to still be alive.
THOUGHTS
When watching the first film for the first time, of course I couldn't help but wonder how the story continues from there. And while this franchise is a hit or miss, this one feels like a hit to me. Because of how this is one of the first slasher sequels, you know high expectations are going to be made. Although I admit that it ain't better, that doesn't mean it ain't entertaining. With John Carpenter & Debra Hill returning as writers, Director Dean Cundey was able to keep the ball running as smooth as possible. Personally, the original atmosphere is still around as the terror is only continuing from where it left off. With Michael Myers returning to cause such, you’re just as scared of him as you were the first time around. Because this is a sequel, you got to get creative with how the slasher gets business done. And here, Michael is at his most violent within the decade span of follow ups released. Seeing him lift Nurse Jill (Tawny Moyer) with a scalpel was definitely a surprise as we get to see how strong he is, but the most shocking kill has to be the deaths of paramedic Bud (Leo Rossi) and Nurse Karen (Pamela Susan Shoop). Going from strangling Bud with a cord to drown and scald Karen in a hot tub was pretty brutal to witness. Even when the protagonists get the upper hand on him, this movie proves Tommy’s point that you just can’t kill the boogeyman. Way before I knew that there were more sequels after this, I knew that he was bound to come back. You can say his strength and silence are factors of what make him scary, but to me, it’s gonna be his invulnerability as we don’t have a clear answer on why it’s possible for him to withstand such pain and power through it. Like Darth Vader, the greatest fear anyone could have is being related to the one that torments you. I was very surprised that Laurie was originally Michael’s younger sister, but it made sense when Michael chose to steal Judith’s tombstone, implying that he was displaying his own family reunion. I do prefer the mystery of Michael’s actions, but I respect that they chose to give us an answer at the time because our curiosity is bound to lead to answers at some point. With that being said, you feel bad for Laurie even more because she never deserved to go through such pain. Nevertheless, I admire that Jamie Lee Curtis still portrayed her as one who wasn’t gonna give up fighting for her life. Even when injured, she did her best to be as resilient as possible and I respect that a whole lot. Even though terror would find its way back to her eventually, it’s good to see that it took a pause. I've already that I admire Lori's will, but she is not the only protagonist that takes a stand against the boogeyman. While she is at bedrest for the majority of this story, Loomis is busy trying to hunt down the hunter. In this go around, Donald Pleasance plays the only one with common sense that he can't waste time when it comes to danger. He knows how soulless Michael has grown to be and has to stop him however possible before anymore harm could be caused by him. You could say his heart is in the right place, but you can't say it didn't backfire when it cost the innocent life of Tramer. In the end, you're able to forgive him when he chooses to sacrifice himself to stop the Shape. And since he survived the explosion as well, it becomes a relief that he had enough to stop Michael as much as he could. Due to how this film feels pretty isolated, you would think that there wouldn't any new characters to be interested in. But then I didn't look any further when Jimmy entered the picture. Lance Guest was meant for the viewers because he visibly felt bad of Laurie's predicament. He falls for her so easily because he falls for innocence, wishing she never went through such danger. He may have not gotten the girl, but at least Loomis wasn't the only one that cared about her. While I do say this is pretty solid of a sequel, it could've been better had it not have so much nonsense that are worse than the twist. I was really hoping there wouldn't be a continuity error with Carpenter and Hill being involved as writers, but even they made a big one by having Loomis rush downstairs to see Michael has left, rather than start from where he upstairs that Michael disappeared. Moving on, it's pretty crazy how the neighbor Alice does not notice Michael when he doesn't appear to be hiding in the shadows. I know these victims in movies are supposed to be gullible/clueless, but they can't be blind. And why does it take so long for Jimmy and Bud to get the call about Tramer? They should've gotten that call the instant they dropped off Laurie. And I think it was stupid of how Michael found out Laurie's location. A kid carrying a radio that happened to be listening to the news? That is absolute bullshit. If you're a kid and you bought yourself a radio, you're gonna be blasting entertaining music rather than stressful news. And why is there only one night guard at the hospital? Even if you're not suspecting a serial killer, there should be a second guard taking shifts with the former. Also, why would Jimmy talk to Laurie about Michael when not confirming that he's talking about him until the end of the conversation? It makes no sense for Laurie to know what he was talking about. His name should've been brought up from the get go. And how come the walkie talkies didn't work? Did the guard really not charge it or did Michael messed with them unbeknownst to him? If you're gonna build tension like that, it should be worth explaining how that was even possible. I also hate it when Deputy Gary says that Haddonfield was quiet until adult Michael attacked. How could he forget what the young Michael did 15 years prior? That shit ain't gonna be ignored. And where did the other patient go that Nurse Karen meant to check on before she ended up planning up to hook up with Bud? Did the patient get moved or did Michael kill that person too and chose to hide it? I shouldn't be thinking about this shit during a movie. The only thing I questioned about when it came to Michael himself is the fact that he intentionally left a trail behind at the school. Even though no one confirms the reason of Laurie being a target until Chambers tells Loomis, but if he doesn't want to be stopped, he shouldn't have acknowledged Samhain along the way. I like that Laurie's intelligence is maintained when she avoids Michael and uses pillows to take her place. But how was that even possible? Michael was watching Nurse Jill leave the room and he didn't see his main target leave afterwards? That makes no sense at all. And lastly, why didn't Loomis call for help before he even got to the hospital? If he knows he is difficult to kill, he should've got ahead for backup with the hopes to restrain and arrest him. Other than that, I;m sure you'll still be enjoying yourself with this fictional terror. To wrap up, Halloween II is a watchable sequel for being able to raise the bar at its time with its graphic violence and operatic storytelling. If you're a general fan of horror that loved the predecessor, this one is honestly worthwhile.
Comments