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Halloween II

Halloween II

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Halloween II (1981)
Review: Director: Rick Rosenthal
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, Charles Cyphers, Lance Guest.
Running Time: 91 minutes.
Rated R for violence, language, and nudity.

Picking up moments after the original "Halloween" left off, Michael Myers is again in search of Lorie (Jamie Lee Curtis), this time while she is at the hospital recovering from her wounds inflicted earlier that Halloween night. With Dr. Loomis hot on his trail, Myers breaks into the hospital and slays all individuals in search of his prized possession.

Without John Carpenter as director (he did serve as executive producer for the film), this second installment in the series does not possess the atmospheric or suspenseful qualities that the original thrived on. "Halloween II" is a good horror movie, but certainly not an exceptional one. The most intriguing aspect of the film is that the audience learns the motive behind Michael's captivation with Jamie Lee Curtis's character--and this connection is vital to the success of the rest of the series. Both Pleasance and Curtis are average in their performances and Rosenthal is only adequate as Carpenter's replacement. Should have been the conclusion of the series; however, six more installments were created after.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: HALLOWEEN II The Nightmare Isn't Over!
Review: Halloween II overall is an excellent horror film. In contrast to the "original" it falls slightly behind, only because there is less suspence due to the fact that the other characters (excluding Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis) have less important roles and are slaughtered. However, the "erie" image of the film taking place in Haddonfield Memorial Hospital is what sets this movie off. Speaking of erie, the added organ to the "Halloween" theme and additional overlay music make it a nail biter. This movie along with the original and H20 set the entire mood of HALLOWEEN!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Nightmare Isn't Over!!!!!!!!
Review: My name is nick i'm only 11 but I love horror movies especially classics.Halloween was good but halloween 2 is excellent!!! There is much more deaths and action then halloween. Micheal will stop at nothing to kill Laurie his sister but she manages to stay alive. I mean a hospital is an awesome setting for Halloween 2. I love it!!!! Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasanse should have won emmys for this movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Michael's Still Out There
Review: "Halloween 2" continues where the original ended, October 31, 1978. Dr. Loomis shot Michael Myers six times, he fell from the second level of the house, and managed to walk away before Dr. Loomis could notice. This continued fight for Laurie Strode's life and the struggle to capture Michael Myers has many gripping scenes that make this sequel better than most other movie sequels. The multiple unexpected twists and turns give the horror genre a great name. Such action keeps audiences interested the whole time. In the meantime, secrets are revealed about Myers's motives, and the most surprising one is in this "Halloween" edition. All events blend wonderfully, leading to a powerful conclusion. Jamie Lee Curtis beautifully plays Strode, maintaining her character throughout the movie. All of her actions, namely her injury, are convincing. Donald Pleasence plays Dr. Loomis wonderfully, adding his own sense of struggle into the movie's theme. All other actors also perform their roles wonderfully. "Halloween 2" is a great movie to watch on Halloween or any other day that feels right. This is sure to please many horror movie fans. Anyone interested in watching this movie should watch part one first. Otherwise, everything will be confusing.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good, but could have been better
Review: There a couple of things about this movie that I didn't like, I will talk about those first.

1. The hospital closed down at night, nobody was there. What kind of hospital is that anyway? Not very credibile.
2. The movie loses alot of momentum in the mid-section when people just start spending alot of time walking around the hospital looking for each other
3. Jamie Lee Curtis didn't have much of a part in this movie besides limping around or laying in a hospital bed. The part of Laurie Strode in Halloween 2 was a waste of a heck of a good actress, she should have been involved more.

However, the movie had alot of good death scenes, and Donald Pleasance was awesome in this flick. Also, a kick-butt climax to the movie saved this movie from my giving it a lower rating. Part 1 & 2 go hand in hand since they both happened on the same night. Otherwise, don't bother with the rest of the sequels, except H20 where Jamie Lee Curtis appears again.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not as good as this Amazon rating suggests...
Review: I'm really surprised to see this sequel rated so highly. Although Carpenter penned the screenplay, it was very much lacking from his suspenseful direction. Suffers from not enough Jamie Lee Curtis, a different guy playing Michael Meyers wiht a different style and a mish-mash story that barely plods along. All of the killings happen without any of the buildup of suspense that made the first movie such a classic. Fans of the first will probably want to see this but it's strictly uninspired B-movie material all the way around. I think Esacape from L.A. was a more worthy sequel, and that's not sayin' much...

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: HALLOWEEN 2 EXCELENT!!!
Review: Halloween 2 was written again by john carpenter and debra hill, but this time directed by rick rosenthal (who in the future will direct the crappy halloween resurrection), the story is so original, and so decent, it starts just when the first one left us off...laurie strode is in haddonfield hospital under care of jimmy, and a few nurses...but michael myers is still alive and he goes to the hospital to try to kill his sister again...but dr.loomis could stop him...before he got finally his sister...
I love the movie it's so excelent and original!!! i think that is better than the first one but just for a little!!!...is great!!! the dvd is not very good...but...the movie is great!!
the extras includes..."production notes", "trailers", "filmographies", "subtitles", etc...

THE STORY: 5/5
ACTING: 4.5/5
DIRECTION: 4/5
GORE: 4.8/5
DVD: 3/5

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "Halloween" Redux
Review: If you ask John Carpenter how he got thru those long nights of writing out the screenplay for the sequel to "Halloween" his answer would consist of seven words - "A 12 pack of Budweiser. Every night." He is also quoted, asking, "How can you make a sequel to a movie that doesn't need one?" In the wake of the monster success of "Halloween", the film generated a lot of knockoff films. Some good, ("Friday the 13th", "When A Starnger Calls", "Phantasm") and some real bad ("Prom Night", "Terror Train" and pretty much the rest of the genre). So, it was inevitable that "Halloween II" would be unleashed. "Universal Pictures" threw it's hat in the slasher ring after it saw the unexpected success of "Paramount Pictures"' film "Friday the 13th" and bought the rights to two "Halloween" films ("II" and the awful "Halloween III"). "Halloween II" is a decent entry that has suspense, but, doesn't have the psychological hold the original has (for me this film is third best in the franchise right behind "Halloween" and "Halloween: H20").

Picking up seconds after the original, Dr. Loomis finds Sherriff Brackett and continues the hunt for "The Shape" known as Michael Myers. As for Laurie Strode, she's been taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, to tend to the severe wounds that were inflicted upon her in "Halloween". Unbeknownst to all, "The Shape" knows where Laurie is and its only a matter of time before he gets to her.

This isn't a bad sequel, but, it does have some faults. The gore factor is turned up a bit (slashed throats are exposed, a burn victims face is shown up close, etc.). The scares are the jump out of the seat kind, rather than the psychological type that was evident thru "Halloween". That film had exposed everybody's primal fear of having the feeling of being watched and turning around and no one is there (not so with "II"). By the time "Halloween II" was released, audience's tastes had changed for more gore, and out of the seat thrills (thanks to "Friday the 13th"). Its like you could compare the first two "Halloween" films with two types of "Coors" beer, in the respect that "Halloween" is "Coors" and "Halloween II" is "Coors Lite". Spooky stuff - less scary. Keep an eye out for "Saturday Night Live" alumni Dana Carvey (the church lady!) as a T.V. cameraman (you will have to pause your DVD player to see him).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: so scary...
Review: The whole movie is a suspensive ride. John Carpenter's renditions are so freaky. The stalking music just got me. Unbeleivable. I think this one is the best of the series, until we can see what halloween 9 will be.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The conclusion
Review: With the happy tones from The Cordettes' "Mr Sandman", the second Halloween film sets off. We are taken back to the same night as before, in a film that was meant to conclude the story.

The mood is a bit darker in this film than in the first one. Expectations about a good time on Halloween have changed into fear and sorrow after the murders. News reports about the murders, that interrupt the TV-film ("The Night of the Living Dead") and on the radios, makes sure that no one misses what has happened. Dr. Loomis is, if possible, even more pessimistic about Michael Myers' nature. If he wasn't, in a moral sense, fully human in the first film, he is not even physically really human in this one. Adding to this dark mood, the action takes place only at night this time.

Since the film literally starts where the first ended (or two minutes before it ended), there is not much build-up. From the beginning Michael is out to kill people, and instead of building up a horror mood, we start with such a mood that only intensifies as the film continues. This also means that the new characters don't get to be intruduced so much. Although there are many side-characters the important ones are those from the first film: Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis, and Laurie Strode. Laurie Strode is at the hospital, having some dream about her childhood, and Dr. Loomis is out with the police looking for Michael Myers, following every new lead. In this film Michael is not content with knife stabs and strangulations, which makes the film a bit more gory, but not more scary.

Musically we hear the same tunes as in the first film, but often with a more synthetic sound (the turn of the eighties is to blame for that). The mood setting interludes from the first film are mostly lacking, which makes the film a bit too intense to last one hour and a half. The fact that this was meant to be the end of the story (obvious from the fact that Halloween III has a totally different story) may make up for some of the film's weaknesses. This is, after all, the conclusion of the Halloween saga.


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