Rapid Review: Halloween II (1981)

“He was my patient for fifteen years. He became an obsession with me until I realized that there was nothing within him, neither conscious nor reason that was… even remotely human.”
– Dr Sam Loomis

SYNOPSIS: While Sheriff Brackett and Dr. Loomis hunt for Michael Myers, a traumatized Laurie is rushed to hospital, and the serial killer is not far behind her. – via IMDB

The first sequel to Halloween is not bad. In fact, it is a darn solid entry, if you ask me. It takes place on the same night as its predecessor, and pretty much entirely goes down at the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, and that’s great. Initially when watching this, I thought the sheriff was awfully calm about his daughter Annie being killed, only to find out he had not been informed of this development, and then he did his nut, which was far more realistic. The iconic score is back and kicking, and cuckoo-katchoo Michael Myers is back on the hunt for Laurie. When Laurie woke in the hospital with Jimmy stroking her hand, I was like “wtf”, because let me tell you, if I woke up in hospital with some random stranger stroking my hand, there would be hell to pay. No kidding. No touchy, man! The direct continuation from the last movie is interesting, and makes it nice to watch back to back with the initial film as a marathon. It doesn’t bring anything super new to the table, and the plot progression barrels along. I don’t feel that the characters got as much development here as they did in the last movie, but they were still really fun to watch. Myers was way more aggressive in this one. The deaths improved here, too, which just goes to show what a little bit of extra budget can do. Loomis and Laurie were both excellent characters, and Pleasence and Curtis were brilliant picks to play them. Anyway, the atmosphere was maybe not as creepy as the last, but Halloween II is a solid movie that is well worth a watch, and complements the original every step of the way. Check it out!