Halloween II is the 1981 sequel to the then cult-classic, now fairly iconic 1978 horror movie Halloween. It was written and produced by John Carpenter and Deborah Hill (who also wrote and produced the original movie), and Rick Rosenthal directed (taking over the directing job from Carpenter who directed the first movie). The movie brings back Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance in their leading roles, reprises the roles of Nancy Stephens and Charles Cyphers, and brings in Lance Guest as a new character. The events of the movie are set immediately after the end of the first movie with Loomis discovering that Michael survived being shot and falling off the balcony and begins hunting through the town to find him. Laurie is transported to the Haddonfield Hospital where, of course, Michael tracks her down and continues trying to kill her.
The DVD does include a handful of extras, including the theatrical trailer, production notes, and some interviews with the cast and crew. They are not extensive, and not nearly as much as was included in the later blu-ray releases, but they are there if you like going through the bonus content.
I loved the first Halloween movie. It is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. Generally, as you get into sequels the quality goes down (as was certainly the case with this franchise). This movie which was originally intended to be the only sequel is definitely the best of the bunch. The one thing I really liked about the movie is that although they showed Michel much more than in the first film, they still kept him hidden enough that it kept a similar sense of suspense as the original film. Also, while the movie was definitely gorier than the first one (which was done at Carpenter's insistence in post-production), it did not go overboard on the gore. The filmakers used suspense to keep the movie scary rather than just turning it into a straight slasher film (even though some did criticize the amount of gore in this movie compared to the first one). I also liked the way they paralleled the stories of Michael stalking Laurie at the hospital and Loomis trying to hunt him down. Jamie Lee Curtis did not have as large a role in this movie as she did in the first one until the end when she was trying to get away from Michael. Donald Pleasence's role was expanded in this movie and he did a great job playing Loomis as obsessed with getting Michael to the extent that Loomis comes off as being crazy too. He nailed that role and the one good thing that the multiple sequels did was allow him to reprise it.
While this is not an all-out hack-and-slash gore fest that is popular among today's horror movies, it still stands the test of time as one of the most suspenseful and scary horror films. They definitely make Michael less human and more indestructible in this movie, which the series would continue to overdo with each subsequent movie. It was the intent of John Carpenter that Michael actually die at the end of this movie, and that no additional sequels featuring Michael be made. In fact, if you pay attention to the scenes in the school they foreshadow Micahel's death at the very end. Of course, that only lasted for one movie after Halloween III bombed, but Carpenter would never be involved in any of the other sequels until he agreed to be a producer and composer on the 2018, 2020, and 2021 Halloween sequel reboots. In fact, Carpenter has gone on record saying he did not really want to make a sequel to the original Halloween, but had to agree to a sequel to get the first movie made (if the first one made money, which of course, it did). Ultimately, if you are a fan of the horror genre, this one definitely deserves a place in your collection even though it is not as good as the original movie.
While this is not an all-out hack-and-slash gore fest that is popular among today's horror movies, it still stands the test of time as one of the most suspenseful and scary horror films. They definitely make Michael less human and more indestructible in this movie, which the series would continue to overdo with each subsequent movie. It was the intent of John Carpenter that Michael actually die at the end of this movie, and that no additional sequels featuring Michael be made. In fact, if you pay attention to the scenes in the school they foreshadow Micahel's death at the very end. Of course, that only lasted for one movie after Halloween III bombed, but Carpenter would never be involved in any of the other sequels until he agreed to be a producer and composer on the 2018, 2020, and 2021 Halloween sequel reboots. In fact, Carpenter has gone on record saying he did not really want to make a sequel to the original Halloween, but had to agree to a sequel to get the first movie made (if the first one made money, which of course, it did). Ultimately, if you are a fan of the horror genre, this one definitely deserves a place in your collection even though it is not as good as the original movie.
