Halloween II (Unrated Director's Cut)
by Rob Zombie
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DVD details
Actor: Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler ManeDirector: Rob Zombie
Brand: SON
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 119 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-01-12
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Halloween II (Unrated Director's Cut)
DVD Review: 2.5 Stars: More of the Same From Mr. Zombie
Summary: 2 Stars
Well I would first warn any readers that this review may contain some spoilers, but honestly, I don't think it would even really matter. In fact, I might be doing some of you guys a favor by telling you what happens in the film rather than you having to actually sit and watch it! Ok ok..maybe this film is not THAT bad, but it isn't good by any means, and you shouldn't be expecting anything great, especially if you've seen the first installment of the Zombie remake. And that's why I definitely wasn't expecting anything good before going to the theaters to watch this film, but I left the theater just as disappointed as I did after viewing the first remake. But since I'm a big horror fan, and have purchased all the other Halloween films, including the first Zombie film, I had to buy this one too, and decided to give this one a couple of more viewings before writing this review. But to say my opinion has changed any since I viewed this film the first time, that really isn't the case. Just like the first film, there are just way too many things wrong with this film for me to really enjoy it.
So where do I begin to list the many problems I have with this film? How bout the way Rob Zombie dupes the audience into thinking the movie is going to be actually semi-decent in the first 25 minutes of the movie? Talk about being completely disappointed! When watching this for the first time, and seeing the hospital chase scene, like that of the original Halloween 2, I was thinking to myself..could it be? Has Rob Zombie redeemed himself here and actually made a straight-forward, in-your-face film that pays true homage to the original films? My interest was peaked..and I was genuinely excited..until of course, Laurie wakes up, and you find out that Zombie just used the oldest trick in the book to fool, and in my case, disappoint his audience.
Now onto other problems..first off, the Laurie Strode character. The way her character is portrayed, it's just really hard to sympathize with her. For the most part, she comes off as a bitch, using the F word every other word in many scenes (which can be blamed on bad script writing as well). She's sad and depressed one minute, then is a wild, care-free party chick the next..there are really no qualities about her that make me want to care about her character at all. And the Sam Loomis character, where do I begin here? His character was so painful to watch. Just a complete travesty compared to the original Loomis character played by Donald Pleasance. Why turn the Loomis character into a money hungry, self-centered bastard? Then only have him "turn" good in the last 10 minutes of the film, like its gonna make a difference..its completely unbelievable. Now I'm not blaming Mr. McDowell for his performance. For the kind of character I'm sure he was told to portray, he did an alright job. Again, its the overall writing of the character that's so bad. Also, there's a new actor that plays young Michael Myers rather than Daeg Faerch. And although Chase Vanek looks the part much better than Faerch did, his acting leaves much to be desired, with all his lines being almost read in a monotone voice. The same could be pretty much said about Sheri Moon's performance as well, which was mediocre at best.
Now on to Michael Myers..just when I thought Rob Zombie had done enough damage to his character in the first film, his continues to do so in this one. The grunting when he's stabbing people, the hoodie he wears (are u kidding me, a hoodie?!), the 10 little cut scenes where it shows him walking through some field like Bigfoot, giving him superpowers to be able to turn cars over, and worst of all..showing his face time and time again! Since Zombie claims to be such a horror fan, I would think he would have learned something from suspense master Alfred Hitchcock, and that is, many things should be left up the audience's imagination. The great thing about Michael Myers is that blank, emotionless mask. You don't know what is behind it, and that's a great thing. But when you show his face, and he looks just like some big bearded guy (actually, he looks like Zakk Wylde!), then it takes away from the character, and is much less scary or mysterious. But even that isn't as bad as what happens at the end of the film, when Michael actually SPEAKS..yes, speaks! This is a different ending from that of the theatrical version, and overall, I thought this unrated directors was actually better than that version, but when Michael utters the word "Die!" to Loomis at the end, I just shook my head in disgust.
Much like the first film, I feel that Zombie just missed the mark here. First off, why have Michael's mother as the main catalyst for his rage? For originality, I give him a 1 for that. Hasn't he ever heard of any little movies called Friday the 13th?! The point of Michael Myers doing the evil things he does, is just that..he's pure evil. You don't know his motives, and again, not knowing something is scarier then trying to give an explanation to everything. Not only does Zombie give you this explanation, but he runs it into the ground by showing scene after scene of a white horse or Michael's mother, and young Michael, while they're talking off bad dialogue. Yeah, we get it, enough is enough..the audience doesn't need to be reminded of it every 5 minutes. It felt like more or less that Zombie just put those scenes in to give his real-life wife more screen time.
With all the problems I had with this film, I did enjoy a couple of things. Again, the first 25 minutes of the film were good. And I do have to say, that for the most part, this version is better than the theatrical version too. And though I've read some reviews that put down Zombie down for showing more blood and gore, and making the film more violent, this is something I think he did very well. The kill scenes, though simplistic (mostly just stabbing, stomping, or smashing), were done very good.
Maybe I'm just too hard on this film, I just can't like this movie. Its probably a bit better than the first Halloween, since you're not having to sit through an hour of crappy backstory about Michael's childhood. At least this one jumps right into the story. But the writing and imagining of many of the characters are just plain bad. I understand Zombie wanted to do something different here, but at some point, enough is enough. It's one thing to re-image something, its another thing to completely change established characters and story. With just a little tweaking, this could be an entirely different film, having nothing to do with the Halloween series at all. Slap another title on it, and there you have it. And I think I would have really liked these two films, if that was the case. However, when remaking or re-imaging an established classic film, there should be some boundaries. Simply put, Zombie should just stick to creating original material.
Description of Halloween II (Unrated Director's Cut)
Rocker turned writer-director Rob Zombie returns to the horror field with this visually ambitious and aggressively brutal follow-up to his 2007 reinvention of John Carpenter?s seminal slasher Halloween. The 1981 sequel to the Carpenter film is completely ignored here (and for good reason) in favor of an extension of the central focus of Zombie?s Halloween, and all of his films, for that matter: the corruption at the heart of the nuclear family. Here, Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor Compton) is attempting to heal the psychic wounds from her previous encounter with brother Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) by bonding with Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif, a pleasure to watch as always) and his daughter Anne (Danielle Harris, herself a vet from the original run of Halloween sequels). Her previous surrogate father, Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) has forsaken his connection to Laurie by exploiting his connection to Michael with a tell-all book; meanwhile, Michael himself roams the lonely outskirts of Haddonfield, driven by visions of his mother (Sheri Moon Zombie) and a single-minded urge to bond with his sister at any cost.
Aesthetically, H2 is striking, thanks largely to the ashen color scheme by cinematographer Brandon Trost (Crank 2: High Voltage), which underscores the doom-laded spiral track each of the main characters seem to travel in the film. And Zombie is to be commended for venturing outside of his comfort zone--the grimy, pop-culture ironic, white trash environment his characters frequently inhabit--with the scenes between Michael and his mother. But again, his ambitions don?t meet with his abilities--Moon looks impressive, but her apocalyptic mutterings ring more silly than spectral, especially when she?s forced to play opposite an enormous pale horse (insert heavy-handed Biblical imagery here). Most fans will find these moments more tedious than inspired, and a distraction from the murders, which retain Zombie?s preference for mayhem. He succeeds in this department, but if the end result is a menu of ugly killings, the point of revamping the Halloween franchise is somewhat moot, since the threadbare follow-ups to the Carpenter original already achieved that goal. Zombie?s knack for offbeat casting remains his most inspired talent: Haddonfield is filled with cult icons like Caroline Williams (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2), Margot Kidder, and Daniel Roebuck, who jostle for space with rough-hewn character players like Duane Whitaker, Mark Boone Junior, and Dayton Callie (Deadwood) and left-field cameos by Howard Hesseman and ?Weird Al? Yankovic. --Paul Gaita
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