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DVD Halloween II
"You can't kill the boogeyman," explains John Carpenter in Halloween, and to prove it he brings Michael Myers back in this handsome but grisly sequel. Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode but spends most of her time cowering in a hospital gown, and Donald Pleasence runs around like a maniac as the panicky doctor desperate to hunt down Myers before he kills again. Carpenter writes and produces with partner Debra Hill, and together they replace the mystery and uncertainty of the original with an exponentially bigger body count and some strange tales about the Druids and pagan ceremonies, and the now-familiar family ties between Michael and Laurie. First-time director Rick Rosenthal (Bad Boys) paces the film at a brisk jog and directs it with a clean, crisp style, taking the murders out of the dark to display them in all their nasty detail. --Sean Axmaker
A Classic Sequel, Which Is Why This DVD Makes Me Mad
John Carpenter took a writers role in this movie, which kind of made me scared when i saw it. Rick Rosenthal is the director of Halloween 2 and works pretty well, he is a little bit more simple then John Carpenter when it comes to camera shots, but he is still amazing.
Jamie Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode. In my opinion, Curtis doesn't really give as good of a performance as she did in the first Halloween. Donald Pleasence also returns as Dr. Loomis. His performances in the Halloween movies, whether the movie be good or bad, is always very strong and is one of the only reasons i liked the other sequels, Halloween 2 is no different, Pleasence is just a wonderful actor.
As the movie goes on, you can really tell that this script had to be extremely hard to write. There are even some lines that are repeated from the first movie but are updated, this is mainly from the Dr. Loomis character. This movies budget is higher then the first movie but is still fairly low, just passing 2.5 million dollars to make, and the movie looks great, even with a low budget.
I did not like the music in this movie, changing the tone of the Halloween Theme made the theme less scary. Instead of using the classic piano tune, they changed it to almost like an organ, which doesn't work.
Overall, no matter what flaws, this movie is wonderful. It might not be as scary as the first one but it is a classic.
DVD Extras- This is the crappy part, there are no extras, that makes me mad, a classic sequel on a lackluster DVD.
The Most Respectable Sequel In The Franchise
To be honest, there's no real way to top the first "Halloween". It was, and still is, a classic, and rightly referred to as the father of all slasher movies. The original created so many ideas (now standards in the slasher genre) that had never been done before and that was what made it so haunting and genuinely frightening. However along with the sequels came tired rehashes of old ideas, and pointless plot twists that inevitably lead the story down. Despite the downfalls that eventually plaugued the series, "Halloween II" is a great attempt to continue to the legacy that "Halloween" created. While it is not nearly as inventive or great as the original, its story, cast and ideas are far ahead of anything this series would do later on, which makes it a worthwhile viewing.
The major point that makes Halloween II worth watching, is that it picks up right where Halloween left off (There's even a small portion of the end of the last movie shown at the beginning of this one). The plot is probably the best part of the movie. Having the movie take place the same night as the first makes the two movies, fit together as one big story, which is something that few horror franchises (or movie franchises in general) have effectively done. Myers has been shot 6 times, and knocked out of the upstairs window of Laurie's house by Doctor Loomis (as seen in 'Halloween') and now Laurie has been taken to the local hospital to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first movie. It's in the hospital where much of the movie takes place. The hospital works just as well as a creepy setting, as the Strode house did in the original. You must suspend your disbelief a bit (the hospital is poorly lit, and there is only a handful of medical attendants on hand) to truly let the scenery take affect. The hospital creates some genuinely scary moments as there are many more places for Myers to lurk in the shadows before springing upon his unsuspecting victims. Some have criticized Jamie Lee Curtis' (who plays the heroine Laurie Strode once again) acting in this movie, citing that she has little or no emotion and seems to have not been interested in the movie itself. I however see it a bit differently. It would seem that after the traumatic events that Laurie has just lived through from the first movie, and that she has been given medication for her injuries should definitely play a role in the way her character is shown in this movie. I wouldn't expect her to just act as though nothing that happened in the first movie was a big deal. The effects definitely make Laurie out to be a much more estranged individual, which adds to the overall portrayal of Laurie Strode. The cast is also fairly decent for following the original movie. You of course get series vet Donald Pleasence returning as Doctor Loomis, as well as some new faces that help to add the mix. The characters aren't as memorable as those found in the first movie, but they do a good job of acting their parts. The killings of course are much more graphic than the original (even though some lack the intensity of the first movie) although some are laughable (like the hot tub scene), and the body count is of course bigger. However in terms of suspense and overall horror, it is the best in the series, behind the original. Combining the great plot with the cast and scares, it makes Halloween II equally as respectable as the original (although inferior I must admit).
No horror movie is ever going to capture the magic the original "Halloween" had. However "Halloween II" is probably the best thing that John Carpenter and co. could have done to follow the first movie. With all the other less than stellar sequels that followed, "Halloween II" remains one of the best movies in the series in terms of sheer suspense and horror. If you liked the original, then this is a perfect fit for you. It is criticized pretty harshly throughout the movie world, but that's mostly because its not the original reincarnated. Compared to all the other sequels the series has to offer though, you can do far worse. Give it a chance.
More of the night he came home....
The only good thing in this film, is the hot tub scene, which could be better, Michael, you dope, have your way with that brainless nurse before you decide to scald her to death. You messed up pal.
Halloween is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois, a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding maniac goes after the town's hormonally charged youths. Director John Carpenter takes this simple situation and orchestrates a superbly mounted symphony of horrors. It's a movie much scarier for its dark spaces and ominous camera movements than for its explicit bloodletting (which is actually minimal). Composed by Carpenter himself, the movie's freaky music sets the tone; and his script (cowritten with Debra Hill) is laced with references to other horror pictures, especially Psycho. The baby sitter is played by Jamie Lee Curtis, the real-life daughter of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Donald Pleasence - Jamie Lee Curtis - Tony Moran Director(s): John Carpenter DVD Release Date: Released the 05 August 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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"You can't kill the bogeyman," the children insist to a terrorized Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in the original Halloween. How right they are. Laurie is gone, but guess who's back in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers? Acting as if the third entry never existed, this installment picks up 10 years after the original, with mad maniac Myers in a coma and moved to a new facility. But wouldn't you know it that as soon as a loose-lipped orderly lets slip that Myers has a surviving niece he springs back into action, leaving a bloody trail of corpses on the road to Haddonfield. Donald Pleasance returns as Dr. Loomis, scarred and crippled from his last encounter with Myers and seething with a fanatical zeal to stop the freak from repeating his previous rampage. Pleasance is... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Donald Pleasence - Ellie Cornell Director(s): Dwight H. Little DVD Release Date: Released the 09 October 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Starting around Halloween 4, that masked nut Michael Myers stopped chasing his sister (played by Jamie Lee Curtis in the first and second films, as well as Halloween H20) and went after his niece. Now he's chasing her around again in part 5, but it's a lot of other people who die in the process. Donald Pleasence continues his mad-doctor bit from the earlier movies, Danielle Harris is the unfortunate relation, and Donald L. Shanks plays the monster. The film is an improvement on parts 2 and 4 (part 3 having nothing to do with Michael Myers), but it still amounts to routine slaughter with none of John Carpenter's stylistic brilliance from the original movie. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Donald Pleasence Director(s): Dominique Othenin-Girard DVD Release Date: Released the 05 September 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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The series premise continues to stretch so thin it could dissipate. This time, Michael Myers chases his unfortunate niece around, then goes after a family who happen to be living in his former home. This is slasher-ism at its most cynical, and a thoroughly unpleasant, unimaginative, and unredeeming movie. Donald Pleasence, the one holdover from the original film, looks like he'd rather be anywhere than in this thing. --Tom KeoghMore Info about this DVD Actor(s): Donald Pleasence - Paul Rudd Director(s): Joe Chappelle DVD Release Date: Released the 10 October 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Halloween is one of the great modern horror films, but as a franchise its track record has been spotty at best, painfully bad at worst. Halloween H2O: Twenty Years Later, directed by horror vet Steve Miner (Friday the 13th parts 2 and 3, House), won't displace John Carpenter's original but it might help you forget the films in between. Miner certainly has: the film begins as if sequels 3 through 6 never happened. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis, reprising her role for the first time in almost two decades) faked her death and is now a single mom and headmistress of an exclusive California private school. She's also a secret alcoholic who lives in fear of her homicidal brother-bogeyman Michael Myers. Guess who decides to show up for a family reunion? The film... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jamie Lee Curtis - Josh Hartnett Director(s): Steve Miner DVD Release Date: Released the 01 January 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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