Time and time again Rob Zombie has proven that he is one creative and talented musician/artist/filmmaker. I wasn't a fan of House of 1,000 Corpses, but the visuals were great in the film. I think that Devil's Rejects is a far superior film than Corpses and I actually dug the 2007 Halloween Remake. It was a different vibe and feel and I applauded Zombie for trying something different and not simply rehashing the original story and give us a re-telling of that classic first film. It was different and it was an entertaining and solid horror flick. Now this brings us to Halloween 2. I was actually looking forward to this film because I did enjoy the remake and I know he was going to have his own re-interpretation for the sequel since he is not bound by the limitations that he had before with a remake. Plus the fact that he can outdo himself with each movie definitely had me on it's side. I was definitely looking forward to it.
Well, the film is essentially taking a much more fantasy element to the story. While the first film delved into the dysfunctional family aspect of the Michael Myers character, this film focuses on the "white horse" and the relationship between Michael and Laurie. Doing that is fine, but they just didn't make it interesting and they threw cliche' upon cliche' onto the story to the point where I felt as if I was being force feed all of these mental health aspects. The film is also just a bit on the unorganized side. While this film has a lot of kills, they are all the same kills and it just gets a bit tiresome by the end. The Halloween theme is not present in most of the film and it just decided to forget that it was a Halloween movie. I have to give props to Zombie for not rehashing the original sequel, but it still wasn't that interesting. I wasn't all that impressed. Most of the character development is undercut by a scene that happens later on. The main protagnist isn't active and you really aren't rooting for her. The Characters that come from the original are either not the same characters or they have just changed to really generic and unlikable characters completely different from the original film's portrayal. The character of Sam Loomis is completely wasted and is just not a likable character at all in the entire picture. Nearly every character here is wasted and not likable. The film also takes the biggest leap of faith with Michael Myers. While I was fine with Michael Myers being somewhat of a hobo, you need to have Michael Myers stay consistent. His mask comes on and off on a constant basis. That conflicts with his character that was established in the first film. The film just doesn't know what story to tell about Michael Myers and what to convey about his character. It is just a misfire character-wise. It is one thing to play around with the mythos, but it is a completely different thing to negate everything that had happened to the characters in the last film.
The acting of the film just ranging from mediocre to terrible. Scout Taylor-Compton is just terrible in the film and is one note. Brad Dourif was surprisingly good and I liked his character much more in this film. Sherri Moon-Zombie feels very shoe-horned in to a comic extent! The gore is brutal, but brief.
I am completely convinced that this film wasn't directed seriously by Rob Zombie. There are tons of lines of dialogue that are overly just unbelievable even for a horror flick. The tone is all over the place and it was just weird to explain Michael Myer's motivation by using the "white horse" psychology is just too much. It was better to have Michael as a force of nature in the first film and now explaining everything makes him a victim and you don't want that for an iconic mass-murderer.
With all of this bagging on the film, the cinematography for a 16MM film was great. There was a lot of standout moments visually with the white horse that definitely gives this film it's own vibe, but it's a small positive in an otherwise decent slasher film.
Overall, It's a character mess all around and just disappointing as a Halloween film. It undermines everything that Michael Myers was as a icon. The film is not going to win any new fans and it is just all over the place in terms of what it wants to be. The only reason to watch this on the big screen would be to see the 16mm cinematography as it does add to the vibe of the film. Overall, I would have to say that this film is just ok. I got a slasher film, but it's not Halloween. Michael Myers definitely deserved better and if the series keeps on track with how it's going so far, I fear that we may get a feeling of Deja Vu in which the series just gets progressively worse and worse after the third film. This is just a RENTAL film at best. I didn't hate the film, but I was disappointed.
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