By Todd Garbarini
Ever
since I saw Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II
(1981) on home video in 1983 I cannot help but associate it with The Chordette’s
1954 hit “Mr. Sandman†which plays briefly during the opening and over the end
credits. Stanley Kubrick managed to
completely alter our images and impressions of Singin’ in the Rain with A
Clockwork Orange. What use of
pre-existing music!
Halloween II is one of my favorite horror film
sequels, which is saying a lot as most of them are silly or unnecessary. It was one of the earliest movies that I ever
owned on home video on the RCA Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) system which
was an analog video disc unit in which video and audio was played back using a
stylus cartridge and a high-density groove system similar to phonograph
records. Unlike DVD or Blu-ray today,
CED presented viewers only the movie. There were no special editions, no
running commentaries, no trailers, and no additional interviews. If you were
looking for added value, you had to go to the far more expensive laser disc format
that was in full swing some ten years later which usually included a
letterboxed version of the film in addition to the aforementioned goodies. This double-disc standard DVD set will make a terrific addition to
your collection as the transfer is very crisp and clear; plus, there are a
multitude of extras that puts the original Halloween
II DVDs from Goodtimes Home Video in 1998 and Universal Home Video in 2001
to shame. Those versions provided no
extras and somewhat noisy transfers.
While
it is not as cinematically polished as John Carpenter's extraordinary original,
which was referred to as "an absolutely merciless thriller" by Roger
Ebert, Halloween II picks up the same
night that Halloween left off
(October 31, 1978). It breaks the
unwritten rule of sequels by using footage from Mr. Carpenter's film as a segue
into the new movie, but it doesn’t hurt the film as much as one might think. Psycho
II and Poltergeist II were both guilty
of this (the former was a very good follow-up to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful
original whereas the latter was a poor simulacrum of the spectacular funhouse
of the Freeling’s first go-round with the alternate universe). Donald Pleasence reprises his role as the
indefatigable Dr. Loomis, spouting some of the film's best lines, such as
"You don't know what death is!" and "I shot him six times!"
He actually shot Meyers seven times
if you count the gunshots. Jamie Lee
Curtis returns as Laurie Strode, however I am not sure that I completely buy
the plot point that she is Michael Meyers's sister. This development was
written into the script and since Halloween
was being premiered on NBC on Friday, October 30, 1981 (the same night that
Halloween II was premiering
theatrically), several additional scenes were filmed and added to the Halloween network premiere to drive this
point home as well as to pad out the film's running time. Thus begins Michael Myers's reign of terror
on Haddonfield after miraculously surviving the point-blank blasts of Dr.
Loomis’s handgun. There are some genuinely scary moments in Halloween II which don’t really hold up
now as they have been mimicked to death and have become in and of themselves
clichés, seen in literally hundreds of slasher films made over the past thirty
years.
Lance
Guest, who played the lead in 1984’s The
Last Starfighter, is very likeable as an EMT who looks after Laurie. Leo Rossi is his usual sleazy self as his
partner. Comedian Dana Carvey is seen
briefly and is listed in the credits as "Assistant." He appears
twenty-two minutes into the film wearing a blue sleeveless jacket and a blue
cap. He is pointed out on the commentary
by director Rosenthal.
Michael
Myers was primarily portrayed by Nick Castle in the original, and close-ups
were done by Tony Moran. Here, he is
portrayed by Dick Warlock, and his gait is obviously different, slightly less
menacing than the previous actors.
The
extras that appear on this set consist of the following bonus features:
The
theatrical version and the television cut with added footage not seen in the
theatrical version
Audio
commentary with director Rick Rosenthal and actor Leo Rossi
Audio
commentary with stunt co-ordinator/actor Dick Warlock
The Nightmare Isn't Over: The Making Of
Halloween II featuring
interviews with director Rick Rosenthal, actor & stunt coordinator Dick
Warlock, actors Lance Guest, Leo Rossi, Nancy Stephens, Ana Alicia, Tawny
Moyer, executive producer Irwin Yablans, director of photography Dean Cundey,
co-composer Alan Howarth, costume supervisor Jane Ruhm, co-editor Skip
Schoolnik, and filmmaker Tommy Lee Wallace
Horror's Hallowed Grounds: The Locations
of Halloween II – Host
Sean Clark revisits the original shooting locations of the film
Deleted
scenes with optional audio commentary from director Rick Rosenthal
Alternate
ending with optional audio commentary from director Rick Rosenthal
Theatrical
trailer
TV
and radio spots
Stills
gallery
All
in all, this is the version of Halloween
II to own. Released by Shout!
Factory under their Scream Factory line, they are proving themselves as a force
to be reckoned with, releasing genre favorites in deluxe special editions with
lots of lavished extras, including new cover artwork, with the original artwork
viewable in the form of a reversible sleeve.
Click
here to order the film from Amazon.com.