The Fantasy Review‘s Spoiler-Free Review of Halloween II (2009).
Rating: 2/5
Rob Zombie’s Halloween sequel doesn’t seem to know what its own aims are. There are very few positives to talk about with Halloween II (2009) as for the most part this movie just felt like a waste of time.
Positives
The one positive is the character of Sheriff Leigh Brackett. Performed brilliantly by Brad Dourif, he is the stand-out character of the movie. Maybe this is because I’m biased as he’s the iconic voice of Chucky, but I think most people would agree with me!
Negatives
Firstly, unlike Halloween (2007), Rob Zombie’s first shot at a remake, the kills in this sequel are lackluster. There’s the odd one that stands out (crushing someone’s skull by stomping on it), but apart from that most of the kills are stabs, and not very interesting ones.
Also, why does this film, and the 2007 one, have fully naked women being killed? Once is alright if the context works, but more than that is just gross, like a weird torture porn.
It was a shame that the mask is less prominent, even damaged. This might have been cool but was instead the perfect allegory for a movie that’s missing what makes a Halloween movie great.
Laurie is even worse in this movie. She’s weak and boring, just a victim. I wanted to see her fighting back, and instead she just screamed all the time. We need a main character with guts who is willing to face their fears; this Laurie just gave in.
Finally, the sci-fi stuff was odd and didn’t really make any sense. Mystery is a good thing, but the viewer should know enough to understand what is going on, and in Halloween II, nothing makes sense.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Halloween II (2009) is not really worth watching. If you want to see Rob Zombie’s Halloween, watch the 2007 movie and ignore the sequel.
