Halloween II, Revisited

I'm referring to the 1981 movie; the 2009 Rob Zombie film has never been seen... & likely never will be.

A movie only revisited because... yesterday afternoon a small BMW SUV cut me off in traffic (almost side-swiping me), then a minute later I pass by them & noticed that the driver was wearing a Michael Myers mask?!

I swear, this occurred. A similar bizarre moment occurred a few days ago but more on that at the conclusion of this review. Technically, I should have revisited the original or the 5th film in the franchise as both featured Myers driving, but the former's been reviewed more than once here & the latter is not a good motion picture. Halloween II is flawed yet is still one of the better movies in the franchise.

The idea to have II take place immediately after the first and feature action in Haddonfield's hospital (even if it's like most hospitals in cinema in that it's far less busy and has far less people than a medical facility IRL... although allegedly, director Rick Rosenthal claimed he was once in a hospital that deserted) was a nice one; the big plot twist in the final act can certainly be debated-The Shape having that motivation perhaps wasn't necessary as the motivation in the OG movie was arguably more bone-chilling. There is a valid complaint concerning how Sheriff Brackett disappears early on instead of following what seemed like an obvious plot thread.

Of course this isn't legendary like the original yet the dimly-lit hospital was at least a memorable setting-the contributions of DP Dean Cundey plus the direction were great assets in setting this specific mood-featuring characters that were fine. Incredibly horny paramedic BUDD & his amazingly vulgar version of Amazing Grace is still a highlight. This film did have John Carpenter himself get involved to include nudity/sex & violence over the director's head as this because du jour after the first movie was released. He later regretted doing that to Rosenthal; I think he also regretted writing the script to this film via drinking a six-pack of beer each night.

There are other things I do laugh about besides Budd; the fate of Ben Tramer and the increased insanity of Dr. Loomis throughout the franchise will always tickle me pink. Also deserving credit are the awesome score from Carpenter/Alan Howarth and the unforgettable opening credits. Thus, I was glad to have revisited this for a review to post on Halloween.

The aforementioned “bizarre moment” I mentioned which occurred a few days ago I thought would be the strangest sight on the road until viewing Michael Myers in a BMW: some dude in a ratty old Volkswagen Jetta had in his passenger seat... a human skeleton! Well, I presume a plastic version, rather than him pulling an Ed Gein, driving around w/ an actual skeleton.