HALLOWEEN II (2009) (Rob Zombie)

[oaxaca]

Originally Posted by stevoj

Not really to do with H2 directly but I was watching a new episode of CSI:Miami yesterday and saw that it was directed by none other than Rob Zombie.Malcolm McDowell and William Forsythe were the guest stars and just as I was enjoying it,guess who just happened to pop up? Of course it was Sheri Moon Zombie! Jesus man,stop putting your wife in everything you do! and surprise surprise,I had to check on IMDB and she's in his next film too,I kinda liked her in House of 1000 corpses but there's only so much you can take of her.

The only guy cool enough to get away with putting his wife in films was Charles Bronson with Jill Ireland. Actors/directors/whoever should retire putting their wives in films out of deference to Charley!

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by oaxaca

The only guy cool enough to get away with putting his wife in films was Charles Bronson with Jill Ireland.

I beg to differ.I believe you're forgetting about Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski!

[Roughale]

Just found this thread and I want to add my view of this film as well, please excuse me that I did not read all posts in here, I also wish time was not as limited these days

I was torn with the first part, where I liked the beginning part up to the escape and pretty much hated the all too bland Carpenter remake it tured into for the second half. So I was excited to read beforehand that Rob got full freedom for H2 and promised to go a complete different way with it, because for me there is no point in remaking a film 1:1, because it will always be nicer to stick to the original, at least for film lovers, if it is seen as better, because some kewl actor stars in it, all hope is lost...

So what Rob delivered is a very brutal take on Mike Myers and how he would be in Rob's twisted world - and you know what? For me it worked. I was not disturbed by the beard or the ripped mask - as much as I love the original series - I also grew tired of it over the years with way too many sequels - so there was no longing for yet another "normal" Mike Myers film on my side. So I also welcomed the strange, psychedelic dream worls Rob created, not minding the attempt to explain something (which I normally do not like in such films), it was left in a very hazy shade anyhow.

I have seen many reviews that take the film apart because of the way Rob broke the original - so what? Great! It does not make the original any worse? It may only underline the fact of the sterile sameness that the later sequels shared and shouts NO at them.

And so many complaints fill film and particularily horror sites that there have not been really tough slasher films for way too long and then comes H2 and delivers and all go on a rampage and oversee this good factor in this film - weird. The stabs were tough to take, alway sone more than too much and it hurt - how much better can you imagine a slasher?

The story may be pretty simple, I think the dreams and illusions make it muchz more interesting than many recent films, it was like Rob finally rediscovered what made House of 1000 Corpses so interesting. To me it is a piece of art, but in a very good way.

Still have to see the unrated director's cut of it, I was a little frustrated when I found out that the UK BD only has the theatrical version...

[napalm-in-the-morning]

[QUOTE=Still have to see the unrated director's cut of it, I was a little frustrated when I found out that the UK BD only has the theatrical version...[/QUOTE]


I think the unrated directors cut is good, much better than the theatrical and worth checking out.

[Kain]

I only just so this today after not really liking the first one all that much, but i thought what the hell!

I wasn't as appalled as i thought i would be overall however i found some of it very cliched ('i'll be right back') which i wouldnt have expected from Rob Zombie, also i found the fact the myers was being driven to kill by the ghost/visions of his mother to be a little bit to much like friday the 13th, only mrs vorhees had a reason to want to kill, where as Mrs myers had non.

what i did like about the film were the actors performances, and i always like to see Mcdowell and dourif in pretty much anything.

[Filmetc]

I saw this fairly recently after a good friend recommended it. I'd been put off by the terrible reviews (particularly Kim Newman's; a critic I have the utmost respect for) but I trusted my friends taste.

I have to say I was impressed by the way Zombie made the sequel a surreal and genuinely gruelling experience, rather than going the usual same-again-but-bloodier route. I particularly liked his cynical take on the serial killer bandwagon and the way he makes the film, to use my friend's words; "a look at survivor guilt". The murders in the film are brutal but not done in an exploitative way. The killing of Annie and the discovery of her body by her father the Sheriff was a gut punch.

Not your standard slasher movie then, and better for it I think!

P.S: Has anyone seen the Director's Cut?

[Mbarr]

I hated this & thought it an incoherent disjointed mess...Zombie really needed the reigns pulled in on this one...I'm a fan of his movies (House is a brilliant TCM homage & Rejects is a superb twisted crime film)...his original Halloween was much better (although I do prefer the "workprint" than the final version)

[Beyond72]

I love H1KC but judging by his films so far, Zombie just needs to do a film about Charles Manson already and get it out of his system, as he's obviously obsessed with the guy.

[wayfarer]

I've seen the DC version and thought the first 20 minutes (or something like that) was genius. It played with fan perceptions and made it look like it was going to be a remake of the original, hospital-bound, H2. Then, it wasn't.

Apart from a few interesting sequences, all I remember of the rest is a lot of whinging, whining and screaming. I liked the surreality of some of it but that's all.

A better and similar movie, because it addresses what happens to a victim after the first story ends is Cold Prey 2. Now that's what H2 should have been like.

[dream demon]

Originally Posted by wayfarer

A better and similar movie, because it addresses what happens to a victim after the first story ends is Cold Prey 2. Now that's what H2 should have been like.

Agree 100% on Cold Prey; I first watched 1 and 2 end to end and thought they worked brilliantly as a 'double feature'. Imo one of the rare occasions where a sequel is not only equal to the original, but also enhances it.