Halloween II (2009)

Well that was an experience.



I may not like it as much as the first one but I didn't really hate it. We pick up one year after Michael got shot in the computer at point blank range, and Laurie is irrevocably damaged from the experience still having nightmares and trauma from that night when guess who's coming over Halloween night? It deals a lot more with just the fallout of the first film than killing is Michael's business and business is good, and takes almost a more cerebral/psychic drive with both Laurie and Michael and their familial connection. I mean duuuude, if you thought I was upset with how much shit Laurie had to go through in the first film I was about ready to riot here. There is no cathartic victorious ending, if anything it firmly sets in just the horror and the heartbreak which occurs when something terrible happens like a killing. The deaths are absurdly grisly, I learned the hard way don't watch this movie while dining, but all the more that goes to show how super well done the effects artists at work are here. And somehow it got more angry, it makes the first movie look like Michael was just kind of annoyed when he's knifing people I mean Jezuz Cuhryst man! But I feel the emotions and the drama haven't been lost, though we don't spend a lot of screen time on Danielle and Brad my heavens above the acting and cute family dynamic they have is amazing. Like I firmly believe, if I have to set up a petition for this then so be it, but there has got to be like an Academy Award show based around the horror industry. Brad Dourif is such a commited actor and I love him to pieces, Danielle Harris still brings it and I was severely upset emotionally seeing her not survive this time, Scout is my heart shattering into tiny fragments throughout this movie I think she's wonderful conveying all this emotional and psychological baggage, friggin' Malcolm McDowell just being this heartless capitalizing son of a bitch is far from Sam Loomis but the guy nails it! I know people have grievances with the psychological connection and hallucinations Michael and Laurie have but guys this is so not a new thing in the Halloween series, people rolled with it at Halloween 5 you can look past it here. It gets artsy, and I'm not really sure what the implication is of it all, but it's more in the background. I guess I can't say I hate it, and knowing this production being even more of a pain in the ass for Rob Zombie and even fiercer meddling from the studio I don't blame the guy for doing what he did. They were gonna make a theatrical mockery out of his shit man, and he wasn't gonna stand for it. So he made it weirder, more out there, pushed it to the outskirts of the playing field this series has been on for at that point 31 years. I can't fault him, it wasn't a bad movie, it turned a lot of people off and didn't perform well, but I can live with it existing. I give it 2.5 stars, 6/10, maybe it won't get some re-evaluation like the first movie but I still think it has it's own merits. Does it truly end tomorrow? Does Halloween ever really end? If they stick to their guns and just f***ing do it no matter what, it'll have my respect at least. We'll see.

Halloween (2007)

Alright guys I'm stumped, why is this hated?



Well okay, maybe it's not hated now but I think it was kind of a given in the late 2000s the new Halloween movie sucked. I fail to see any serious issue here. Rob Zombie was flat out told by John Carpenter to do whatever he wants, and by his account the production more specifically pressure from studio execs was a damn nightmare (sit and spin on a flaming sword by the by Harvey Weinstein you waste of atoms). I knew it was going to be something different so I dropped everything, settled down and started watching it. People can bitch all they want about the childhood stuff, but me personally I think I get what Rob was going for here. It's not so much the fact that Michael had a severe dysfunctional and trashy family so therefore he becomes a killer, it's more that something that becomes this horrific mass murdering monster can spawn from anywhere and any family dynamic. And I'll admit, that portion of the film had a strong grip on my attention delving into some drama, dare I say compelling storytelling, I would watch a movie that takes a serial killer documentary style feel with Loomis and Michael as the years progress, seeing Loomis try and fail more and more to reach this young boy and it genuinely upsets him. The acting from Sheri, Malcolm, and Daeg are rock solid in my opinion. And even when we break on through to more familiar grounds it's still fairly unpredictable. Laurie is a lot more extroverted and fun, I'd guard Scout with my body and soul forever she is such a sweetie, and by God you would never want something bad to happen to her in this movie. In fact, I like all our main girls and even their parents a great deal and thus when the bodies start dropping you feel upset. This is far from the case of annoying little shits that need to drop dead and fast in other slasher movies. You think I would root against Danielle Harris? Get f***ed. And I know, I know. She wanted the role, she wanted to show off some skin, that is your life and your career hun, go for it. Me though? Oh no! No no! You're going the wrong way movie!! You need to turn around! Turn the f*** around!!! STOP! No thank you. And speaking of said kills, holy balls of fire it is rough. I mean the effects are very well done, but it's just so....angry and just messed up to watch. I honestly think Michael hasn't been this dominating and looming and scary since the first movie. When Tyler Mane gets that mask on and he can just stand there and I'm just over here like ohhhhh shiiiiit me, clearly he is embodying the role well. He does blindside you at times, cause you think well he's got the silent stalking part down perfectly, and you think he's gonna stalk just a bit longer. He ain't got time for that, there be no stealthy kills here, he will kick your shit in after breaking some more shit. And I found the fundamental idea of babysitters being attacked by a killer to work impressively well after all this time. I just don't get it. It's a good movie, it's not a masterpiece, it sure as goddamn hellfire ain't Resurrection bad. It has plenty to like, the characters are handled well, the horror is still felt, it's shot quite well, you just have to let it be and judge it on it's own merits. It's not a remake, it's a reimagining. I am also aware of some cuts and versions out there, just go watch The Kill Count break it down, I mean seriously if there is friggin' one thing you should be watching regularly this month and every month it's those good people. So 3 stars from me, 7/10, not too sure what to expect from the sequel but we'll find out soon enough.

Halloween 5

I think it's at this point you can stop watching Halloween for awhile.

Not to say Halloween 5 is terrible, that honor belongs to the next movie we're talking about, but this movie is a step down from a really damn good sequel. Okay, what do we need to know? It's been a full year since Michael returned to Haddonfield, Jamie has formed some odd psychic connection with her uncle after the end of Halloween 4, Loomis is still on his crusade and even more unhinged than usual, and we get a bunch of sucky side characters that were created only to die. I will stand up for one character though Tina, played by Wendy Kaplan, I actually really like her in this movie. And I don't think I've heard one good thing about this character, that she's over the top, doesn't fit the style of the movie, blah blah blah, and to that I rebuke on the case of one small scene. Jamie has lost her voice and doesn't start speaking until the halfway point, she sees Tina and starts to talk and genuinely does not want her to go out and to stay with her to the point of having a breakdown, but Tina leaves and speaks with Dr. Loomis and for one brief moment she holds back tears. She acts silly to hide the fact she is on the verge of tears, that one fleeting moment can be read into very deeply. So leave Tina alone, she is a welcome addition to the Halloween family. And Danielle does a great job, most people brush off her performance as just this sobbing, incoherent, and annoying girl but honestly you would be freaking the hell out in her situation! You would be living in constant fear and worry! Piss off, that is real. But I think easily the best performance is from our good friend Mr. Pleasance. I've heard tons of people say his performance feels tired, but that's how Dr. Loomis would be after hunting this guy for the better part of a decade, you get the sense he is taking his obsession to the next level. It's pretty intense. But there's one scene, I'm not gonna say it for I want to people to be surprised who haven't seen the movie yet, but for those who have you know the scene at the end with Dr. Loomis. My jaw still drops to the floor everytime I see it, cause I just can't believe he did that. It's incredible and even a little disturbing. Just wow guys, great job there. So the film has redeeming qualities, it's not that bad but by no means does it top the previous film, and I am quite happy I saw it again after quite a few years. I remember when these two movies came on all the time on AMC in October, hell I think I saw Halloween 4 and 5 before even the first one when I was around 9 or 10. But now we are approaching the Halloween movie I never saw nor ever wanted to see. Tomorrow we look at The Curse Of Michael Myers. I'm going to die.

Halloween 4

Though I do stand on my basis that Halloween 1, 2, and 3 is the beginning, middle, and end of the series for me, Halloween 4 is still a really good movie!

10 long years after that bloody night of Halloween 1978, Michael Myers awakens from a coma and travels back to Haddonfield to kill his niece Jamie Lloyd while the town tries to stop him. I love that this is a sequel that ups the stakes and how the story plays, Michael isn't going after a 19 year old girl he's after a little girl who's 9 years old, the whole town of Haddonfield knows who Michael is and tries to stop him despite losing almost the entire police force, it's story elements like that which build an enormous sense of dread and that is apparent from the opening credits. Those opening credits are incredible. I daresay it could even be better than the original Halloween credits, that atmospheric droning, and title cards that literally glow in the dark and yet surprisingly nicely decorated farm, even if you don't want to see the movie you have to see these credits. I surprisingly have never felt dread in a Halloween movie until this one, the filmmakers knew what they wanted, how to do it, and how to make it effective. Casting for example is excellent, though Donald Pleasance gets top billing the true star of this show is little Danielle Harris, and I have to say if I was a legit movie critic back in the day this movie and even more so Halloween 5 would make me proclaim Danielle Harris as the Princess Of Horror. We all know Vincent Price is the Prince Of Horror, but we never really got prominent female leads in multiple examples of the genre until around the 1980s. Everyone knows the term Scream Queen, but Danielle rises above that, she is the Princess Of Horror in my mind, her love and dedication to the genre has garnered her thousands of fans and I'm proud to be one of them. I have to say I watched documentaries on all the Halloween films recently, and I highly recommend you watch some on YouTube, it enhances the quality of these movies particularly Halloween 4. You get a real sense of love, dedication,and even family with this cast of people and these crew members, which hightened my enjoyment of the film even more. Halloween 4 is a return to form and done very well, and despite my love of the idea of a Halloween anthology series from 3 onwards, I like this movie a lot. Good atmosphere, incredible sense of dread around Michael, wonderful actors doing great work, made with love towards the series, and the high point of this week, for now. Next up Halloween 5!