Why I Liked Rob Zombie's Halloween II

by Daniel Kisala
(Jersey City, New Jersey, USA)

I’m a Rob Zombie fan, but I did not see his Halloween II (2009) in theaters due to abysmal word of mouth. After renting it this past January and finding myself pleasantly surprised, I am here to say that the raging seas of online forums are rife with too much contempt for a movie undeserving of it. H2 is downright gritty, brutal, and chock full of several visual flourishes reminiscent of Zombie’s underrated House of 1000 Corpses (2009) (a horror gem that plays like an acid trip through Hell). Zombie’s second venture into Haddonfield, while not flawless, is better than its disappointing predecessor.

Let’s begin with its ‘dream sequences’ a major source of audience ire and ridicule. After closely watching H2 for a second time, I find that they are far more interesting than anything that the sadly underwhelming remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street has to offer. Consider the sequence with the grand skeleton wearing the ‘Shatner mask’, light snow falling around it as it stands privy to a feast of pumpkin and doll-faced creatures that evoke Guillermo Del Toro, but are indelibly Rob Zombie creations through and through. They sit gathered at a dining table with Laurie Strode’s writhing body as its centerpiece. Suddenly, she is snatched by multiple demonic hands. Not only is this all visually fascinating to behold, but it also has a purpose: to illustrate the depths of Michael Myers’s madness and the twisted motivations burrowing through the masked killer’s brain; far less effective is the run-of-the-mill telling of his white trash upbringing in the 2007 film. Also inspired is Zombie’s use of the white horse, which is explained in the film's opening frame (from The Subconscious Psychosis of Dreams): ‘WHITE HORSE--linked to instinct, purity, and the drive of the physical body to release powerful and emotional forces, like rage with ensuing chaos and destruction.’ There were reports that in theaters, the white horse apparently drew snickers anytime it came into frame. Unfortunate, as its presence is clearly not tacked on for the sake of merely coming across as artistic. There is a real exploration of psychology at work here, a welcome departure from the drivel that the previous Halloween franchise had become. Later in the film, Laurie is subjected to these visions as well. It appears Zombie’s suggestion is that she shares her brother's madness, that it’s almost genetic. This is all interesting material for the audience to absorb. All of it. I would also just like to mention Sheri Moon Zombie, whom many people brand untalented. They say that Rob only casts her in his projects because she’s his wife. I will respectfully say that her work in H1 is not her best; however, in H2, her ability (yes, ability) to do ‘creepy’ serves the story well.

Myers himself is finally scary once again. His mother's ghost tells him, ‘only a river of blood will bring us back together’, and so he is out to create that river of blood, tearing through this film like a cyclone with an energy and ferocity that the character has never before possessed. Anyone who wants yet another incarnation of The Shape can simply watch his/her copy of Carpenter’s original. Besides, Tyler Mane's performance has this Shape aura to it, anyway, especially in one scene where he is not even wearing the mask. When he stares down the character of Howard outside the Rabbit in Red (before literally stomping his face into the ground), watch Mane’s face. Look into his eyes. Somehow, it totally reads as the stone cold Myers we all know, only in a new, exciting way.

The performances of Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie), Danielle Harris (Annie), and Brad Dourif (Brackett) are also great assets to Halloween II. Compton the actress has a far heavier load this time, and rises to the task very admirably. For two years since H1's events, Laurie has been suffering from severe post traumatic stress, sans an iota of reprieve. Late in the film, Annie is brutally attacked by Myers for the second time, and tragically dies in front of Laurie, who has already been further broken by finding out the truth about her bloodline. Compton is great here, her tears and pain moving and genuine. Harris also ups her game in H2, playing nicely opposite Compton; in each of their scenes together, they truly read as best friends who have been through hell and are not yet back. Almost teenage girl caricatures in H1, they are now three-dimensional young adults who have a real relationship with one another, and with Sheriff Brackett, whose role I was pleased to see finally beefed up; one of my disappointments with H1 was the gross underuse of veteran actor Brad Dourif. Dourif is great in the whole flick, especially when he finds Annie dead; here, Zombie makes a powerful directorial choice by splicing in actual footage of Harris as a child.

Which brings us to Dr. Loomis, whose out-of-left-field character change from the first movie, while creatively bold, is H2's chief flaw. I’m not buying that Sam Loomis has now suddenly become some greedy, status-obsessed vulture, scoffing at and foolishly dismissing the fact that Michael’s body was never found two years ago; if anything, he should be more hell bent than ever on tracking down the man he personally failed to reach after all of his labors for over a decade at Smith’s Grove.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween II is no masterpiece, what with the Loomis storyline and the presence of a few too many hillbillies and f-bombs. Maybe the inclusion of the necrophiliac EMT at the beginning is also pushing it somewhat, but …well, I guess we should all just accept that Rob is a pretty sick dude. Now, the best of the bunch will always be John Carpenter’s Halloween, but the uncompromising and unapologetic nature of H2 cannot be denied. I like to regard it as Zombie’s standalone Halloween film. I’d go so far as to consider it a sort of modern-day Greek tragedy.