HALLOWEEN II: SANGUINARIO

I might be the only person who thinks this, but Halloween II is just as good as the original.

Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.

An honorable continuation, which respects the previous work without bringing anything new.

I don't like Halloween, and I've had time to say it before, but I recognize that it's the best time for good horror films to be broadcast on television. These days, I saw this film as a follow-up to “Halloween”. I have no doubt that it is a worthy sequel, perhaps one of the best I have seen, in that it is strictly faithful to the original and is made with quality.

It is directed by Rick Rosenthal, but the team and cast remained the same, with the addition of specific names, and John Carpenter's inspiration continues in the script he wrote and in the attention he undoubtedly gave to the entire project. Pleasance is the actor who looks in the best shape here. He finally had better material and more time to show some value on stage. Jamie Lee Curtis has essentially stayed the same and retains much of what he did. It doesn't disappoint, but it doesn't bring any surprises either. The soundtrack also doesn't bring anything new, maintaining the essence of the first film's score, which is positive.

After its initial success, it is no wonder that this film's budget was more substantial than that of the first, and that the number of corpses that fall throughout the plot also increases. A plot that is not particularly brilliant, well written and elegant, and that falls into the most basic clichés of slasher horror without any shame, but that manages, at least, to respect coherence with the original film and give the villain an almost iconic aura, an invulnerability that makes him unstoppable and impossible to kill, and that turned him into a cinema icon. In addition to these points of relative quality, we also have good lighting and cinematography, good use of sets and filming locations, better quality effects that are as well executed and practical as those previously used. Everything comes together, therefore, to form the image of a film that is not surprising, but manages to respect and stand alongside its predecessor.

If you recall the conclusion of the first part (1979) then you’ll know that “Michael Myers” is now the deadliest critter alive (that’s assuming that term actually applies!). He’s certainly not forgotten “Laurie” (Jamie Lee Curtis) who’s recovering in the local hospital and luckily for him, this is a dimly lit and largely empty facility that he can wander around with relative impunity slaughtering all who come onto his path. Perhaps the only hope for the bed-ridden gal is the determined doctor “Loomis” (Donald Pleasence) who has teamed up with the sheriff (Charles Cyphers) to try to thwart this latest attempt on her life. What’s pretty clear is that this new, improved, version of “Myers” isn’t going to give up easily and that bullets and knives aren’t going to work. How to stop him? It starts off quite strongly, this film, but once the scenario switches to the hospital it becomes all a bit too stage-managed for me. The place is conveniently dark and gloomy; there is but a skeleton staff and so his rampaging is left unfettered whilst the hitherto poorly patient appears to develop live-preserving ninja skills. Also, fortunately for her her nemesis never appears to want to run anywhere so she can always make it to the timely departing elevator or the conveniently positioned window whilst he flails around robotically trying to impale her on/with something. It relies too heavily on trying to build a gradually increasing sense of peril but with has such inevitability about it that I thought it became quite sterile after about half an hour. JLC doesn’t really feature so much and the only real screaming that goes on here is that which suggests sequel. It’s watchable enough, but hasn’t the creepiness of the first one and most of his victims probably deserved their fates!