Movies I love: Halloween II (1981)

Halloween II (1981)

"He was my patient for fifteen years. He became an obsession with me until I realized there neither reason nor conscious or anything about him that was... even remotely human. An hour ago I stood up and fired six shots into him and he just got up and walked away. I am talking about the real possibility that he is STILL OUT THERE!"

There were many times growing up were I'd stay up late or nap and get up after my parents went to sleep and sneak out to the living room and tune in for whatever R-rated treats HBO had in store for me At the time. The TV's back then had a little plug-in for earphones. I had a pair that I'd plug in, that way I could watch without waking the folks. Halloween II is one of those film I shouldn't have been watching on late night HBO growing up. Alone in the Dark was another, but that's a story for some other time.

This film will always have special place in my heart. It was the first Halloween film I saw. My first intro to Laurie Strode, Dr. Sam Loomis and of course Michael Myers. Thanks to the recap at the beginning of the film I was caught up a little bit anyway on what had transpired in the first film. For the next hour and thirty minutes I watched as The Shape tracked down his barely coherent surviving victim and as later reveled sister Laurie. Hacking his way through a very understaffed hospital (Budget cuts methinks.). While across town Dr. Loomis told everyone and anyone in earshot that Mr. Myers was evil personified and it wasn't his fault Myers escaped. It was a great time and as a kid the late night viewing was good for creeping me out. There's something eerie about seeing Michael Myers stalk down those empty darkened corridors and the fleeting glimpses of him on CTV monitors.

Reportedly Carpenter came up the whole sister angle over many a six pack of beer when trying to come up with a sequel idea. At one time the film was to be made in 3-D, but the process was too expensive for the film's budget. The film was originally written to take place in a high rise apartment building, a few years after the first film. It envolved Myers tracking Laurie Strode to her new home in the high rise. Later in script meetings, however, the setting was changed to Haddonfield Hospital.

The first Halloween was a trend setter the sequel is a direct continuation and a early 80's slasher classic. Sure it can't compare to the original, but I love it just as much. Halloween II is everything that was good about the 80's slasher craze distilled into it's purist form.