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Is Rob Zombies "H2" (HALLOWEEN 2) Really THAT Bad?

I know I’m about to catch a lot of flak for this article but I just had to write down my opinion on this film.

So….here we go….It's ok, I bought a police riot shield..go ahead and read and comment, haha.



The first time I watched Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, I was confused.

I was expecting a SOMEWHAT faithful adaptation of the original….it wasn’t.

I love the original Halloween 1 and 2 so much that I wasn’t willing to accept what Rob Zombie had done with his sequel.I’m a dedicated Horror fan, I was upset when it was announced that Halloween would be given the remake treatment, I didn’t understand why it needed to be done.

The original Halloween is a clasc, it’s a model for which all good slasher films are based off of..That being said, I will be the first one to admit, I

was pleasantly surprised by the remake, as a matter of fact I enjoy it quite a bit.

His 2007 veron

(while giving a bit too much backstory) was

a well thought out

ride, you can really tell that Rob Zombie is a dedicated fan..is it a good as the original..No..but it was never going to be, it’s a different animal.In 2009, he attempted a remake of Halloween II.

Let’s focus on the flaws to get them out of the way because as I said, when I first watched this film I didn’t understand why this was ever made.

I've heard of some fan edits that have made the film better but here are my big problems with the film..

1. The “White horse being led by dead mommy and the recast of the young Michael Myers” debacle.

I understand why Rob Zombie did this, I honestly do, it makes sense but it just felt underdeveloped and rushed and ultimately should have been left out.

Those of us that have seen the film know why this didn’t work and when I watch the film I try to ignore those scenes as much as posble.

He should have had the child actor wear the clown mask, that way we knew who the kid was supposed to be but weren’t distracted by the fact that he looked and acted nothing like the original actor.

2. Dr. Loomis is an asshole.

I’ve seen fame get to people and egos get out of control but I just don’t understand

the flip in personalities.

To go from a person who seems to care so much and spend so much time trying to repair someone who can’t be fixed and who desperately tries to convince the sheriff of impending doom to an egomaniacal book pushing pervert who has zero regard for the people he hurts just doesn’t make sense to me (phew).

I would rather watch the white horse scenes a million times before watching the Dr. Loomis character’s fall from grace.

Dr. Loomis is the type of character that would (and did so in the original sequels) spend his life trying to keep people safe from any trace of Michael Myers.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Here are the reasons why this movie is actually a good film.

Take out number 1 and 2 above followed by…

1. Laurie Strode had everything she cared about ripped away from her, she’s going to be screwed up.

In the original Halloween II, Laurie spends the movie in the hospital, scared, having coma like flashbacks and once again fighting for her life.

At the end we get a glimpse of her emotional breakdown that awaits.

In the remake we get 105 minutes of that breakdown, the aftermath of what happens when a teenager is attacked by a slasher.

She’s not going to say, “Aw shucks, that sucks”, she’s going to need masve help and she most likely will self-destruct for quite some time (yes everyone is different but not everyone has been attacked by a slasher void of any humanity).

She’s trying to rebuild a life that’s out of control.

It was refreshing to see what happens to the “Survivor Girl” after she survives.

2. The character of Annie was crucial.

She’s the constant reminder to Laurie of what happened and as much as she loves Annie, she just can’t feel close to her.

Laurie can’t relate to Annie anymore and especially can’t understand how she can act remotely normal.

What Laurie doesn’t understand is that Annie is just as screwed up but is handling it differently and her death scene was devastating, it’s the last glimpse of Laurie’s previous life.

Danielle Harris was perfect as Annie, it was really nice to see her included in the sequel as I believe she was pivotal to showing Laurie’s breakdown.

Some Horror movies don’t spend that much time on character development but we really got to care for Annie in both movies.

3. Between the original Halloween II and 4 a lot of time has passed, in the remake it’s actually shown how Michael Myers survives between films.

He’s dirty, he has a huge beard, he lives on livestock and he uses the same mask as he did before, he’s gaining his strength back to finish what he started.

I really like this angle, it was interesting

to see where the slasher goes in between movies and what he might do.

4. The opening scene.

Now while I would have liked to see the opening as if it actually happened and not a dream, teang the audience with that opening and moving on in an original direction took balls.

I have a lot of respect for Rob Zombie for this, a lot of remakes change things but not a lot go in an original direction.

5. If you take the title of Halloween II out (and the white horse and a-hole Dr. Loomis), this movie might have gotten more respect.

It’s a violent slasher with really good pacing.

I for one am glad I gave it another chance….but like I said, you just have to watch it with some blinders on haha..ok maybe some big blinders but still....

i think Mr. Zombie saved the franchise he made Michael Myers awesome again, nce Halloween 4 if we r gonna talk about a shitty Halloween film lets talk about Halloween Resurrection, now that fuckin sucks when i wath that flim i tought the Halloween Franchise was dead, thank god Rob Zombie take control of it, i know his veron is very different frm the original and thats what makes it better, i love original Halloween along with part 2 and 4 but the rest (5,6,H20 and resurrction) where pretty fuckin bad until Rob Zombie written and directed the other 2

so i think everyone should say, thank you Rob Zombie

This is the only remake of the big three that I liked. H2 is not bad, it's different and people don't like different. Rob had a brand new take on existing characters, that's why you remake a movie. I love Tyler as Myers and zombie's Myers mask is only 2nd to the original. Hobo Myers is pretty cool and original and it works for part two. Some of the kills in part two are so spectacular. The strip club kills are great and the wreck , when he cuts dudes head off,how could you not like that. There are some odd parts that I dislike,but shit,I'm more than happy to watch part 1 and 2 back to back. So again, my answer is NO. H2

is not a bad movie.

In a few years a new generation will have RZ's H1 and H2 on their top 10 slasher movies and no one will bat a lash to that statement. Why? because it will be their generation's Michael. It's The only Halloween they have ever seen in theaters.

I actually went to go see this film opening night by myself. I was a bit disappointed with some parts of it (The beginning being only a dream, the white horse/Sherri mommy ghost, new michael kid, bobble head Laurie at the end) but I was engaged in the film the whole time. I definitely was not bored and some of the kills were pretty damn awesome, especially when he stomps that dude's face in and hangs him up in the bar! I just wish Michael was wearing his mask when he did it :S but it was still one of the best kills in Halloween history. The cinematography was actually done really well and I really dug the dark lighting in this one.

I didn't mind Loomis being a douche because it seemed realistic most of the time but I think he should have changed back a lot sooner. When he is at the gning and shown the picture of the fathers dead dauther (Lynda) he should have started feeling horrible and shifted back into his old Loomis character. It really makes me cringe when Loomis just goes into the cabin with Michael in a cartoonish way and for no apparent reason because he is killed almost immediately.

I really missed the Halloween theme and I wish that he would have at least used the new rendition of the Halloween theme heard with the H2 trailers. I can go on and on about this film but instead I think I will just pop in the original H2 instead and call it a night.

Rob Zombie made Myers frightening again. After H4 which imo was the last decent film in the series, Halloween became a "keeping up with the jones's", MTV slick shit franchise. Busta Rhymes pulling karate on Michael...need I saw more? Ade from the terrible story-lines and the sad fact that Michael was not scary anymore, there was not one director who had any kind of flair or style. They were cookie cutter, paint by numbers movies.

What did Rob do with H2? Myers was a scary motherfucker once again. The film was a true HORROR....that meant plenty of brutality and mood. The film was shot on 16mm, expertly filmed and the over all look of the film was amazing. Mane was the best Myers nce Warlock.

I felt a lot of this was true with RZ's first Halloween, but what struck me about his H2 was the lighting, the mood and the brutality. I loved every stab through the skull, bone crushing, stripper's face pounded through a mirror second of it.

Was it flawed? Well, the biggest gaff was the absence of the theme.....big blunder imo. When the lights go down, I want to hear that timeless, familiar anthem! other than that, there were some minor things. I feel that Rob treats his youth characters kinda the way my dad might. A bit over the top and stereotypical. Makes him seem a little old lol. The White horse? i liked it. Loomis? of course we all love the original doctor, but Rob added his own slant....why repeat the same thing? And, (it should have been a little longer and detailed trantion) but by the end of the film, Loomis DOES see the error of his ways and tries to rectify it even by sacrificing himself.

My biggest quip was the last scene, I thought it was corny.

Overall though, H2 was a dark, brutal and moody film. RZ captured the essence of a psychopath. 2 thumbs up.

I will forever love Rob's take on the Halloween franchise. I mean the fact that he even had enough balls to try to revamp the franchise is awesome and thats just what he did in my eyes. He took a character that was getting his ass kicked by Busta Ryhmes and made him scary and awesome again! RZ Halloween and Halloween 2 are great and i will always have respect for him and his films.

I'm gonna be honest I was never a zombie or Halloween fan until these movies came out. adding a mple and understanding background to the story was awesome with the remake and a good motive for what he did.

a cult curse was stupid IMO. I loved the new look Micheal had and where the mask came from. I never did like Loomis because in the original he seemed like a whackadoo than a detective, so the change was good. now for H2 the reason why the change in actor was because the original actor got too big for the role. in my opinion H2 was perfect it even made me emotional at the end because how much I loved it

You are not alone in enjoying H2. It might have fallen flat as far as artistic attempts, i.e. white horse. But at the very least it actually made that attempt instead of most of the vapid, generic crap that Platinum Dunes spews out annually.

I guess the appeal of H2 to me was... well, that it seemed made to be deliberately unappealing. That's a much better type of dislike versus disliking a movie that tries ad nauseam to appease its demographic for that opening weekend.

I actually own the theatrical cut and director's. So I'm a fan, for sure.

well giving rob the remake to halloween was

great and bold thing to do as for halloween 2 rob as many times i see it i just cant get a clear understanding on how the film was ment to be i mean the after math of all the things that happened on h2 was shown to fast and was confusng to me when i first saw the film i was mad at rob but still always goin to be a myers fan soo not the best halloween but its whatever

If Michael hadn't grunted like hell over every movement and spoken at the end I think it would have been a lot better. Loomis should have been written very differently. He didn't have to be as hard core a Myers fanatic as the original series but the personality flip fucking ruined it for me. His performance was painful to watch. The white horse admittedly went over my head a little bit. I think they tried to put something deeper than what it was in there and wave it around way too hard to try and be different. Hobo art student Michael with his trendy tattered scarf, art tote and antler handled bowie should have been left on the drawing board. That was a runway disaster of Gaga proportions that should have been avoided. Tyler Mane is undoubtedly one of my favorite hulking badasses in Hollywood and I ghed in disappointment when he tossed the orange mask from the first one even if to put on the Shatner but this was a revamp even I couldn't take.

As for Platinum Dunes though, I thought the Texas Chainsaw remake was beautiful "the reveal of the fresh mask through the haze of fluff ripped from the coat was oddly surreal. The Hills Have Eyes I think is on the top of the list for remakes, Aja took a generally unlikeable character and believably redeemed him and made him completely bad ass by the end in a very epic way for a run of the mill slasher flick. So no complaints about Dunes here.

Let me start by saying that I am a HUGE fan of Rob Zombie (both mucally and his films) and the Halloween series (hands down my favourite horror series ever). His remake of the first I thought was really good and although it wasn't nearly as good as the original, it was a pretty damn good remake - original enough to keep it different from mply retreading the film we all know and milar enough to be a good homage to Carpenter's masterpiece.

I LOVED the explicit violence. I LOVED the backstory. I LOVED the journey-like narrative of the film, and most of all, I thought the finale was incredible. A brilliant last scene really made this for me a wonderful remake.

When it was announced that the RZ was doing H2, I was ecstatic! By the time the trailer came out I was literally counting down the days til it came out. When I finally ended up seeing it.... I wanted to die. What a piece of shit.

For me - there is absolutely no argument whatsoever of whether this film is good or not - it's not.

If you are a true Halloween fan, then you know it's not: to turn Loomis into a total arsehole is pointless and it doesn't even work with the continuity of the two films; to put Michael in a homeless outfit is mply puzzling and again pointless and most importantly - to have MIchael Myers actually speak is unforgiveable. This film is a complete mess.

Every character from the first is totally different from the first. Yeah, I get RZ's explaination of the characters all changing from their experiences of the first, but it is so unrealistic. Why does Michael go from a lent stalker to a loud, groaning, talking hobo? Why does a pasonate and caring Loomis turn into a complete selfish bastard? Why is Laurie SO loud and annoying - I get that she's emotionally scarred, but her behaviour in H2 is just ridiculous.

Not to mention that stylistically speaking this film is a mess. It looks ugly, the editing is all over the shop, the original theme is absent and the pacing of the film drags and drags!

I still to this day believe that Rob Zombie is an incredible film director and writer, but I can't help but think that his efforts here were a result of him not giving a fuck and maybe even doing it to get back at Dimenon/the Weinsteins for his struggles he had with the first! I just refuse to believe that this movie could be made by a true Halloween fan...

I appreciate wanting to change things up and wanting to do something outde the norm, but this film doesn't come off as that - it comes off as a loud, messy, aggresve, over the top and most importantly, disrespective piece of the Halloween saga.

I will agree that Laurie's issues were well handled in H2, and the Annie scenes were GOLDEN.

The death scene, Brackett's reaction... all perfect IMO.

And I give RZ props for trying to explain what Michael does "off season", as nobody had done that before.But here is where they went wrong.

Taking the beloved character of Loomis and having him flip personalities was a bit much.

I can understand a little bit of ego growing, but to get to that point is a bit much.

I hated what they did to his character, and to then bacally kill him off at the end just dealt a terrible blow to future films by ensuring that they will be Loomis free.Michael, as explained in the original Halloween remake was as such: Raised by ignorant rednecks and sluts, Myers became an animal torturing psycho who loved killing in a mask.

While it did lessen the mystery and fear factor that Myers had, I give RZ credit for trying to explain the unexplainable.

But then to have Michael shot in the head with a high caliber bullet and just walk away from it hours later... went against his "realistic" take on the character.

And then to have Myers bacally track Laurie without any real stalking at all and the nonsense at the end with the "ghosts" and whatever the Hell they were trying to use to show the connection between Laurie and Michael...was just stupid and went against everything laid in the previous film.While I liked aspects of the film, and the overall look of the movie... I was extremely let down.

Granted, there have not been many Halloween films that I really loved saved for the original 2 (and the second had it's fair share of issues).. I just feel that the sequels and remakes lost what made Michael special in the slasher genre.

He's not Jason, he's not a redneck killer who kills brutally.

Michael is much like fate itself... he comes to those that

he decides are "worthy", and there is no escaping his judgment.

He's the bogeyman, and as such he cannot be explained by conventional means.

I think the film has a lot of good death scenes, but the story, the acting, and the part when Michael is unmasked and yells "DIE!" at Dr. Loomis, just make it sort of..... lly. I'm not saying I hate the film, I just didn't like it that much.

The Loomis thing was problematic. I love the old Loomis Character, Plesance was the shit. I even thoroughly enjoyed the portrayal of Loomis in the first film. And I love Zombies use of Mcdowell. But I cant abide his duchebaggedness. I like the between the movies growth of Myers. I could have done without the Halloween dinner table scene with the pumpkin headed people. I think that it missed the mark, as did the white horse. other than that it was completely great. All in all i respect him for taking the chances that he did.

I'm glad you made this post.

Halloween is my favorite series, and I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes H2.

A lot of people will look at anyone praing H2 and think of them as a know-nothing fake fan of the series.

It annoys me that some are so ignorant to not respect indivual opinions.

First of all, I love Rob. He's my biggest idol.

Being the horror freak I am, it only makes sense.

He makes only great horror movies, and they're all outstanding.

His muc is great, about 99% of it being horror related! Everything is horror with him! Anyone who gets their name legally changed to "Zombie" is legit IMO So now we've gotten my love for Rob down, but don't think that will make me say everything he does is perfect.

It just so happens that everything he's done appeals to me.

I LOVED his first remake.

I thought it was fantastic.

H2?

I'll be honest, I as well came out of theaters a little confused.

But I saw it again, and a third time.

I realized that I had done something I told myself never to do.

I went into it the first time thinking I was going to see an exact remake of the original.

Taking that out of mind, I saw a great followup to Zombie's take on a horror clasc that we all know and love.

Yes, I disagreed with the new Loomis, and his appearance isn't my favorite of the series, but I still love the film.

Great work, Rob.

In My opinion:

Good: *The Gore

*The "Are You a Giant?" Kid (Best Character.)*Annie and Sheriff Brackett

Bad: (pretty much everything else) *Hobo Myers Costume*Myers's mask exposes his face (when he's wearing it)*Loomis is a complete jerk until the last 5 minutes*The Ending (Did Rob Zombie think that this was a remake of Psycho?)*Michael's Mom's Ghost (Again, Psycho? Anyone?)*The Horse (Seriously?)*No HALLOWEEN Muc (HOW COULD YOU???)*The Shape yells and speaks (NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!) (edit) Ade from that it's funny as $#!*

I actually though that the hospital scene in the beginning was ok, but If the muc on the TV had been "Mr.Sandman", I would have thought it was great...Tyler Mane is awesome as Myers

I will defend this movie forever. I've always been a huge Rob Zombie fan and I always had complete faith in him especially when he was doing Halloween and the sequel. This was entirely a Rob Zombie film and that's what I liked about it. He didn't go from the original Halloween 2. He made it his own. It was crazy and full of gore and I loved it. I loved having Laurie be messed up because that's exactly how she was supposed to be. It was Laurie's story this time and not Michael's and that did something good for the movie because in the first one, we learned all that we could about Michael Myers. He probably could have done without Sheri Moon Zombie but she's his wife so what do you expect? I also wish there was more of the mask. Its the one thing I really missed. But I thought it was fantastic. Loomis cracked me up by being such an egotistical ass. And Annie's death really hit me hard. I just really enjoyed this and I'll go on to say I enjoyed it more than his remake.