The Freak's Rating: C+ :Halloween 2 is a definitive C+ movie. Though it isn't something I'd reach out to recommend to anyone, I am glad that I saw it. I have yet to see a Rob Zombie picture I felt I was cheated out of my money on. The man can do some things very well and even when he is walking the line of mediocrity he is still pretty darn entertaining.
Halloween is a franchise near and dear to my heart as it holds one of the only villains I've ever been truly afraid of. The original Halloween was one of the earliest horror films I saw along with Children of the Corn and the original Friday the 13th. Michael Myers was terrifying. There was no method to his madness, which perhaps made him even more terrifying. As the audience, no light was shed to our eyes on the true motivation of "the shape" as he was listed on the cast until the second feature film where we were let in on why he chose the victim(s) he chose. Much like Freddy of A Nightmare On Elm Street, it turned out Myers had rationale, as twisted as it was.
Zombie's trademark style is everywhere with colorful scenes and slick cinematography, creating an amazing mood around the film. Myers is truly shown as he is, a demented human being with reasoning behind his methods. A soul is shown here, unexpectedly, and you do understand the monster at the end of the feature.
Much tradition is kept from the original film, presenting day by day countdowns in subtitles on the screen as well as the ever-popular "Entering Haddonfield" sign as Myers walks past it. Though dated, these techniques are still effective in building suspense. In keeping with this style, I applaud Zombie. Other marks by the director are the casting of his wife Sheri Moon, who is scary as hell in every scene she appears in as Myers' mother. Zombie falls a tad short on the storyline of the film. Though the ending is tight and interesting, casting of the lead actress, Laurie Strode, falls on Scout Taylor-Compton and she poorly performs every line of dialogue, causing little sympathy to be strung out of the audience for her. Other story branches are weakly developed and poorly integrated into the main protagonist (if you'll call him that) in Myers.
Zombie could have summed up the franchise nicely with this one and it just falls short. That said, I can't wait to see what he does next. The man's style and vision have completely given new life to the horror genre, which was drowning in torture porn like Saw and Hostel. I hear he is considering taking on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I drool at the thought of it.
