I used to think HALLOWEEN II was crap. Just a shoddy knock-off of the original. And this from someone who enjoys every other film in the series in some way or another. But last weekend I watched it again and realized that while it's still a knock-off, it's far from shoddy. It's certainly not a great film, but it works better than it should for at least two reasons:
- Dean Cundey. With Cundey as DP, the film manages to retain much of the visual style of the original, opening with another long tracking shot from Michael's POV and adding more neat tracking shots along the way. There's a wonderful visual texture to the film that doesn't exist in the later Myers sequels.
- John Carpenter & Debra Hill. The script isn't exactly the pinnacle of cinema, but what I really love it for is its sense of pacing. And I was pleasantly surprised at how little screen time Laurie gets. If HII were made today, most of it would consist of flashbacks and FX-boosted dreams while Laurie waits in the hospital for Michael to get her. But HII takes its time setting up the confrontation while Michael goes about dispatching the hospital staff in fun ways. Yes, some moments are taken directly from the original (Laurie standing outside the hospital while Michael bears down on her), but I think the mirror effect works for the film rather than against it.
One technical thing I didn't like was the way Carpenter's score was used. In the original it was simpler, less dressed up, but HII was awash in overloaded synths. I'm not against the use of synths (the original used them beautifully) but they seemed to be going for the wall of sound effect rather than the sparseness of the original which worked so well.
- Dean Cundey. With Cundey as DP, the film manages to retain much of the visual style of the original, opening with another long tracking shot from Michael's POV and adding more neat tracking shots along the way. There's a wonderful visual texture to the film that doesn't exist in the later Myers sequels.
- John Carpenter & Debra Hill. The script isn't exactly the pinnacle of cinema, but what I really love it for is its sense of pacing. And I was pleasantly surprised at how little screen time Laurie gets. If HII were made today, most of it would consist of flashbacks and FX-boosted dreams while Laurie waits in the hospital for Michael to get her. But HII takes its time setting up the confrontation while Michael goes about dispatching the hospital staff in fun ways. Yes, some moments are taken directly from the original (Laurie standing outside the hospital while Michael bears down on her), but I think the mirror effect works for the film rather than against it.
One technical thing I didn't like was the way Carpenter's score was used. In the original it was simpler, less dressed up, but HII was awash in overloaded synths. I'm not against the use of synths (the original used them beautifully) but they seemed to be going for the wall of sound effect rather than the sparseness of the original which worked so well.
