Halloween II (1981)

Happy Halloween! As a Halloween treat we’re giving you a bonus episode this week. Listen in as we discuss how Halloween II stacks up against its predecessor.

Tags: Slasher, Sequel, Takes Place on Halloween, John Carpenter, Halloween Franchise

Show Notes:

Halloween II (1981)

• Directed by Rick Rosenthal

• Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill

• Starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence

• Synopsis: This film picks up right where the first film left off - Michael Myers continues to pursue Laurie Strode on Halloween night, and Dr. Loomis, in turn, pursues Michael.

• More Info: It’s hard to imagine a world without dozens of sequels in the big 3 slasher franchises, but the original Halloween (1978) was the one that kicked it all off. The fact that films like this could make so much money on such a small budget was hard to ignore by the film industry, and so came the sequels. So many sequels. Even though producers wanted a sequel to this film, John Carpenter has admitted that his heart wasn’t in it. He didn’t know where to take the story, and as anyone who’s seen the movie knows the story takes an interesting turn. It seems Carpenter also felt pressure to keep up with the copycat slashers that came in the wake of Halloween, and so this movie comes complete with more gore and a higher body count. This movie still did well at the box office, but it could not mimic the success of its predecessor at the box office, with critics, or with fan reception.

• Our Discussion: It’s impossible not to compare this film to the original, so we discuss what changed and whether or not it worked. Were the increases in gore and body count beneficial? How about the drastic change from Michael as an illogical engine of evil to an entity with a specific goal in mind? And of course, we discuss our favorite kill of the film.