Halloween II is the second installment of  Rob Zombie vision of the Halloween franchise.  Being a fan of the first movie, when I saw the teaser poster for the second, I couldn’t wait to see it. First things first I did enjoy the movie and I find that I enjoy the Rob Zombie versions a lot. This sequel is about Laurie ( Scout Taylor-Compton) trying to cope with surviving the events of the first film and come to terms with being the sister of a notorious killer.

    My only problem with the movie is the main characters digression mentally from the first movie to this one. She lives through the events of the first movie with her friend Annie ( Danielle Harris ) and now it seems like their entire world has changed. Though Annie seems to have pulled through without much emotional damage yet Laurie is a hot mess. She has become a loose cannon who has chronic nightmares and is heavily dependant on prescription medication. Her new room is a completely different world from the one she once took residency in. She has posters all over the wall including one of Alice Cooper and the walls are covered in spray paint and stickers. She is also a completely different looking person as she ditches her more “nerdy” wardrobe from the first movie and now wears more “edgy” clothing. Dressed in torn plaid pants and cut up band t-shirts is the look that defines the mental breakdown of this character. Although I understand that the events are what caused this mental breakdown I think my real problem is that I wanted to see the breakdown a little more. The movie just opens up and a time lapse occurs and your whisked into a combination of time passing and a collection of flashbacks and nightmares. It would have been intresting to even see a little bit of the breakdown occurring instead of just knowing that she snapped due to the events in the first movie.

  Besides that minor detail Rob hit the spot just as he did with the first installment. The movie is energetic, sometimes scary, thrilling and full of good acting. A lot of the scenes are very tasteful in a visual sense, such as when Michael is walking across the field during either the sun rise or sun set. The angles and lighting really make some of the scenes work. I would say that I’m excited for the third installment of the series but as rumor has it Rob Zombie is finished with Halloween and is moving on.

Verdict: Buy It.