The lore of halloween Pt.2 Halloween 2

Recap

Welcome back to my ‘lore of Halloween‘ series exploring just why the various studio’s involved in the Halloween franchise feel the constant need to change up the timeline of the films every few years. (It’s not Back to the Future after all!)

I am a huge fan of 1981’s Halloween 2, it is like a Shakespearean tragedy with added laughs. Where H1 is relentless, H2 is enjoyable and reluctant to take itself too seriously. It may be schlock but its highly entertaining schlock and, as it was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the lore it introduces to the series is more canon than some fans would care to admit.

H2 follows on directly from the events of H1 (an idea merrily ripped-off by Friday the 13th part 3) with Laurie being transported to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital for observation after her ordeal. Unfazed by being shot several times and falling from a balcony Michael Myers wonders away and quickly tracks her down again bumping off the staff of the lonely and very empty hospital one by one.

Style and criticism

H2 was directed by Rick Rosenthal who went on to receive plenty of negative attention for his efforts on Halloween Ressurection. (although Ressurection has seen a ‘revival’ amongst fans more recently) The reception to H2 from critics was also lukewarm but overall Rosenthal does a good job of matching the look, feel and tone of H1. For example; we still get the classic slow zoom pumpkin opening credits (just seeing the names Moustapha Akkad and Dino De Laurentiis appear still gives me a little thrill or anticipation)

With help from Alan Howarth, Carpenter’s score is souped up to 100 using a synth this time and giving H2 a deep 80’s feel. He signals to us through his faster more chaotic theme that the innocence of the ’70s is well over just as it is for the townsfolk in Haddonfield after Michael has slain their young.

Rosenthal keeps the suburban Gothic feel going with shadowy wide shots down the long empty hospital corridors. And MM is as omnipresent as he is at the end of H1, continually appearing out of the dark top right of the frame to surprise his victims.

There are plenty of nods to the deaths in H1; the focus on Jill’s (Tawney Moyer) feet as she hangs in the air is similar to Bob’s (John Michael Graham) death, and Karen (the great Pamela Susan Shoop) is tricked into thinking MM is her boyfriend just as Lynda (P.J. Soles) is in 1.

Apparently, John Carpenter was among those less than impressed with Rosenthal’s interpretation of H2 resulting in a creative tussle and Carpenter shooting some additional shots and scenes to increase the overall level of violence/horror. But at the end of the day, it is hard to distinguish between who was adding vs who was subtracting to the overall quality of the final film.

Strode

Poor Laurie. Scared another one away. It’s tragic. You never go out – Annie Brackett H1

SPOILERS. It’s a double tragedy (triple if you consider that all her friends are dead) for Laurie in H2 as her prom crush from H1 Ben Tramer is burned to death in the most hilarious moment out of any Halloween film. I could literally watch this moment a thousand times and still enjoy it.

Loomis spots ‘Michael’ in the street and runs after him shouting jibberish and waving a gun. Unsurprisingly this distracts the poor kid long enough to walk into the path of a police car which slams into a truck and promptly explodes. Later we find out that Ben Tramer is missing. This plot twist is so cruel. It is clear that Carpenter and Hill were not afraid to ‘twist the knife’ into their heroine’s heart.

If that wasn’t enough at Haddonfield Memorial Hosptial Laurie meets sweet, young ambulance driver Jimmy (Lance Guest) who is one of the few people to A: recognise the seriousness of the situation B: bother to explain to Laurie what happened to her C: seems to actually care about her wellbeing. Jimmy seems like a catch.

Unfortunately, the most infuriatingly pointless thing happens to him at a crucial moment. MORE SPOILERS After discovering Nurse Alves (Gloria Gifford) drained of blood he slips up in the puddle and bashes his head. (It makes for an arresting image but it is infuriating for the audience) Later, when Laurie hides in an unlocked car, he reappears in a concussed state (though strangely not covered in blood) and briefly attempts to rescue her before passing out. She pushes him back to reveal a broken neck. From the looks of it in the theatrical cut, Jimmy is probably dead. However, there is a ‘TV’ cut where Jimmy turns up at the end with a bandage on his head.

I have the version of H2 from 2012’s Region 2 Halloween 1-5 collection which seems to be the theatrical version. The differences between the two versions are fairly confusing (luckily YouTube is here to explain) but aside from the conflict over whether Jimmy lives or dies the two cuts are fairly interchangeable. Poor Laurie!

Loomis

Loomis is even more ‘out there’ than before. He easily slips into the classic Van Helsing archetype, he is also the first to start referencing Michael’s supernatural qualities hinting that MM might be an emissary of Samhain, Lord of the dead and that a burnt sacrifice may be needed to appease this spirit as in Pagan times.

Eagle-eyed viewers may notice that early on in the hunt for MM Loomis borrows a lighter from the Sheriff’s Deputy and does not return it thus nicely setting up the climax.

Myers

There is a conflict here! On the one hand, Michael is merely the shape; the body of a man but as Loomis says with “no reason, no conscience, no understanding in even the most rudimentary sense of life or death, of good or evil, right or wrong” but on the other hand Michael is out to get his last surviving sister (whether he wants to kill her or not is debatable) which is a more human quality.

Carpenter and Hill wrote this plot line but Carpenter himself was conflicted about writing the sequel at all and has often been reported as saying it was merely a plot device that he went on to regret. This is why some puritans of the original have been trying to stamp out this storyline in recent years.

Interestingly there are also several occasions in which Michael bleeds; (another human quality) he leaves blood on the grass after Loomis initially shoots him, he bleeds on poor Mrs. Elrod’s sandwiches (yum) and he ‘cries blood’ at the end.

MM’s killings become a bit more random in 2. Mrs. Elrod’s neighbor Alice is murdered but not Mr. and Mrs. Elrod themselves. Alice is not a babysitter or connected to Laurie in any way, Michael doesn’t need anything from her house as he has just swiped the knife from next door. It’s creepy but it’s out of place.

I would suggest that the notion that MM is a misogynist is more down to the portrayal of his crimes in H2 than 1 as we see much more of the female nurses dying than the guys. Karen’s jacuzzi death is the prime example; potty-mouthed paramedic Budd (Leo Rossi) is ‘tastefully’ killed behind some frosted glass but nurse Karen gets a naked backrub from MM and a big closeup during her murder.

Legacy

In my view, Halloween 2 has the right combination of tension, scares, and camp to be one of the most memorable and enjoyable 80’s slashers. 2 tentatively begins to set up the lore that will become so vital to 4, 5 and 6 without getting bogged down. Many fans consider 2 their favorite in the series. Carpenter had a fair amount of influence of the film’s script and production and in my mind, I am happy to accept Lourie as Michael Myers sister.