ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - October 30th
"HALLOWEEN II" released in 1981
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After being attacked by Michael Myers (Dick Warlock), who vanished after being shot six times and falling from a second story balcony on October 31, 1978, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is rushed to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital while Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) resumes searching for Michael. Michael's recent escape and attack becomes a news story as he steals a kitchen knife from an elderly couple's house and kills their teenage neighbor and learns that Laurie is at the hospital via the radio.
Throughout the night, Loomis sees a teenager wearing a mask similar to Michael's walking the streets: he mistakes him for Michael and attempts to shoot him when an oncoming police car rams him into a van, which explodes, accidentally killing him. Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), angry with Loomis for his daughter Annie's death at Michael's hands, defects from the manhunt. Loomis goes to examine the teenager's burnt body and discovers that he is actually Ben Tramer. Following an uproar at the Myers' house, Loomis investigates an elementary school that Michael broke into when his colleague Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) and a Marshall (John Zenda) arrive to transport Loomis back to Smith's Grove Sanitarium on the governor's orders. Along the way, Marion informs Loomis that Laurie is Michael's sister, according to a previously hidden file on Michael. Realizing that Laurie is Michael's target, Loomis forces the Marshall to turn around and drive to the hospital where she is.
Once Michael arrives at the hospital, he cuts the phone lines, disables the cars, and kills most of the hospital personnel. While searching for Laurie, who is trying to hide from Michael, Jimmy Lloyd (Lance Guest) - and EMT driver that has romantic feelings for Laurie, much to the chagrin of head nurse Virginia Alves (Gloria Gifford) - finds Mrs. Alves' corpse and tries to flee, but he slips in a pool of blood on the floor and loses consciousness. Just after finding Laurie in the hallway, Nurse Jill Franco (Tawny Moyer) is killed by a scalpel-wielding Michael, who pursues Laurie through the hospital. Laurie escapes to the parking lot and hides in Jimmy's car. Regaining consciousness, Jimmy comes out of the hospital and gets in the car to seek help, but he falls unconscious again on the steering wheel horn, alerting Michael to their location. Loomis, Marion, and the Marshall arrive just in time to save Laurie. As Marion attempts to contact the police from the car, Michael kills the Marshall and chases Loomis and Laurie into a surgery room. In a gripping finale, Loomis and Laurie (now aware of her relationship to Michael) come face to face with the "boogeyman", where one of them will make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Michael Myers for good!
Throughout the night, Loomis sees a teenager wearing a mask similar to Michael's walking the streets: he mistakes him for Michael and attempts to shoot him when an oncoming police car rams him into a van, which explodes, accidentally killing him. Sheriff Leigh Brackett (Charles Cyphers), angry with Loomis for his daughter Annie's death at Michael's hands, defects from the manhunt. Loomis goes to examine the teenager's burnt body and discovers that he is actually Ben Tramer. Following an uproar at the Myers' house, Loomis investigates an elementary school that Michael broke into when his colleague Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) and a Marshall (John Zenda) arrive to transport Loomis back to Smith's Grove Sanitarium on the governor's orders. Along the way, Marion informs Loomis that Laurie is Michael's sister, according to a previously hidden file on Michael. Realizing that Laurie is Michael's target, Loomis forces the Marshall to turn around and drive to the hospital where she is.
Once Michael arrives at the hospital, he cuts the phone lines, disables the cars, and kills most of the hospital personnel. While searching for Laurie, who is trying to hide from Michael, Jimmy Lloyd (Lance Guest) - and EMT driver that has romantic feelings for Laurie, much to the chagrin of head nurse Virginia Alves (Gloria Gifford) - finds Mrs. Alves' corpse and tries to flee, but he slips in a pool of blood on the floor and loses consciousness. Just after finding Laurie in the hallway, Nurse Jill Franco (Tawny Moyer) is killed by a scalpel-wielding Michael, who pursues Laurie through the hospital. Laurie escapes to the parking lot and hides in Jimmy's car. Regaining consciousness, Jimmy comes out of the hospital and gets in the car to seek help, but he falls unconscious again on the steering wheel horn, alerting Michael to their location. Loomis, Marion, and the Marshall arrive just in time to save Laurie. As Marion attempts to contact the police from the car, Michael kills the Marshall and chases Loomis and Laurie into a surgery room. In a gripping finale, Loomis and Laurie (now aware of her relationship to Michael) come face to face with the "boogeyman", where one of them will make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Michael Myers for good!
[after Michael disappears]
Doyle Neighbor: What's going on out here?
Sam Loomis: Call the police! Tell the sheriff I shot him!
Doyle Neighbor: Who?
Sam Loomis: Tell him, he's still on the loose!
Doyle Neighbor: Is this some kind of joke? I've been trick-or-treated to death tonight.
Sam Loomis: [looks at the blood on his hand] You don't know what death is!
Top: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to Haddonfield Hospital after being attacked by Michael Myers;
Above: EMT drivers Jimmy Lloyd (Lance Guest) and Budd Scarlotti (Leo Rossi) discuss the murders
After the massive success of Halloween, Universal Studios quickly picked up the rights to the sequel. Unfortunately, John Carpenter and Debra Hill had no interest in making a sequel as they believed the original film was a standalone movie. However when the studio offered him to write the script and pay them more money (Carpenter states that to this day he saw very little earnings from the success of the original movie) he took the job so he could earn back what he believes was his owed pay. Carpenter and Hill then considered having Myers track Laurie Strode to her new home in a high-rise apartment building, however, the setting was later changed to Haddonfield Hospital in script meetings. The plot twist of Laurie being Michael's sister required a retcon of the timeline between Judith's murder and the events depicted in the first Halloween; while Michael Myers is said to have committed the crime fifteen years ago and to be twenty-one.
Halloween executive producers Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad invested heavily in the sequel, boasting a much larger budget than its predecessor: $2.5 million (compared to only $320,000 for the original) even though Carpenter refused to direct. At one point there were discussions of filming Halloween II in 3-D; Hill said, "We investigated a number of 3-D processes ... but they were far too expensive for this particular project. Also, most of the projects we do involve a lot of night shooting—evil lurks at night. It's hard to do that in 3-D." Producers then approached Tommy Lee Wallace, the art director from the original Halloween, to take the helm for Halloween II, but, like Carpenter, Wallace also turned the job down. Carpenter then chose Rick Rosenthal, a relatively unknown and inexperienced director whose previous credits included episodes of the television series Secrets of Midland Heights (1980–1981). In an interview with Twilight Zone Magazine, Carpenter explains that Rosenthal was chosen because "he did a terrific short called Toyer. It was full of suspense and tension and terrific performances."
The main cast of Halloween reprised their roles in the sequel with the exception of Nick Castle, who had played the adult Michael Myers in the original. Veteran English actor Donald Pleasence continued the role of Dr. Sam Loomis, who had been Myers' psychiatrist for the past 15 years while Myers was institutionalized at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Jamie Lee Curtis (then 22), again played the teenage babysitter Laurie Strode, the younger sister of Myers (Curtis required a wig for the role of long-haired Laurie Strode, as she had her own hair cut shorter). Stunt performer Dick Warlock played Michael Myers (as in Halloween, listed as "The Shape" in the credits), replacing Castle who was beginning a career as a director. In an interview, Warlock explained how he prepared for the role since Myers received far more screen time in the sequel than the original. Warlock said, "I watched the scenes where Laurie is huddled in the closet. Michael breaks through. She grabs a hanger and thrusts it up and into his eyes. Michael falls down and Laurie walks to the bedroom doorway and sits down. In the background, we see Michael sit up and turn towards her to the beat of the music. ... Anyway, that and the head tilt were the things I carried with me into Halloween II".
Halloween executive producers Irwin Yablans and Moustapha Akkad invested heavily in the sequel, boasting a much larger budget than its predecessor: $2.5 million (compared to only $320,000 for the original) even though Carpenter refused to direct. At one point there were discussions of filming Halloween II in 3-D; Hill said, "We investigated a number of 3-D processes ... but they were far too expensive for this particular project. Also, most of the projects we do involve a lot of night shooting—evil lurks at night. It's hard to do that in 3-D." Producers then approached Tommy Lee Wallace, the art director from the original Halloween, to take the helm for Halloween II, but, like Carpenter, Wallace also turned the job down. Carpenter then chose Rick Rosenthal, a relatively unknown and inexperienced director whose previous credits included episodes of the television series Secrets of Midland Heights (1980–1981). In an interview with Twilight Zone Magazine, Carpenter explains that Rosenthal was chosen because "he did a terrific short called Toyer. It was full of suspense and tension and terrific performances."
The main cast of Halloween reprised their roles in the sequel with the exception of Nick Castle, who had played the adult Michael Myers in the original. Veteran English actor Donald Pleasence continued the role of Dr. Sam Loomis, who had been Myers' psychiatrist for the past 15 years while Myers was institutionalized at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Jamie Lee Curtis (then 22), again played the teenage babysitter Laurie Strode, the younger sister of Myers (Curtis required a wig for the role of long-haired Laurie Strode, as she had her own hair cut shorter). Stunt performer Dick Warlock played Michael Myers (as in Halloween, listed as "The Shape" in the credits), replacing Castle who was beginning a career as a director. In an interview, Warlock explained how he prepared for the role since Myers received far more screen time in the sequel than the original. Warlock said, "I watched the scenes where Laurie is huddled in the closet. Michael breaks through. She grabs a hanger and thrusts it up and into his eyes. Michael falls down and Laurie walks to the bedroom doorway and sits down. In the background, we see Michael sit up and turn towards her to the beat of the music. ... Anyway, that and the head tilt were the things I carried with me into Halloween II".
Dr. Sam Loomis: Did you see the blackboard back there in the elementary school?
Marion Chambers: Yeah.
Dr. Sam Loomis: In order to appease the gods, the Druid priests held fire rituals. Prisoners of war, criminals, the insane, animals... were... burned alive in baskets. By observing the way they died, the Druids believed they could see omens of the future. Two thousand years later, we've come no further. Samhain isn't evil spirits. It isn't goblins, ghosts or witches. It's the unconscious mind. We're all afraid of the dark inside ourselves.
Top: Dr Samuel Loomis (Donald Pleasence) examines the chard remains with Deputy Gary Hunt (Hunter von Leer) and the Coroner (Jeffrey Kramer);
Above: Unbeknownst to Loomis, Michael is still alive, and has already tracked Laurie to the hospital!
The supporting cast consisted of relatively unknown actors and actresses, except for Jeffrey Kramer and Ford Rainey, and most of them having previously or later appearing in films or television series by Universal Studios (the distributor for this film). Among the new cast members was Lance Guest as EMT driver Jimmy Lloyd, Leo Rossi as nurse Budd Scarlotti, along with Pamela Susan Shoop, Tawny Moyer, Ana Alicia, and Gloria Gifford as the doomed nursing staff. Comedian Dana Carvey also appears briefly in a non-speaking role.
A number of area hospitals provided the filming locations for the Haddonfield medical facility, many of them hospital corridors, with most of these being filmed at two Californian hospitals; the Pasadena Community Hospital and the Morningside Hospital in Los Angeles. The decision to include more gore and nudity in the sequel was not made by Rosenthal, who contends that it was Carpenter who chose to make the film much bloodier than the original. Believing Rick Rosenthal's version of the film to be too tame, John Carpenter shot a few gory scenes that were added into the film despite Rosenthal's objections. This annoyed Rosenthal because he had wanted the sequel to emulate the way the original avoided explicit violence and gore in favor of well-crafted suspense and terror. In fact, Carpenter had intended for Halloween II to do just that, but the success of the new wave of slasher films in 1979 and 1980 made him afraid that a film which was scary and R-rated but lacked bloodshed and nudity would do poorly at the box office, leading to the extra graphic material inclusions.
Shoop (who played Nurse Karen Bailey and who is scalded to death by Myers in the hospital therapy tub) featured in the only nude scene in the film, Shoop discussed filming the scene in an interview: "Now that was hard! The water was freezing cold, and poor Leo Rossi and I could barely keep our teeth from chattering! The water was also pretty dirty and I ended up with an ear infection."
A number of area hospitals provided the filming locations for the Haddonfield medical facility, many of them hospital corridors, with most of these being filmed at two Californian hospitals; the Pasadena Community Hospital and the Morningside Hospital in Los Angeles. The decision to include more gore and nudity in the sequel was not made by Rosenthal, who contends that it was Carpenter who chose to make the film much bloodier than the original. Believing Rick Rosenthal's version of the film to be too tame, John Carpenter shot a few gory scenes that were added into the film despite Rosenthal's objections. This annoyed Rosenthal because he had wanted the sequel to emulate the way the original avoided explicit violence and gore in favor of well-crafted suspense and terror. In fact, Carpenter had intended for Halloween II to do just that, but the success of the new wave of slasher films in 1979 and 1980 made him afraid that a film which was scary and R-rated but lacked bloodshed and nudity would do poorly at the box office, leading to the extra graphic material inclusions.
"That's a long, long story. That was a project I got involved in as a result of several different kinds of pressure. I had no influence over the direction of the film. I had an influence in the post-production. I saw a rough cut of Halloween II, and it wasn't scary. It was about as scary as Quincy. So we had to do some post-production work to bring it at least up to par with the competition."
John Carpenter, Interview with Twilight Zone Magazine,November, 1982
Shoop (who played Nurse Karen Bailey and who is scalded to death by Myers in the hospital therapy tub) featured in the only nude scene in the film, Shoop discussed filming the scene in an interview: "Now that was hard! The water was freezing cold, and poor Leo Rossi and I could barely keep our teeth from chattering! The water was also pretty dirty and I ended up with an ear infection."
TRIVIA: Halloween II, though not as successful at the box-office as the original Halloween (1978), still grossed more money than other 1981 horror movies such as The Howling, Friday the 13th Part 2, and The Final Conflict.
Top: Halloween II director Rick Rosenthal;
Above: Actress Jamie Lee Curtis lets The Shape know there are no hard feelings in this candid shot from the set!
Released on October 30th, 1981, Halloween II received a very mixed critical reaction. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times (who was a fan of the original Halloween) wrote that Halloween II represented "a fall from greatness" that "doesn't even attempt to do justice to the original." He also commented, "Instead, it tries to outdo all the other violent Halloween rip-offs of the last several years." Web based critic James Berardinelli offered a particularly stinging review, accusing Carpenter and Hill of not believing "in this project the way they believed in the original, and it shows in the final product. The creepiness of the first movie has been replaced by a growing sense of repetitive boredom." Berardinelli was not impressed by the decision to give Myers so much screen time. He says, "The Shape, who was an ominous and forbidding force, has been turned into a plodding zombie. The characters have all been lobotomized, and, in keeping with the slasher trend, the gore content is way up. There was virtually no blood in Halloween; Halloween II cheerfully heaps it on." David Pirie's review in Time Out magazine gave Rosenthal's film positive marks, stating, "Rosenthal is no Carpenter, but he makes a fair job of emulating the latter's visual style in this sequel." He wrote that the Myers character had evolved since the first film to become "an agent of Absolute Evil." Despite a more negative reaction than its predecessor, Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis both received praise for their performances, with Dick Warlock's portrayal as Michael Myers also becoming very popular with fans of the franchise.
An alternate version of Halloween II (sometimes referred to as 'The TV Cut') has aired on network television since the early 1980s. There are many edits such as the murders of Alice, Dr. Mixter, Janet, and Mrs. Alves - all presumed to still happen, but some are off camera. Also added are scenes of Michael cutting the power (this explains the dark setting throughout the latter half of the film) and a power generator kicking in. And while the theatrical version ends with the deaths of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis and leaves the audience in a gray area as to whether Jimmy survives, the television cut features an extended ending showing Jimmy alive (with bandaged head wound from his slip) in the ambulance with Laurie Strode. They hold hands and Laurie says, "We made it."
Halloween II was intended to be the last appearance of Michael Myers/The Shape, with producers Akkad and Yablans committed to turning the Halloween franchise into an unrelated anthology film series, beginning with Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). When Season of the Witch didn't fare so well at the box office, Universal gave the rights to Trancas International, an affiliate of Universal's, who produced the films until 1989; which included Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989). In 1996, Trancas then sold their interest in the Halloween series to Miramax, who have produced all the subsequent sequels and remakes.
An alternate version of Halloween II (sometimes referred to as 'The TV Cut') has aired on network television since the early 1980s. There are many edits such as the murders of Alice, Dr. Mixter, Janet, and Mrs. Alves - all presumed to still happen, but some are off camera. Also added are scenes of Michael cutting the power (this explains the dark setting throughout the latter half of the film) and a power generator kicking in. And while the theatrical version ends with the deaths of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis and leaves the audience in a gray area as to whether Jimmy survives, the television cut features an extended ending showing Jimmy alive (with bandaged head wound from his slip) in the ambulance with Laurie Strode. They hold hands and Laurie says, "We made it."
Halloween II was intended to be the last appearance of Michael Myers/The Shape, with producers Akkad and Yablans committed to turning the Halloween franchise into an unrelated anthology film series, beginning with Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). When Season of the Witch didn't fare so well at the box office, Universal gave the rights to Trancas International, an affiliate of Universal's, who produced the films until 1989; which included Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989). In 1996, Trancas then sold their interest in the Halloween series to Miramax, who have produced all the subsequent sequels and remakes.
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE: 31%
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