Halloween II (2009)

Dir. Rob Zombie

A year later, and a traumatised Laurie still struggles to come to terms with the bloodbath that resulted when her psychotic brother Michael Myers escaped from an asylum and came to find her, killing everyone who got in his way. Her worst fears are soon realised when Myers, who has been in hiding ever since, returns on Halloween night to finish what he started a year ago…

I first wrote about Rob Zombie’s follow-up to his remake of Halloween when it came out in 2009. You can read that review here.

After burning out while making Halloween, Zombie was initially hesitant to helm the sequel. After thinking about it though, and recognising the chance to continue with the story, he decided to film the follow up, imbuing it with the same squalid, dingy and bleak tone as its predecessor. My thoughts on the film haven’t really changed. I still think it is an immensely flawed, but beautifully filmed work. Zombie’s grungy aesthetics litter every shot and he creates a dank, foreboding atmosphere through his gritty production design. Halloween II is pierced with striking images and moodily lit moments that seem to transmit from some nightmarish, ransacked dystopia. Here are but a few of those eerily alluring images that showcase Zombie's unflinching and singular vision as a filmmaker…
















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