Halloween II

HALLOWEEN II (2009) - Aug. 28, 2009
A failure on pretty much every level and tedious almost right from the get-go, this sequel to Rob Zombie's mediocre Halloween remake picks up one year after the events of the first film, with the survivor of Michael Myers' previous attacks (his sister) still pretty messed up. Myers, of course, comes back for more shenanigans. There is really very little that works here -- Zombie's direction is fairly shoddy, and becomes incoherent any time there's any action on the screen. He's also either unwilling or unable to create any kind of tension -- the film is remarkably devoid of suspense. His writing isn't much better -- there isn't a single character worth caring about, and the whole idea of Michael Myers seeing a ghostly apparition of his mother is a complete disaster (and in fact, there's nothing about the portrayal of Michael Myers that feels right). The ending, which I guess is supposed to be creepy, is almost laughably bad. Then there's Brandon Trost's cinematography, which is murky and unpleasant (it's super dark, but not in a good way). I always thought, even when I didn't necessarily enjoy his films, that Zombie had a lot of potential. Not so sure about that at this point. *