Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 (2009) - Review

Was anyone really clamoring for a sequel to the first remake?  If so, then shame on them.  It's hard to tell whether this movie is better or worse than the first.  At least this one branches out and tells its own story (after the initial twenty minutes which mostly reenacts the original Halloween 2) but on the other hand, this movie doesn't really even need to include Michael Myers.

The concept is pretty interesting: after the traumatic events of the first movie, Halloween 2 explores how it has affected Laurie Strode and Dr. Loomis.  In theory, it's really cool.  In practice, it doesn't really work at all for one simple reason: the characters are way too different.  It's natural for the characters to have changed after such an incident, but they're not even the same people.  Laurie is now a strange goth-y and disturbed girl while Loomis is completely egotistical and only cares about his profits of his Michael Myers book.

The characters are too detached from the first movie to be relatable, particularly Dr. Loomis, who was a genuinely good guy out to do the right thing.  It doesn't help matters that most of the acting is pretty bad, except for Malcolm McDowell again as Dr. Loomis and the Bracketts played by Danielle Harris and Brad Dourif.  Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie gives a really annoying performance, especially in comparison to her decent one in the predecessor.  The rest of the side characters are unbearably irritating, especially some typical Rob Zombie sickos early on in the movie.

Add to that some really out-of-place imagery and pseudo-deep psychology regarding the psyche of Michael Myers, and the result is a pretty big mess.  Rob Zombie only knows how to make one kind of movie; while his attempt to branch out may be admirable, he really can't step out of his comfort zone without reusing the same obnoxious stereotypes time and time again.  This unwillingness to change means that any cool ideas this movie may have had are polluted by the typical Rob Zombie grunge and grime that he loves so much.