'H2', Rob Zombie's sequel to 'Halloween'

[Marx]

I saw it tonight, I'll put my entire review in spoiler tags because there are quite a few mixed in. In short, I thought it was a little better than the remake, but still an awful film, probably the second worst film I've seen in theatres this year behind Transformers 2.

Spoiler

I guess I may lean toward this being somewhat better than RZH, but it's still quite bad.

I liked Brackett and Annie, I felt for both Laurie and Brackett when they found their friend/daughter dead, I liked how visceral the kills were although they get a bit too over the top at times (ie. Michael crushing a man's face to a pile of mush with a few stomps), and Laurie's psychological descent was a good concept, but it's rather poorly executed, as even Rob's good ideas in his Halloween films ended up being; and there isn't really a big difference between a good idea executed badly and a bad idea.

This is a ridiculously uneven film. Rob's "vision" is all over the place, and quite often makes little to no narrative sense.

Loomis was HORRIBLE. I didn't like Rob's depiction of him in the first film, but Loomis in this isn't even Loomis, and after an entire film of watching him come off of a laughable parody of the typical media ****e, Rob decides to have him show up and try to "reason" with Michael for no other reason that Rob seemed to suddenly realize "oh yeah, this is Sam Loomis...one of the greatest characters ever in the genre...he's supposed to be more than just a 1D heartless prick...so I'll throw this in here."

Laurie's trauma is apparently so strong that repeatedly sparks visions of young Michael and Deborah Myers...two people that she hasn't seen since she was an infant yet are now suddenly just as present in her psyche as they are in that of adult Michael...that doesn't even make sense by the standards of a psychopath...if someone losing their mind is going to be haunted by visions of figures that had an impact in their lives, it would be much more fitting if those figures had actually been in their lives. I liked the white horse metaphor, but atleast as it pertains to Laurie, this idea was executed in an almost unintentionally funny way.

The out of place trashyness carried over from previous films, and it was just as aggrevating having to suffer through it here as it was in RZH. I don't see Michael randomly burst into a strip club just for the hell of it and slaughter a dancer, a jackass bouncer and a sleazy club owner after listening to them ramble on with the typical vulgar redneck tripe I've come accustomed to from Zombie...and I don't need to listen to rants from paramedics about how horny they get at the thought of having sex with corpses...and I don't need to hear a young girl talk about how she'd like a "golden shower" when a guy says he needs to take a piss when I'm at a Halloween film.

Between an almost impossibly hackneyed depiction of Loomis, the typical Zombie trashyness at the party and what I previously mentioned, and the rather inane study of Laurie's psyche, the film is just all over the place, and some parts feel like they're part of a totally different movie than others.

Michael apparently decided to leave the party where Laurie, his primary target was, so that he could go to the Loomis house and kill Annie who wasn't really his objective in the first place, going by the assumption that he didn't know Laurie was at the party and he went to find at where she was living, a.) what the hell was he doing at the party in the first place other than just randomly killing people that have nothing to do with his objective, and b.) how the hell did he know she was living there in the first place?
It's as though Rob didn't know if he wanted his version of Michael to be a psycho on a mission, or just some big brute that wanders around and murders at random...the final result is a hackneyed combination of the two.

I just hope to God this is Rob's final Halloween endeavor...and I really hope that a reboot follows. I like almost nothing about the direction he's taken with this series. I don't like the way that he characterized Michael at all and I'd prefer that this version of Michael never be seen onscreen again, I don't want Mane back as Myers and I don't want Michael to be a second rate Jason imitation that's trying to recreate broken memories from his otherwise warped childhood. If with another filmmaker at the helm, this version of Michael will never be nearly as effective of a villain as the character that I've loved since I was a kid.
If I want to see this type of slasher done properly, I'll just watch the F13 reboot.

I was glad to see Brad Dourif be given something relevant to do, he's my favorite cast member of the main charactes from Zombie's Halloween films and he was given nothing of interest to do at all in the remake. Sheriff Bracket was one of the few bright spots in this mess of a Halloween film.

Overall, whether this is better than the remake or not isn't even all that important since neither of them are very close to being good anyway, and this film is just another reason to curse the day that Rob Zombie signed on the dotted line to work on this series.

That's very well said DD.

 

[The Dark Defender]

I'd easily take the Ahab-Loomis over the heartless ******* profiteering Loomis Zombie has created.
He might be the worst thing about this film.

 

[Matt]

Ugh, I made the mistake of wasting money on this tonight. Just terrible. I'd prefer the Cult of the Thorn to ghost mommy and child telling him to kill.

 

[Heretic]

This series pretty much stayed on target with the mythology...except replacing Jamie with Laurie, and the change in Loomis...but otherwise, this is the first 5 films in a nutshell.

That said, my hope is that they push forward and finally give us the sequel to Halloween 6 that never came thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis and Halloween: Water.

Again...going by the Jamie Lee Curtis lore...Laurie faked her death...had a son and a daughter, chose to send the daughter to lure Michael out and then hoped that when Michael killed her daughter he'd leave her be. Curtis' Laurie was a horrible human being and her later entries into the story did more to harm the franchise than Rob Zombie could ever do.

 

[Marx]

Well, tbh, Michael has eaten dogs in other films, SsM. It's jsut that in other films, it was off camera.

It's one thing to allude to it off screen, it's quite another to show him carving it up and eating it in all of its blood gushing glory. Something like that did not need to be shown and was only in for the gross out.

It's the exact same reason Michael had an otherwordly link with Jamie in the previous series...if it wasnt worth complaining about then, then there's no reason to get riled up over Zombie following the mythology of the series.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the other movies didn't make it a point to ground everything in reality. Zombie's movies do. You can not reasonably explain such a strong mental connection between Michael and Laurie in a real world setting. I could almost see it if they were twins, because twins have a very strong connection. But Laurie doesn't even know that Michael is her brother until later in the movie. He has been completely absent from her life.

 

[Marx]

This series pretty much stayed on target with the mythology...except replacing Jamie with Laurie, and the change in Loomis...but otherwise, this is the first 5 films in a nutshell.

That said, my hope is that they push forward and finally give us the sequel to Halloween 6 that never came thanks to Jamie Lee Curtis and Halloween: Water.

Again...going by the Jamie Lee Curtis lore...Laurie faked her death...had a son and a daughter, chose to send the daughter to lure Michael out and then hoped that when Michael killed her daughter he'd leave her be. Curtis' Laurie was a horrible human being and her later entries into the story did more to harm the franchise than Rob Zombie could ever do.

H2O ignored 4-6 for a reason. There is no way that Laurie Strode would do such a thing.

 

[Heretic]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the other movies didn't make it a point to ground everything in reality. Zombie's movies do. You can not reasonably explain such a strong mental connection between Michael and Laurie in a real world setting. I could almost see it if they were twins, because twins have a very strong connection. But Laurie doesn't even know that Michael is her brother until later in the movie. He has been completely absent from her life.

This is a reinterpretation of the same world...so the same rules apply. Michael is killing because of his bloodline, there is a psychic connection etc...its just being told thrugh a different, hillbilly lens.

 

[Heretic]

H2O ignored 4-6 for a reason. There is no way that Laurie Strode would do such a thing.

Ignored it??? Funny...I saw them all in the theater...trust me, they happened.

They even used the "faked her death years ago" angle...this is the same world...and in this world laurie sent her own daughter to be hunted and butchered to save herself. You can say "lets pretend it never happened" but it still happened...

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

They even used the "faked her death years ago" angle...this is the same world...and in this world laurie sent her own daughter to be hunte and butchered to save herself. You can say "lets pretend it never happened" but it still happened...

Huh?

The fact remains that H1, H2, and H20 are completely seperate from 4, 5, and 6.

 

[Marx]

This is a reinterpretation of the same world...so the same rules apply. Michael is killing because of his bloodline, there is a psychic connection etc...its just being told thrugh a different, hillbilly lens.

When Rob Zombie says 'no supernaturals', the same rules do not apply. The core of the story (Michael chasing Laurie) is still the same, but that's it. Psychic connections do not exist in a 'no supernaturals' environment.

...but I'm done beating this dead horse. You have your opinion, and I have mine. If you want to support Zombie's 'vision' of Halloween, that's cool...

 

[Heretic]

Huh?

The fact remains that H1, H2, and H20 are completely seperate from 4, 5, and 6.

Please explain to me how that is...aside from them merely saying that it is after the fact. When 4, 5 and 6 came out, they did not say it was a reboot. Instead, they said that laurie died, and her daughter was sent into Michaels path to be killed.

Then when Halloween: Water came out, they merely said "I faked my death years ago, but Im still alive". That 100% fits with what was established in 4-6.

So...please tell me how they are not the same story when the movies themselves claim that they are.

 

[Heretic]

When Rob Zombie says 'no supernaturals', the same rules do not apply. The core of the story (Michael chasing Laurie) is still the same, but that's it. Psychic connections do not exist in a 'no supernaturals' environment.

...but I'm done beating this dead horse. You have your opinion, and I have mine. If you want to support Zombie's 'vision' of Halloween, that's cool...

I dont support Zombie's trailer park nonsense. I support the true mythology of Halloween, which is 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, Water and Resurrection. I dont like a few of those films, but they happened in the same timeline. I support that timeline, and just because I dont like an entry or two, I dont pretend they never happened.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

So...please tell me how they are not the same story when the movies themselves claim that they are.

Laurie wouldn't leave her daughter behind, trust me.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

It's all on how you want to look at it really. You can argue this or that, but to totally disreguard 4,5, and 6 because it wasn't writen out on the wall (wait...it actually was) in H20 is saying..."HEY, this series has no real continuity, jumps around, and isn't making sense".

If you want to believe Laurie wouldn't do that, that's up to you. Personaly, I said this MONTHS ago (go head, go back almost a hundred pages, you'll see) but Laurie after the original Halloween 2 became a horrible, parinod, self centered person. Her not saying anything about Jamie in H20 was her trying not too look like a total b*tch in front of her boyfriend. Trust me, he would have freaked out if she had said "I had a little girl, but I faked my death and left her in Haddonfield. I knew he'd come for her. I didn't care. I had to save myself." <<< That's basicaly Laurie in H20.

 

[Heretic]

Laurie wouldn't leave her daughter behind, trust me.

Trust you???? Over the films themselves???? that is EXACTLY what happened in the films. I own them on DVD. Laurie faked her death, sent her daughter to live in her old home town while she started a new life. her daughter got chased around a lot, had a kid of her own, got killed...and then Mikey found out Laurie faked her death and went after her.

 

[Heretic]

It's all on how you want to look at it really. You can argue this or that, but to totally disreguard 4,5, and 6 because it wasn't writen out on the wall (wait...it actually was) in H20 is saying..."HEY, this series has no real continuity, jumps around, and isn't making sense".

If you want to believe Laurie wouldn't do that, that's up to you. Personaly, I said this MONTHS ago (go head, go back almost a hundred pages, you'll see) but Laurie after the original Halloween 2 became a horrible, parinod, self centered person. Her not saying anything about Jamie in H20 was her trying not too look like a total b*tch in front of her boyfriend. Trust me, he would have freaked out if she had said "I had a little girl, but I faked my death and left her in Haddonfield. I knew he'd come for her. I didn't care. I had to save myself." <<< That's basicaly Laurie in H20.

And that Laurie ended up in a nut house...kinda like...Zombie's Laurie...two women (the same woman) driven to the breaking point where they will sacrifice others, even kill to maintain themselves. Its the Curse Of Thorn...the family is fated to do this. Why people are surprised at this is beyond me when 6 explains that the bloodline is cursed to do far wrse than just sacrifice one child.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

I agree, I think that is where a personality like that would go after being in the near death experience RZ Loomis went through.

Yeah, cause if he didn't do that he be just another carbon copy of the loomis from the previous series. But then again i guess most wanted that.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Trust you???? Over the films themselves???? that is EXACTLY what happened in the films. I own them on DVD. Laurie faked her death, sent her daughter to live in her old home town while she started a new life. her daughter got chased around a lot, had a kid of her own, got killed...and then Mikey found out Laurie faked her death and went after her.

Wow, don't need to be harsh. This took place with the events of 4, 5, and 6, then how come Laurie Strode as well as the police officers at the beginning of the film talk about it being 20 years since Michael was alive.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

And that Laurie ended up in a nut house...kinda like...Zombie's Laurie...two women (the same woman) driven to the breaking point where they will sacrifice others, even kill to maintain themselves. Its the Curse Of Thorn...the family is fated to do this. Why people are surprised at this is beyond me when 6 explains that the bloodline is cursed to do far wrse than just sacrifice one child.

I know, right? I just think people are too attached to that wholesome, innocent Laurie image that they can't understand that she's still a MYERS and carries the blood. Sure, she changed her life around, but that was after the fact and before she went right back to being crazy. Of course, you could argue that her craziness in Resurection was souly because of guilt for killing an innocent man....which is dumb considering in her mind she killed Michael. She shouldn't have felt any guilt, maybe sorrow, but no guilt for beheading the person in the mask.

But whatever, the FILMS speak for themselves.

 

[Marx]

Wow, don't need to be harsh. This took place with the events of 4, 5, and 6, then how come Laurie Strode as well as the police officers at the beginning of the film talk about it being 20 years since Michael was alive.

That's a good point. It's been a little while since I have seen H20, but I do remember something like that. The beginning was a reflective.

 

[Marx]

I know, right? I just think people are too attached to that wholesome, innocent Laurie image that they can't understand that she's still a MYERS and carries the blood. Sure, she changed her life around, but that was after the fact and before she went right back to being crazy. Of course, you could argue that her craziness in Resurection was souly because of guilt for killing an innocent man....which is dumb considering in her mind she killed Michael. She shouldn't have felt any guilt, maybe sorrow, but no guilt for beheading the person in the mask.

But whatever, the FILMS speak for themselves.

The MOVIES are open to interpretation ABC.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Yeah, the beginning is great, IMO, Marx.

 

[Doctor Jones]

The filmmakers have said, H20 is not connected with 4, 5, or 6 but only to the first and second. They only followed up with her faking her death. And in general, who wouldn't do that after what happened to her anyway?

 

[The Apatow Crew]

To clear things up for all.


White Horse - Linked to instinct,purity and the drive of physical body to release powerful and emotional forces,like rage with ensuing chaos and destruction.

-- excerpt from
The Subconscious Psychosis of Dreams.

 

[Marx]

Yeah, the beginning is great, IMO, Marx.

Agreed.