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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Halloween II (1981) in Movies

Mar 5, 2021  
Halloween II (1981)
Halloween II (1981)
1981 | Horror
6
7.4 (23 Ratings)
Movie Rating
There's a fair amount to love about Halloween II, a sequel set on the same night as the original, immediately following that films ending.
For instance, I can admire the style that director Rick Rosenthal was going for, attempting to make his sequel feel as much like the first film as possible, the idea being that you could watch both back to back.
There a few creepy shots here and there. One that really sticks is the shot of Michael in the darkness just before the poor nurse get killed with a syringe. Another is Michael on the CCTV when he first enters the hospital. Another is when Laurie see Michael across the parking lot underneath a red light. and then there's Michael with blood running out of the eye holes in his mask, followed by him walking out of that one room completely ablaze. It's all to do with Michael then! Once again, this movie showcases how his straightforward design is striking and rightly iconic.
It's nice to see Jamie Lee Curtis back as Laurie, and Donald Pleasance back as Loomis. All in all, it does truly feel like a sequel, but there's something missing.

The original is one of my favourite horrors ever made, and Halloween II, despite its positives, just fails to capture the same essence. This is partly to do with the script. It feels like a lot of the actors were just told to ad lib all their lines or something. The tension building scenes go on for a little too long also, ironically voiding a few scenes of said tension. It's feels like the first film in everything but execution pretty much.

It's a heavily flawed sequel, but it's still a decent watch, and is certainly one of the better sequels in this long running series. It deserves credit for the bit near the beginning where Loomis shouts "you don't know what death is!" before the synth heavy version of the theme tune kicks in, that was badass.
  
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Blaine Harrison recommended track 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson in Vrooom Vrooom by King Crimson in Music (curated)

 
Vrooom Vrooom by King Crimson
Vrooom Vrooom by King Crimson
2001 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
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21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson

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"When I was about ten, I was given The Compact King Crimson on cassette tape and that’s what led me to “21st Century Schizoid Man.” This song is from In the Court of the Crimson King, which has the screaming face on the cover, and the face is inspired by the Arthur Janov book The Primal Scream. Primal Therapy: The Cure for Neurosis. “My Dad told me that at the time of the book and album there was a real fad for going out into nature and screaming guttural sounds. It became this zeitgeist self-help technique and I believe that’s what influenced the book, but essentially, it’s a guy having an existential meltdown and the song taps into that. “I think because I was young when I heard it, I didn’t appreciate this more complex meaning, and at the time I just appreciated the sheer aggression of the music. It was also the first time I’d ever heard those complicated time signatures and polyrhythms, as well as the combination of distorted guitar and saxophone. ""I hadn’t grown up on jazz, so I sort of thought it was for nerds, but when I heard this and heard the sax on the time signatures I was like ‘This is like jazz rock’. In the Court of the Crimson King is hailed by lots of people - like Shellac - as the first Math Rock or Post Rock record. They also invented heavy metal if you think about it, because they were doing riffs before Black Sabbath. “Our first album, Making Dens, is heavily indebted to King Crimson. We very much wore our influences on our sleeve in the beginning, and we had this approach of throwing everything including the kitchen sink at our songwriting. Whenever I listen to Making Dens, I hear the chaos of a band trying to sound like King Crimson. They’ve been a big influence for Mystery Jets."

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Daniel Rossen recommended track Before the Beginning by Fleetwood Mac in Then Play On by Fleetwood Mac in Music (curated)

 
Then Play On by Fleetwood Mac
Then Play On by Fleetwood Mac
1990 | Rock
(0 Ratings)
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Before the Beginning by Fleetwood Mac

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Track

"I was introduced to this in 2009 by a friend of mine who is into super-heavy music and it’s one of his favourite guitar records. I’d never heard early era Fleetwood Mac and I still don’t know many people who talk about it. “It’s from Then Play On, I think it was the last one they did with Peter Green and Danny Kirwan, there was always a rotating cast of characters in that band, people coming in, freaking out and losing their minds. “I chose this because in the process of discovering Peter Green’s early music the touch he had as a guitar player was just like magic. I feel as a singer and a guitar player he’s become one of my favourite ever players, there’s certain kinds of tricks he did, especially on this song, that I’ve definitely ripped off, not the blues playing but this incredible soulfulness on guitar. “I’m not in love with guitar playing, even when I was really into jazz I never liked guitar players, I didn’t care about it that much really. I’ve always wanted to approach the guitar from a perspective outside of just playing the guitar and trying to make it do things that the guitar can’t really do or pretending it’s something else. “But Peter Green was one of these straight-up, incredible, super-expressive guitar players. He’s not the first name a lot of people talk about because it wasn’t always the most original music, but this song in particular is so specific to what they were trying to do at the time. They were starting to leave pure blues, it has this strange composition going on and the way it progresses isn’t super-standard, it wasn’t psychedelic exactly, it was edging into a world of music that was happening outside of blues at the time. “Peter Green is such a soulful player, he has a unique quality I’ve never heard anywhere else."

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