Review of Halloween II (reissue)

Introduction

The original Halloween did better business at the box office than John Carpenter et al could ever have hoped for, and predictably, a sequel followed to cash in on the success.

Long running horror sagas are notorious for getting steadily worse over the years, and it was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch Halloween II.

This film picks up where the first one left off, with Myers still alive and after Jamie Lee Curtis, who is recovering in hospital, killing numerous people on the way.

Video

The video comes in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and is atrocious, with a very dark and grainy picture, which at times is lower quality than a VHS tape - this really is not good enough and material of this standard should not be released on DVD in my opinion.

Visually, the film is more of the same, as Myers wanders around town killing people - and again the emphasis is on visual suspense rather than special effects - but having seen it all before in the first movie, it isn`t anywhere near as gripping.

Audio

Like the first movie, the soundtrack has been remastered into Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds quite reasonable, although cleared focussed on the front three channels. The opening music is quite well remixed though.

Again, The most memorable sound in the movie is Carpenter`s now famous score, which is a cinematic classic and rings out frequently.

The dialogue is clear and understandable throughout.

Features

The extras include an audio commentary from horror-expert Stephen Jones, which is quite interesting and offers a different viewpoint - although there are a lot of long pauses.

The disc is packaged in a black Amaray case.

Conclusion

Overall, whilst Halloween has stood the test of time quite well, the second film is a cash in and really doesn`t cut the mustard. It really is more of the same and offers nothing much new.

Dismal video quality and good sound are backed by reasonable audio commentary; but this doesn`t save the disc, which is one to rent if you must watch it.