Chad

Undeadcow

Turns out there really were two people wearing the distinctive Michael Myers masks and coveralls on that night...

I love the hospital setting... that is a brilliant idea.

The exposition in Halloween II is a bit weird, I think they're trying to retain the 'presence' of Michael Myers (who was even more cooler nameless), but now all of a sudden the whole town knows who is doing the killings and much of his backstory and casually shares it with each other and the viewers. Maybe I'm the odd man out but I really like the supernatural explanations (if there must be an origin story) for Michael Myers culminating in Curse of Michael Myers (that's right, I said it) and the 'mythos' here is a nice foundation, but seems too 'thrown out there'... "there was a secret film on Michael Myers..."

Trevor

Always a favorite, though I admit to two biases which flavor my opinion. I've worked in a hospital for 31 years, and love sequels which pick up immediately as the first ends.

Spiderbite

I decided to watch the TV version from my complete boxset since I don't think I have watched it since it was on TV when I was a kid.

Bad mistake. I am not a huge fan of the regular movie but the TV edit hurts it even more. No gore, minimal violence, no cussing and no tits. Actually lots of footage have been removed or edited (even many scenes with no violence at all) and other scenes moved around in the film. Then there are completely new scenes but mostly just add to the already repetitive exposition. The ending is especially lame.

The hospital setting is a great idea but the damn place is just too deserted making it all too unbelievable. I don't like the sister connection. I could nitpick several other items but I won't.

I do like the scene of Michael walking straight through the glass door. Awesome shot. It is a decent continuation of the series but when it is all over it just seems really unnecessary.

WillieMLF

I honestly can't ever remember having seen this one, or it was the edited TV version. It seems Cold Prey 2 got the idea for a sequel in the hospital from Halloween 2.

pacaway

Now having watched this, I can't recall having ever seen it before. None of it was familiar so I'm glad I bought it and watched it (not to mention finding the nice surprise of Terror in the Aisles being a special feature on the disc).
I have to agree with Trevor in that I also like the picking up where the last movie left off aspect of the film, but also have to agree with spiderbite in wondering 'where the heck are all the people in this hospital?' They really wasted this setting, which led to the most inexplicable thing in the film to me, taking me right out of the movie... who blows up a room in an HOSPITAL on purpose? I really don't think anyone would think that the end would justify THOSE means. No wonder he blew himself up too, so he wouldn't have to live up to the carnage that SHOULD have lead to. However, I did love the burning Michael walking out of the hospital and the his melting face in the close up. It definitely should have ended the franchise... but of course it didn't.

Trevor

Yep, I think it would have been best to retire Michael after this one and continue what they tried to start with Halloween III: a different horror film every year centered on the day of Halloween.

Trevor

Regarding the hospital being so empty, I've worked in a hospital for 31 years so have some input.

I work in a major trauma center, a hospital that's grown into a huge campus with dozens of building, multiple helipads, maybe 1000 patient rooms. But even now, on slow holiday nights, it can get pretty barren and creepy, especially in the basement levels. I could see murders happening and not being noticed for awhile even now; but especially 20-30 years when the hospital was much smaller.

I worked hospital security in my early days there, and we also staffed our sister smaller hospital site a few miles down the road. It was a tiny complex, more akin to the small-town hospital seen in this film. I worked night shift, and we literally had maybe 5 employees on duty some nights, and two of those were on call and slept across the street in a house the hospital rented.

One night, someone reported a break-in across the street at that house. My 19 year old self was called upon to go over to the creepy wooded home in the middle of the night to make sure everything was ok. I'll admit to being more stupid than brave, searched the home and found nothing. The cops who responded were upset that I went alone and touched the door handles, messing up any fingerprint analysis. Looking back, that night could have been a perfect Michael Myers scenario.

WillieMLF

I did note that compared to other movies where the stuntman is partially on fire, Michael was in high combustion mode in this scene.

CrazyMat

Yes this was a very good entry to the Halloween series. I wonder what might have been if the Halloween series would have been able to continue on a different story every year. I guess we will never know.