“Halloween” is a truly great movie that has inspired countless cheap imitators in the same way “Star Wars” has but I had somewhat reasonable expectations for the series’ second outing (especially since the original prompted one so you knew one was always meant to come out). It’s not like I’m walking into a film titled “Halloween XI: Reanimation of Michael Myers” or “Michael Myers vs. Mike Myers” (I would be surprised to find those two films in the pipeline). “Halloween II” is the first film but without any attention to detail, any understanding of violence and any skill.

“Halloween II” starts with the ending of the first film but with a bunch of new camera angles and it kills the scene. Then we get treated to a terrible version of the theme tune. When the film begins Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis “True Lies”) is recovering from her injuries in a hospital but serial killer Michael Myers is after her.

Michael Myers was somewhat believable in the first film but here he takes a beating worthy of being in an old-fashioned cartoon. I can’t believe that within the space of a mere two films he goes from being a ruthless and feared killer to a superhuman laughing-stock and if he were real he’d be ending up on a reality tv show anytime soon. The Laurie Strode character lacks the great situation she was in during the first film for us to truly care about her. The other characters feel poor.

“Halloween II” has very graphic violence compared to the first film but it is a lot less impressive. I highly recommend the original and I highly recommend purposely avoiding the sequels and other cheap clones. “Halloween II” can be placed among films such as “Alien 3” as being a dive off a mountain for a film franchise.