Blu-ray Review: Halloween 2

Halloween II
Written & Directed by Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Brad Douriff, and Scout Taylor-Compton

If you are a regular reader of this site than you are no doubt aware of my feelings towards Rob Zombie's Halloween 2. If not, you can read my original review here. Be warned, it is loaded with spoilers.

Here we are now with the Blu-ray release of the film. This time it is a Director's Cut with about 14 minutes or so additional footage.

Let me say, it is avast improvement. What a difference 14 minutes can make. The film makes much more sense and it allows for you to actually believe what happens to Laurie Strode.

Granted, the film is still a colossal mess, it's just a little cleaner now. There is still Hobo Michael Myers running around with a beard and a bed roll. We see his face far too much for my liking. He does something wildly out of character at the end of the film but I am not as mad about it as I thought I'd be. It Zombie's world the action is forgivable because it's a different character than in the original films.

One of the biggest problems still remains in that these characters are almost caricatures of what they should be. Loomis is fame obsessed and pretty much an awful human being. His attempt at redemption seems more like a publicity stunt than anything else. Laurie is a complete mess which is understandable I guess and we see more of her in therapy which helps sell her ultimate fate.

The best performances remain courtesy of Danielle Harris and Brad Douriff. They're the most believable, the most natural and the most likable in the entire film. I hope we see more of Danielle. She really deserves all the work she gets.

On Blu-ray the film isn't the crisp gorgeous picture you might expect. In fact, it's quite grainy, but you know what? It works. It makes it feel like a throwback to the 70's and 80's horror which I'm sure Zombie was aiming for. It's still dark as hell though.

Special features wise you get commentary from Rob Zombie (which I have not heard yet), deleted scenes, audition footage, make up test footage, bloopers, music videos, and stand up routines from Uncle Seymour Coffins. There was enough hillbilly humor in the movie for me so I skipped that last one as well.

While it's still my least favorite film in the franchise, the Unrated Directors Cut is a major improvement over it's theatrical counterpart.

While I wouldn't suggest blowing $30 bucks on the disc, it might be worth checking out when the price drops.

Halloween 2 is in stores now.