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Halloween II (1981)

tomatometer

20

Average Rating: 4.4/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 4

No consensus yet.

audience

66

liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 72,222

My Rating

Movie Info

While John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic Halloween irrevocably changed the style of horror cinema with its simple but relentlessly tense story, it triggered more than a decade's worth of uninspired, exploitative knock-offs, and one could easily list Halloween II among these failures. As with its predecessor, this film was written and produced by Carpenter and Debra Hill, but the terse style and unbearable suspense of the first film are missing, replaced by a more simplistic stalk-and-slash

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Drama, Horror

Sep 22, 1998

Universal Pictures

Cast

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (22) | DVD (11)

Rick Rosenthal, who directed this 1981 sequel, doesn't have Carpenter's expansive, affectionate way with stereotypical characters, and without it they're empty shells -- bodies waiting for the slaughter.

August 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

This uninspired version amounts to lukewarm sloppy seconds in comparison to the original film that made director John Carpenter a hot property.

August 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a little sad to witness a fall from greatness, and that's what we get in Halloween II.

October 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comments (3)
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Halloween II is good enough to deserve a sequel of its own.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Halloween is a classic and its first sequel is a sloppy afterthought.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Any childhood favorite that is still a good deal of fun today is a movie worthy of some note.

September 15, 2011 Full Review Source: FEARnet | Comment (1)
FEARnet

A more than solid if admittedly inferior continuation.

October 28, 2008 Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | Comment
DustinPutman.com

The film is best if watched back-to-back with the first.

October 8, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter | Comment
ESplatter

Does the worst thing any sequel can ever do: it retroactively taints the original and makes it less interesting.

July 21, 2008 Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | Comment
Antagony & Ecstasy

A bad sequel to a good movie.

August 27, 2007 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | Comment
Austin Chronicle

Debra Hill and John Carpenter produced and wrote the screenplay, but this film is still a totally unnecessary and extremely poor sequel to the original.

August 27, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The result won't make any converts, but Jamie Lee Curtis is as good as ever.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

This kill-happy sequel is a lot bloodier than needed, but it's still pretty frightening nevertheless.

October 21, 2005 Comment
FulvueDrive-in.com

Substandard sequel.

May 1, 2005 Comment
7M Pictures

It's a little cheap to have a sequel that merely completes the story you SHOULD have told in Part 1, but as sequels go, this one's not bad.

November 29, 2003 Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | Comments (2)
EricDSnider.com

Absolutely awful, with no trace of the original's terror.

September 28, 2003 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment
Filmcritic.com
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Halloween II

A terrible, useless sequel that invests in mindless gore instead of creating any real tension. Besides, it is ridiculous how it turns Michael Myers into an indestructible monster and leaves the rest of the cast as shallow bodies for slaughter.

October 31, 2011
blacksheepboy

Super Reviewer

I love the Halloween films, but my words can't save a failure movie. I think this movie in particular was pretty funny since NO ONE else seemed to be in the hospital as the mayhem was going on! What kind of realism is that?

August 6, 2011
Eric Alvarez

Super Reviewer

    1. Laurie Strode: Help me!
    – Submitted by Maximus D (3 months ago)
    1. Sam Loomis: I'm sorry I left you. Are you all right?
    2. Laurie Strode: Why won't he die?
    – Submitted by Creep F (8 months ago)
    1. Sam Loomis: It's Time, Michael.
    – Submitted by Creep F (8 months ago)
    1. Marion: Marion Chambers with Dr. Loomis at the clinic he's here. [Voice on radio: Ah, ten-four. Unit calling, identify suspect.] Michael Myers! Just get your ass over here!
    – Submitted by Creep F (8 months ago)
    1. Budd: (singing) Amazing Grace, come sit on my face. Don't make cry. I need your pie.
    2. Jimmy: Look why don't you just shut up, all right?
    – Submitted by Creep F (8 months ago)

Movies Like Halloween II

Latest News for Halloween II

June 5, 2006:
Get Ready for a Very Zombie "Halloween"
If you love the original "Halloween," but have grown a little weary with the endless...

November 11, 2005:
In Other News..."Halloween" Producer Dies in Bomb Attack
Moustapha Akkad, producer of the cult "Halloween" slasher series and the director of three...

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Foreign Titles

  • Halloween II (1981) (DE)
  • Halloween II (1981) (UK)
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