Halloween II

There isn’t really a story in Halloween II, writer-director Rob Zombie’s unseasonal sequel to his 2007 relaunch of the Halloween series. Most of its 101 minutes are filled with routine slasher scenes and flecks of pop-Freudian hokum about why the infamous Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) is such a murderously unhappy guy. And the movie doesn’t boast much in the way of characters either, unless you count a permanently hysterical heroine (Scout Taylor-Compton) or Malcolm McDowell’s one-note turn as Myers’ sleazy shrink-turned-biographer. What Halloween II does have, though, is Zombie’s claustrophobic visual style; he half-drowns his actors in shadow, then tracks them through windows and around corners like a focused predator. If only we cared about the prey. C+

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