Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
After failing to kill stubborn survivor Laurie and taking a bullet or six from former psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis, Michael Myers has followed Laurie to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she's been admitted for Myers' attempt on her life. The institution proves to be particularly suited to serial killers, however, as Myers cuts, stabs and slashes his way through hospital staff to reach his favorite victim.
Halloween II is a competent but uninspired follow-up that relocates Michael Myers to a hospital setting, offering some atmospheric corridor stalking but little of the original's tension or innovation. The plot is thin and largely an excuse for kill sequences, with the retconned sibling twist feeling contrived rather than revelatory. Acting is functional at best, with Donald Pleasence doing his usual frantic Loomis routine and Jamie Lee Curtis spending much of the film sedated or fleeing. Dean Cundey's cinematography provides some genuine atmosphere and effective use of the hospital's sterile environment, which is the film's strongest asset. Novelty is low — it's a direct continuation that largely recycles the slasher formula without the craft or originality that made Carpenter's original distinctive. The ending, while not particularly surprising, provides reasonable closure to the Myers-Laurie-Loomis triangle and features a memorably fiery climax.