Halloween II (iRiffs)

Film Year:  1981
Genre:  Horror
Director:  Rick Rosenthal
Starring:  Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Charles Cyphers, Dick Warlock
Riffers:  The Movie Asylum (James Rosenthal, Ben Rosenthal, Steve Lutz)

The Movie

*I HAVE SURVIVED WATCHING THIS MOVIE UNRIFFED*

As the imitators began spreading like wildfire it was only a matter of time before Michael Myers came back in an attempt to remind everyone who started the shock wave.  Buuuuuut...maybe he should have left the imitators to look like morons and have been the one smart enough to be one and done.  Halloween II has virtues, but overall it's a shell of the original.

Continuing on from the original's open end as if it was always meant to be a "To be continued..." seemed like a fairly solid idea.  Halloween II has Myers still on his murder spree from the first film and Donald Pleasence still obsessively looking for him.  Jamie Lee Curtis has been taken to the hospital to treat her paper cut while nobody gives a shit what happened to the kids she was babysitting.  Myers then continues to stalk Curtis at the hospital while pointless details about him and her being brother and sister are revealed.

Halloween II brings interesting elements to the table, but isn't quite sure how to present them while succumbing to the pressure to be a slasher movie sequel at the same time.  It's nowhere near as tight and stylish as the original and it's obviously trying to emulate Friday the 13th rather than the previous film.  It does have an attempt in honoring the first in trying to build on the foundation of it by continuing the story and adding new elements, though arguably what they add only detracts.  Making Curtis's character a sibling to the masked killer does give Myers a motive, though arguably Myers didn't need one.  Following the flow of the storyline into a hospital seems like the right way to go, but portraying the hospital as all-but-abandoned and full of shadows seems contrary to every damn hospital I've ever been in.

Pleasence and Curtis at the very least are still very good here, holding this rather poor script on their shoulders.  But there is a reason why I watch the original Halloween every year and not Halloween II.

The Riff

"Halloween 11?  Oh please tell me this isn't the one with Busta Rhymes."

The Movie Asylum at first glance seems like another one-and-done riffing group on the iRiffs front, though it appears they have a few releases under their belt.  It seems like the only other riff they've done is for the 2000 animated film Titan A.E. and they've also offered a serial riff as well.  The product description lists Halloween II as their first riff, though the version I purchased seems to be a "special edition" sorts.  The revised intro claims some sort of "storyline" was cut (I have no clue what this means) and says the original version had poor audio and this new one is cleaned up with a few new riffs.  I will state outright that I have not listened to the original version.  This remastered one however is pretty solid.

Now I will say I have some issues with the delivery.  For the most part some of the riffs make the riffers sound very bored.  There is one riffer in particular, and I have no clue who it is because there is no name introduction to these people, who is very nasally and has no vocal presence whatsoever.  Most riffs that come from this guy land with a thud.  There is also a poor run on gag about a continuity error in the film where Donald Pleasence fires seven shots out of a six shooter, which at times made me say out loud "Oh my god, just drop it!"

But overall given some lackluster delivery I have to say I actually found this riff pretty funny.  The Movie Asylum has some work to do regarding delivery, but the riff script they've put together is quite good.  There are a lot of lines that made me laugh out loud and a few great moments that show a lot of promise in this group.  One of my favorites is a lymeric one sings during the movie's theme that accompanies Myers wandering down the street which is pretty creative and funny.

If you're looking for a fan riff that might be worth listening to, Halloween II runs only 99 cents on the iRiffs section at rifftrax.com and I'd say I got my money's worth.  The Movie Asylum might have had a great riffing future had they stayed at it too.

Good