Halloween II

"More of the night he came home."

1981 1h 32m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

🥫

27%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.5

IMDB

★6.6TMDB · 2,331🥫27%Rotten Tomatoes●40Metacritic★6.5IMDB · 111,200

HorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“More of the night he came home.”

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Cast

Jamie Lee Curtis
Laurie Strode
Donald Pleasence
Dr Samuel Loomis
Lance Guest
Jimmy
Gloria Gifford
Nurse Virginia Alves
Leo Rossi
Budd Scarlotti
Pamela Susan Shoop
Nurse Karen Bailey
Tawny Moyer
Nurse Jill Franco
Ana Alicia
Nurse Janet Marshall

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rick Rosenthal
Writers: John Carpenter, Debra Hill
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $26M — a 10.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

45 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Halloween Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rick Rosenthal, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Carpenter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Mark Goldblatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence and Lance Guest carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rick Rosenthal directs. Dean Cundey behind the camera. John Carpenter scores. Mark Goldblatt cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $2.5M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $26M — a 10.2× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
345 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "Halloween Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Rick Rosenthal, shot by Dean Cundey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by John Carpenter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Mark Goldblatt shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence and Lance Guest carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "More of the night he came home.".
10IMDB entry: tt0082495 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has multiple community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
12Classified under 8 themes, including "mask", "sheriff", "halloween", "sequel".
13Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Original score: John Carpenter
Editing: Mark Goldblatt
Production design: J. Michael Riva
Makeup / hair: Michael Germain
Sound: Gregg Landaker
Stunt coordinator: Dick Warlock
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $2,500,000
Box office: $25,533,818
Return: 1021% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Halloween II (1981)
Rotten Tomatoes: 27% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 40/100
IMDB rating: 6.5/10 · 111,200 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 3 nominations total

Part of

Halloween Collection

Halloween is a horror film series that consists of slasher films focused on the fictional character of Michael Myers. Michael's killings occur on the holiday of Halloween, on which all of the films primarily take place. Originally intended to be an anthology franchise, the only film that doesn't feature Michael or any of the characters from previous films is Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982). However, audiences were unhappy with Michael's disappearance, and he was eventually brought back for Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988).

Also by

Rick Rosenthal

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Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2017-11-08
★ 6/10
I might be the only person who thinks this, but Halloween II is just as good as the original. Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.
Filipe Manuel Neto2023-11-08
★ 5/10
An honorable continuation, which respects the previous work without bringing anything new. I don't like Halloween, and I've had time to say it before, but I recognize that it's the best time for good horror films to be broadcast on television. These days, I saw this film as a follow-up to “Halloween”. I have no doubt that it is a worthy sequel, perhaps one of the best I have seen, in that it is strictly faithful to the original and is made with quality. It is directed by Rick Rosenthal, but the team and cast remained the same, with the addition of specific names, and John Carpenter's inspiration continues in the script he wrote and in the attention he undoubtedly gave to the entire project. Pleasance is the actor who looks in the best shape here. He finally had better material and more time to show some value on stage. Jamie Lee Curtis has essentially stayed the same and retains much of what he did. It doesn't disappoint, but it doesn't bring any surprises either. The soundtrack also doesn't bring anything new, maintaining the essence of the first film's score, which is positive. After its initial success, it is no wonder that this film's budget was more substantial than that of the first, and that the number of corpses that fall throughout the plot also increases. A plot that is not particularly brilliant, well written and elegant, and that falls into the most basic clichés of slasher horror without any shame, but that manages, at least, to respect coherence with the original film and give the villain an almost iconic aura, an invulnerability that makes him unstoppable and impossible to kill, and that turned him into a cinema icon. In addition to these points of relative quality, we also have good lighting and cinematography, good use of sets and filming locations, better quality effects that are as well executed and practical as those previously used. Everything comes together, therefore, to form the image of a film that is not surprising, but manages to respect and stand alongside its predecessor.
CinemaSerf2025-02-06
If you recall the conclusion of the first part (1979) then you’ll know that “Michael Myers” is now the deadliest critter alive (that’s assuming that term actually applies!). He’s certainly not forgotten “Laurie” (Jamie Lee Curtis) who’s recovering in the local hospital and luckily for him, this is a dimly lit and largely empty facility that he can wander around with relative impunity slaughtering all who come onto his path. Perhaps the only hope for the bed-ridden gal is the determined doctor “Loomis” (Donald Pleasence) who has teamed up with the sheriff (Charles Cyphers) to try to thwart this latest attempt on her life. What’s pretty clear is that this new, improved, version of “Myers” isn’t going to give up easily and that bullets and knives aren’t going to work. How to stop him? It starts off quite strongly, this film, but once the scenario switches to the hospital it becomes all a bit too stage-managed for me. The place is conveniently dark and gloomy; there is but a skeleton staff and so his rampaging is left unfettered whilst the hitherto poorly patient appears to develop live-preserving ninja skills. Also, fortunately for her her nemesis never appears to want to run anywhere so she can always make it to the timely departing elevator or the conveniently positioned window whilst he flails around robotically trying to impale her on/with something. It relies too heavily on trying to build a gradually increasing sense of peril but with has such inevitability about it that I thought it became quite sterile after about half an hour. JLC doesn’t really feature so much and the only real screaming that goes on here is that which suggests sequel. It’s watchable enough, but hasn’t the creepiness of the first one and most of his victims probably deserved their fates!