Halloween II

John Carpenter wrote the sequel but refused to direct: he had made that film once and did not want to again. The job went first to Tommy Lee Wallace, art director on the original, and on his refusal passed to Rick Rosenthal, hired off a film school short, The Toyer. Making Laurie and Michael siblings was no earlier plan. Carpenter later called the idea foolish and the 2018 Halloween undid it. The money changed too: $320,000 for the first, $2.5 million for this. Jamie Lee Curtis, now short haired, wore a wig as Laurie. About 14 minutes came out in the edit, and Carpenter spotted a gap: how does Michael know Laurie is at the hospital? He shot the answer himself, a boy with a radio bumping into him in the street. Finding the rough cut unfrightening, he refilmed deaths with more blood; Rosenthal said his pacing was wrecked. At the 1982 Saturn Awards the film sat among the best horror film nominees and Donald Pleasence among those for best actor; both lost. A good fit if you want a sequel that starts a minute after the first film’s last shot and runs to that same morning. Not for you if you want the restraint of the original; some of the blood was added later to raise the fright.