If Bullets Don't Work, Try an Explosion

 In all seriousness, though, John Carpenter really did make sure to fucking kill Michael in Halloween II (1981) and yet even with "Halloween 4" (1988) or "Halloween H20" (1998), they really had to stretch logic to the max to bring him back. I can only imagine Carpenter, after the film really shows the burning mask of Michael to close the film to assure us he was toast, had to have been rolling his eyes at any return of The Shape. The Shape was burning. Nonetheless we can't help but want The Shape to just keep coming back.

My daughter come into the room and wanted to talk slashers with me after some early going in "Halloween II" where Michael is moving throughout neighborhoods in Cali---Haddonfield, and I realized that my interest in this particular viewing was Dr. Loomis. I think because of the 2018 film seemed to hint at Loomis and bring him up some, he really wasn't such a strong presence. While in "Halloween 5" (1989) this year I was more than a bit annoyed with how Loomis is basically a raving madman even more dangerous than Myers practically, I found myself just looking forward specifically to Loomis in "Halloween II". And I think the extra time Loomis gets attention instead of Laurie really emphasizes how much this is the doctor's pursuit of Michael as much as Michael's pursuit of his sister. And watching it tonight, the brother/sister inclusion really did feel shoehorned, which hadn't really even stuck out too much in the past. I just went along with Michael as brother, Laurie as his sister. But this film felt like Loomis had good time to add to Michael's mystique. And the Samhain and school sequence further built on top of that.

But this viewing wasn't entirely enveloping. My daughter loves to talk and so my attention wasn't always concrete on the film. But I have seen this so many times I can't count at this point. No biggie.