Media, Misinformation and the Illusion of Safety in ‘Halloween II’
It is no surprise at this point to note that Halloween was never intended to have a sequel. The ending was never meant to be a cliffhanger so much as a final shock for the viewer, to let the movie end on the terrifying notion that evil was not defeated and could in fact be anywhere, maybe even hiding in the back seat of your car. Irwin Yablans, however, seemed to spring ideas for a sequel pretty much right away. This is interesting to note, because he was proposing it at just the wrong time. It’s not, of course, that there hadn’t been sequels by 1979, but the age of the sequel had not quite come and so the idea at the time seemed pretty radical. It’s largely unclear what this original incarnation of Halloween II would have been, but some key plot details stand out.
There were ideas that it would have taken place several years later and that it would have been set in a secure high rise in which Laurie Strode lives as a shut-in, mentally preparing for the fact that Michael Myers will inevitably return for her and wanting to be as ready as she can be when that time comes. This is interesting for a couple reasons, the first being that aside from the high-rise angle, it seems to have a lot in common with the 2018 movie. The other reason, though, is that it is almost the complete opposite of the Halloween II we actually got. Trade in a sequel with a significant time jump for one set immediately after the first film — in fact, it picks up right before the ending, technically. That trade, however, is also trading out a prepared and alert Laurie for the realities of the 1981 sequel, in which the heroine is drugged and unconscious for most of the runtime, and is almost an afterthought. Carpenter and Hill also briefly considered filming the sequel in 3D, before deciding that would be too much of a nightmare for the extensive night shoots.
We could speculate on what changed for the world to catch up with Yablans’ desire to see a sequel, but the answer is a pretty short one: Friday the 13th. Not necessarily that movie in particular, but the snowball effect it helped to create. Sure, Halloween directly inspired the creation of Friday the 13th, as its creators have never been shy of acknowledging, but Friday the 13th led to My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, The Burning, Happy Birthday to Me, Terror Train, and so on and so on, all in rapid succession. These types of films dominated the horror climate to the point that only two years after its release, the landscape had changed so fundamentally that it suddenly felt weird not to have a sequel to Halloween.
Most fans know the story from there. John Carpenter did not return to direct because he simply couldn’t imagine a sequel to Halloween, but he did agree to produce and once again write alongside Debra Hill. The story is set on the exact same night, moving right into Laurie’s transportation to the hospital and Dr. Loomis and Sheriff Brackett’s continued search for Michael after he disappeared from the lawn of the Doyle house. Carpenter attributes the film’s major, franchise-defining twist (that Laurie and Michael are, in fact, long-lost siblings) to a decision fueled by a six-pack of beer. Because of that, some fans mark Halloween II as the beginning of the end. And I do think in general that discussion of the movie has changed over time to bemoan how much it does wrong, while unfortunately losing focus of how much it does right.
Those wrong things include the aforementioned sister twist that really no one was ever a fan of on the production but which nonetheless stayed in the script and wound up getting shot. And, after that, wound up defining the series for decades to come. The sidelining of Laurie Strode, a resourceful and relatable heroine in the original, is also hard to overcome. Halloween II suffers a bit for that, but while it loses that focus on a sole heroine it also expands on the scope, as every good horror sequel should do. In some ways, Halloween II doesn’t feel that much larger than the first, except perhaps for the body count. But it’s worth pointing out that the bulk of Halloween was spent centered on a single street. Not even that, but two houses on the street, directly facing one another. That was perfect for the intimacy of the original and the general unawareness on the part of virtually every character but Loomis to the fact that they were actually in any kind of danger.
In that respect, Halloween II represents a shift from its opening moments. Michael has disappeared from the yard, the paramedics are just arriving on the scene, and information begins to spread. That, to me, is the most fascinating and well-executed thing about this sequel. It’s not only about how a town reacts to tragedy, but how it reacts immediately. Media coverage is a through line that carries this film from beginning to end, starting with the opening awareness of the murders and the killer loose on the streets. When Michael first leaves the yard of the Doyle house, he wanders the neighborhood in search of a new weapon (and new victims) and as he does, we start to hear the earliest inklings of how the events are being reported. Neighbors hear that “some girl” was killed in Haddonfield, it’s news to learn that it’s “just down the street.”
The way the town gradually becomes aware of the situation and the way that the media covers the tragedy are some of the strongest elements of Halloween II, without a doubt, not to mention the most realistic. In some ways, the sequel limits itself by carrying on immediately from the end of the first, but this allows for some natural developments that would normally be glossed over in a slasher sequel, such as the fact that it’s almost a half hour into the movie before Sheriff Brackett even becomes aware of the fact that his daughter is dead. From the opening moments to the last scene, we have constant news coverage on the television and radio. It interrupts Mr. Elrod’s viewing of Night of the Living Dead, with updates again and again until we literally end the film with Laurie being hounded by cameras and reporters as she is loaded into yet another ambulance and taken away.
The purpose of the news is, of course, to spread information in hopes of keeping the public alert and informed, so it’s very interesting (and really no surprise) that it winds up doing more harm than good. Now that people are aware of his escape, you would think Michael would be much easier to find, but the media coverage of his crimes winds up being the best safety blanket he could ask for. Through most of the film, Michael keeps to the back alleys and the shadows, hiding in darkened rooms, perfectly aware of the fact that people are now looking for him. It’s a stark contrast to the fact that earlier in the day he could simply walk the street as he pleased in broad daylight.
The brief moments we see any of the reporters away from the cameras suggest their intentions aren’t entirely noble as they’re much more in pursuit of a sensationalized story than in keeping the people of Haddonfield safe, as one reporter even notes that if they can’t find a parent to consent to a child giving a statement to just “get a statement anyway.” Possibly because of this, the effect of the media in Halloween II is twofold, and both are damaging: it creates a false sense of security for the townspeople while simultaneously telling Michael Myers everything he needs to know.
After all, Michael knows to stick to the shadows and stay hidden because he saw the report in the Elrod house and knows that everyone is now aware of his escape and is looking for him. He also wanders town rather aimlessly until he hears on the radio that Laurie has been taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital and then of course knows exactly where to find her. Outside of a knife, a scalpel, and a hypodermic needle, the news is Michael’s greatest weapon. He doesn’t just hide under the cover of darkness, but under the cover of misinformation.
The news is quick to report, before any official statement has been made, that Michael Myers is dead after Ben Tramer is struck and killed by one of Haddonfield’s Finest after being chased into the street by Loomis. Halloween II does a really interesting thing here because it leads to about a twenty-minute stretch of movie where Michael is totally absent. We, the audience, know that the guy in the blond mask wasn’t Michael, but there’s a very clever tension in just how long they hold off showing him again after that. This is of course the most harmful display of misinformation in the film because it lulls the residence of Haddonfield into a false sense of security as they believe the nightmare is over. But there are little touches of a town-wide game of telephone that convey just how quickly stories can twist into fiction and also help to create the most lived-in and realistic version of Haddonfield out of the entire franchise. The best example of this would naturally be when Nurse Janet mentions that her friend Julie saw Michael Myers the day before, only to be quickly shut down by the reminder that he didn’t escape until that night.
For all of the realness of the news coverage, the setting of Haddonfield Memorial Hospital almost stands in stark contrast as it feels heavily surreal. First, there’s the oft-mentioned fact that it is completely understaffed. But it’s not just that. Yes, there are far fewer people at this hospital than there should be (nurses and doctors aside, where are the patients?) but that’s also accompanied by an expressionistic atmosphere. The hospital is not only not well lit, it is drenched in heavy shadows stretching down long, empty hallways. This is a look that director Rick Rosenthal was definitely going for, as he’s mentioned that he was extremely influenced by early German Expressionist movies like Nosferatu and Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, but the influence is really only noticeable when inside the hospital. Everything outside of that, on the streets of Haddonfield, looks and feels like a natural continuation of the original film.
Halloween II’s focus on the spread of information definitely extends to the hospital as well. For as many unrealistic touches as there are, there are some troublingly realistic ones, too. The sheer lack of preparation on the hospital’s part might be the clearest example of the fact that no one expected anything like this to happen, nor do they have any idea what to do about it. It’s mentioned several times across both the first and the second movie that nothing like this has happened in the fifteen years since Michael Myers killed his sister. The hospital is totally understaffed, the leading doctor (apparently the only one in town) even left the hospital to attend a Halloween party and is already very drunk by the time he arrives back at work to deal with Laurie’s injuries.
While the reveal that Laurie is Michael’s long-lost sister does take away the enigmatic punch of the original, Michael himself is no less of a sphinx-like presence. If anything, the Expressionist depiction of the hospital only helps to elevate his boogeyman status as a kind of walking nightmare, stalking down long and dream-like hallways which feel appropriate as Laurie herself spends much of the film asleep. She never even verbally acknowledges her revelation of her shared connection with Michael, but instead only ever comes to terms with it through unconscious and unreliable flashbacks. Dick Warlock’s performance as the shape has been long-criticized as stiff and robotic, but while there are moments of that — particularly the shot of him lumbering down the stairs — the overall physical performance is anything but. Warlock’s Michael is fluid, almost mime-like; he glides in and out of the shadows, like ink spilling across a page. It’s the perfect version of Michael for this film, as it helps him to feel like an unwanted, unreal element in a town’s very real, chaotic and earnest reaction to tragedy.
Halloween II receives a wealth of criticism for what it set up, for the path it carved for the direction of the franchise, but judged on its own merit as a film and its telling of the town of Haddonfield’s gradual awareness toward the events of Halloween, it still remains one of the best sequels of the franchise.
