Trivia / Halloween II (2009)

• Author Appeal: Rob Zombie is vegan. Due to Laurie's traumatic experiences in the first film, she's vegetarian in this film and comments about how Sherriff Brackett needs to cut down on the animal products. Cue footage of Brackett eating a meat-topped pizza like a caveman intercut with footage of Michael eating a dog he just killed. It's incredibly nauseating and very effective.
• Creator Backlash:
  • Danielle Harris isn't a fan of the film. Although she liked the scenes she shot with Brad Dourif, she thinks the film was too busy and disorganized for its own good.
  • Rob Zombie himself wasn't too satisfied with the film either, largely because he didn't want to make it in the first place and had to endure frequent Executive Meddling that resulted in the film's plot becoming disjointed and badly paced. Zombie has better feelings for the Director's Cut, however, which is more consistent and overall closer to his vision of the film.
• Keep Circulating the Tapes:
  • Only the director's cut was available on Sony's US Blu-ray. For those that do prefer the drastically different theatrical cut (or completists), the only way to own it on Blu-ray is to track down Alliance Atlantis' Canadian double feature of this film and Rob Zombie's first Halloween. Conveniently, it is also the only way to get the theatrical version of that film on Blu-ray (though its own director's cut has the same ending but some scene differences). Anchor Bay's 15-disc boxset of the franchise produced with Scream Factory also includes only the director's cut, despite alternate cuts being included for other films.
  • Now that the home video rights to the movie have reverted from Sony to Lionsgate, the film is out-of-print on Blu-ray as a whole. Lionsgate reissued only the theatrical cut on a barebones DVD in 2021, and this is the only cut available to rent digitally. You can still buy the Director's Cut on DVD, however.
• One for the Money; One for the Art: Rob Zombie originally stated he would never do a sequel to Halloween (2007), until the studio decided to make it with or without him. Then he signed on to write and direct, because he didn't want someone to ruin his vision. He also agreed to make the film in exchange for being allowed to make The Lords of Salem with Blumhouse Productions.
• The Other Darrin: Chase Wright Vanek replaces Daeg Faerch as young Michael Myers as Faerch had grown too old for the part.
• Same Language Dub: The stripper that Michael Myers smashes into a mirror was voiced by Cindy Robinson.
• Spared by the Cut: Laurie is institutionalized after her Sanity Slippage in the theatrical version, while in the director's cut, she's shot and killed.
• Torch the Franchise and Run: Rob Zombie went out of his way to make it nearly impossible to continue this iteration of the franchise, having both Loomis and Michael killed, and Laurie either committed to an asylum or dead, depending on the cut. Rob even invoked this with his contract; he'd signed a three-picture deal with the Weinsteins, but hated working with them so much on the first film that he only agreed to do this one if they altered his contract and he didn't have to do the third film.
• Troubled Production: This was a stressful and torturous production for everyone involved, and sent the franchise back to the grave for almost a decade:
  • After the success of the 2007 reboot, The Weinstein Company wanted to quickly greenlight a sequel, but Rob Zombie wasn't interested in returning, citing the stress and Executive Meddling of the first film, and wanted to move on with his career. The studio went through about ten scripts and seven directors before he begrudgingly agreed to sign on again, assuming it would be a quicker and easier production than the first film, and worried about what another filmmaker would do to his version of the characters. He also saw the project as an opportunity to create something very different for the series, and wanted it to be the final film in the franchise.
  • While location scouting for the film in Atlanta, Zombie learned that the studio had commissioned another script with another writer behind his back, and he quit the production in anger, but they eventually convinced him to return. Then the day before the first day of shooting, they cut two weeks from the schedule. Since Zombie refused to cut anything from his script, filming was extremely rushed, usually with about twelve pages being shot every day, with the local crew unprepared to handle it, and the film ended up going over budget. Some scenes from the script ultimately couldn't be filmed, and countless scenes were written and rewritten during the course of production. At the very end of filming, Zombie even kept shooting into an extra day in secret without the studio's permission.
  • The film ran into difficulties with securing Malcolm McDowell to reprise his role of Dr. Loomis. His deal to return wasn't finalized until filming was well under way, and most of his scenes were rewritten and shot in a single day at a hotel. Daeg Faerch was also supposed to reprise his role of young Michael Myers, but it was obvious when he got to set that he had outgrown the role, so Chase Wright Vanek was brought in as a last minute recast. The studio also vehemently disagreed with Zombie's choice to cast Mary Birdsong as Loomis's assistant, feeling that the role should've gone to a better-known actress, despite the character being a small role. She was ultimately cast and flown in hours before filming her scenes.
  • Making everything worse was the winter weather in Atlanta, which was so rainy that the crew had to bring in rain machines to keep it consistent. At least one outdoor set was washed away by the rain, and one day a blizzard came through Georgia, forcing the crew to accommodate the foot of snow on the ground. The sequence of Laurie running outside the hospital was especially challenging for Scout-Taylor Compton, who was wearing little more than a hospital gown in the freezing rain, while Tyler Mane was wearing a wetsuit.
  • One entire day's worth of film stock was accidentally x-rayed at the airport, ruining the footage, and Zombie had no choice but to reshoot all of it with no extra time. This included all of Richard Brake's scenes, and he had to quickly fly back from London with just a few hours' notice.
  • Bill Moseley was supposed to come in for a day to appear as the bouncer, but got fed up with how the Weinstein behaved towards him and rage-quit. This forced Rob Zombie to scramble to hire a replacement actor quickly, even though there was no time to hold auditions for a recast. Jeff Daniel Phillips ultimately had to fill in for the role, even though he was already playing another character in this same film. Mosley has made it no secret he though Rob Zombie was treated like crap during the production.
  • The studio insisted on adding more gore at the last minute, and inserts were quickly filmed in Los Angeles during the editing process, in some cases just a couple weeks before the film opened. They also found the ending (where Laurie is fatally shot by the police) too downbeat, so they ordered it reshot to resemble a more traditional slasher ending (where Laurie surrenders to police and is confined to a mental institution). Because of the short schedule, Zombie could not complete his cut on time as intended, forcing the theatrical release to go out with a shorter cut and an almost incomprehensible story.
  • The film was initially panned by critics and polarized fans of the series. Some praised Zombie's ambition and fresh take on the franchise. Others found the film to be pretentious, excessively violent, nihilistic, and all around confusing, as well as too much of a departure for the franchise. The film disappointed at the box office, grossing only $33 million in the US and $39 million worldwide (on a $15 million budget). Fortunately, Zombie was able to finish a director's cut for the DVD and Blu-ray release, which was considerably better received for its improved character development, more coherent story, and more impactful ending, and it's amassed a cult following.^note Zombie has ultimately disowned the theatrical cut, and it's increasingly difficult to find. However, Zombie was denied permission to include his four hour documentary on the film's production (a staple of his films, including his first Halloween) because it reflected negatively of The Weinstein Company. While a sequel was greenlit a few years later, Zombie once again refused to return, and it ultimately fell into Development Hell. The Weinstein Company lost the rights to the franchise in 2015 because it took too long to put a new film into production. Blumhouse ended up taking over, and produced a direct sequel to the original '78 film in 2018.
• What Could Have Been: John Carpenter was offered a cameo in the film by Rob Zombie, but he turned it down.
• You Look Familiar:
  • The actor who gets stomped to death behind the strip club later turns up as the green-faced host of the big Halloween party.
  • Which itself becomes funny when Bill Moseley, the original actor, dropped out from playing the role. The reason why it's funny is because he had a victim role in the reshot scenes of the 2007 remake, appearing in the theatrical cut of the film.

---