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The Rewatchables ·

Halloween II

year 1981decade 80sdirector Rick Rosenthalgenre Horror
host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryanhost Van Lathanproducer Craig Horlbeck
All 38 categories

The film

Halloween II (1981)

Directed by Rick Rosenthal · Horror

92 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Dick Warlock Michael Myers
Jamie Lee Curtis Laurie Strode
Donald Pleasence Dr. Sam Loomis
Charles Cyphers Sheriff Leigh Brackett
Lance Guest Jimmy
Pamela Susan Shoop Nurse Karen Bailey
Hunter von Leer Deputy Gary Hunt
Tawny Moyer Nurse Jill Franco
Ana Alicia Nurse Assistant Janet Marshall
Nancy Stephens Marion Chambers

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

35:00

Most Rewatchable Scene

Ben Tramer’s mistaken-identity incineration

Ben Tramer’s mistaken-identity incineration

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:35:00Read transcript
  • The reprise remixes the original ending, Loomis’s “you don’t know what death is,” the opening score, and Michael stealing a kitchen knife into a propulsive first twelve minutes. — Bill Simmons
  • An elderly couple watching Night of the Living Dead while preparing a huge midnight sandwich creates domestic calm before Michael enters the neighborhood.
  • Ben Tramer is hit by a speeding police car, pinned to a van, and incinerated while Loomis and Brackett immediately leave; its grotesque scale and lack of aftermath make it the unanimous comic favorite.
  • Brackett closing Annie’s eyes and blaming Loomis is unexpectedly moving, while Loomis responds with monomaniacal indifference.
  • Loomis repeats his inhuman-patience speech like stand-up material and grows increasingly frantic as nobody believes Michael cannot die. — Bill Simmons
  • Karen and Bud’s workplace hot-tub tryst combines unhygienic absurdity, coercive set history, nudity, and the movie’s most iconic scalding murder.
  • The hypodermic deaths, scalpel lift, Laurie’s car hiding, blind Michael, and Loomis’s willingness to explode an occupied hospital are additional set pieces. — Bill Simmons
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44:25

The Joey Pants “That Guy” Award

Leo Rossi

Leo Rossi

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:25Read transcript
  • Rossi’s later role as one of The Accused’s attackers makes Bud immediately recognizable. — Bill Simmons
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53:33

The most 1981 thing

The Datsun truck

The Datsun truck

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 00:53:33Read transcript
  • A teenager carrying a boombox late downtown is the initiating example. — Bill Simmons
  • The nurses’ formal caps stand for vanished workplace uniforms.
  • The razor-blade-in-an-apple injury captures a powerful but possibly baseless era-specific Halloween panic.
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57:32

What’s Aged the Best?

The deserted-night hospital, delayed setup, erotic-to-repulsive murder pattern, messy vignettes, varied kills, Loomis...

The deserted-night hospital, delayed setup, erotic-to-repulsive murder pattern, messy vignettes, varied kills, Loomis’s speeches, Michael’s operational efficiency, and maternity-ward image

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:57:32Read transcript
  • A nearly empty hospital is unrealistic at this scale but authentically eerie to anyone who has visited one late.
  • The sequel spends thirty minutes continuing Halloween before introducing its own quiet hospital ensemble. — Chris Ryan
  • The film weaponizes arousal immediately before violent disgust and gives incidental newscaster and candy-injury vignettes texture. — Chris Ryan
  • Hammer, scalpel, needle, and scalding water show the genre learning to vary kills into distinct set pieces.
  • Pleasence’s reported chaotic 1981 SNL hosting and Loomis’s endlessly repeated warnings increase the character’s comic afterlife. — Bill Simmons
  • Michael follows the hospital sign, disables phones, lights, tires, fuel, security, the doctor, and nurses with systematic efficiency. — Bill Simmons
  • Michael standing among unattended newborns is among the franchise’s creepiest images. — Bill Simmons
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1:02:37

The Great Shot Gordo Award for Most Cinematic Shot

Michael stepping into the light behind Nurse Jill as she finds Dr. Mixter

Michael stepping into the light behind Nurse Jill as she finds Dr. Mixter

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:37Read transcript
  • Michael stepping into the light behind Nurse Jill as she finds Dr. Mixter wins. — Chris Ryan
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1:03:36

The Butch’s Girlfriend Award for the Weakest Link in the Film

Laurie’s drugged incapacitation

Laurie’s drugged incapacitation

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:36Read transcript
  • Two hosts object that the sequel mythologizes Laurie while giving Jamie Lee Curtis almost nothing to do; alternatives include killing her early or moving her to another hospital.
  • The dissent prefers the athletic original Michael to Warlock’s zombie-like movement and mask fit, while acknowledging fan arguments that six gunshots justify the stiffness. — Bill Simmons
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1:07:06

What’s Aged the Worst?

Laurie’s visible wig, the marshal’s blank response to the sibling reveal, fake blood, pointless school vandalism, the...

Laurie’s visible wig, the marshal’s blank response to the sibling reveal, fake blood, pointless school vandalism, the nicotine-yellowed mask, and hot-tub death mechanics

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 01:07:06Read transcript
  • Curtis’s shorter hair from another production makes the wig increasingly obvious on modern screens. — Chris Ryan
  • The marshal registers no information while Marion explains the newly unsealed sibling file. — Chris Ryan
  • The effects blood, Annie’s neck wound, and Michael’s school detour look artificial or purposeless. — Bill Simmons
  • Debra Hill’s cigarette smoke reportedly discolored the original mask in storage, and Warlock’s head changed its fit. — Bill Simmons
  • The panel debates whether Karen dies from burns or drowning and why Michael’s hands withstand scalding water.
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1:09:49

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

The elderly ER doctor’s inexplicably drunk performance

The elderly ER doctor’s inexplicably drunk performance

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:09:49Read transcript
  • The elderly ER doctor’s inexplicably drunk performance wins. — Bill Simmons
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1:11:30

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Michael Myers did not kill a Black person on screen until 2002 and was therefore jokingly radicalized by the O.J. trial.

Michael Myers did not kill a Black person on screen until 2002 and was therefore jokingly radicalized by the O.J. trial.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:11:30Read transcript
  • The argument excludes Nurse Alves because her death is offscreen and imagines 1990s court-TV and late-night coverage changing Michael’s politics. — Van Lathan
  • Later films’ Black victims are presented as the invented evidence for the transformation. — Van Lathan
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1:20:28

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Ben Tramer

Ben Tramer

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:20:28Read transcript
  • Ben Tramer wins for roughly 45 seconds culminating in the movie’s funniest death. — Bill Simmons
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1:26:46

Apex Mountain

No affirmative selection

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:26:46Read transcript
  • No person peaks here; mistaken-identity car crashes, same-night sequels, the early slasher era, and hospital horror are considered and rejected or left unresolved.
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1:27:56

Cruise or Hanks?

Hanks as Jimmy

Hanks as Jimmy

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:27:56Read transcript
  • Hanks works for Jimmy; Cruise is test-driven and rejected. — Bill Simmons
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1:35:01

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

The franchise has exhausted sequel and remake forms; Halloween: Resurrection is rejected as an adequate mostly Black ...

The franchise has exhausted sequel and remake forms; Halloween: Resurrection is rejected as an adequate mostly Black version.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:01Read transcript
  • The franchise has exhausted sequel and remake forms; Halloween: Resurrection is rejected as an adequate mostly Black version. — Bill Simmons
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1:35:21

Is This Movie Better With…?

Samuel L. Jackson as the marshal or Loomis; Cris Collinsworth as Garrett; Byron Mayo as Bud

Samuel L. Jackson as the marshal or Loomis; Cris Collinsworth as Garrett; Byron Mayo as Bud

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:21Read transcript
  • Jackson’s Loomis turns the inhumanity warning into a profane comic monologue. — Bill Simmons
  • Collinsworth calling Laurie and Michael’s reunion and Mayo reassuring Karen about the hot tub are distinct commentary pitches.
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1:36:48

Just One Oscar

Tentatively, the score

Tentatively, the score

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:48Read transcript
  • The score is the only proposed recipient, but the panel remains unsure. — Bill Simmons
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1:39:58

What Piece of Memorabilia Would You Want From This Movie?

The original nicotine-stained Michael Myers mask

The original nicotine-stained Michael Myers mask

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:39:58Read transcript
  • Its fragility and value require a safe rather than allowing visitors to wear it. — Bill Simmons
  • A cited 2012 asking price of one million dollars is treated cautiously because the page’s authenticity is unclear.
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1:42:06

The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson

When a homicidal maniac is loose, find your children, check in, and organize a phone chain.

When a homicidal maniac is loose, find your children, check in, and organize a phone chain.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:06Read transcript
  • When a homicidal maniac is loose, find your children, check in, and organize a phone chain. — Bill Simmons
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1:42:16

Who Won the Movie?

Michael Myers

Michael Myers

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:42:16Read transcript
  • Two choices go to “Big Mikey” for relentless presence and survival.
  • The dissent chooses Pleasence because Loomis dominates the movie, commits to every warning, and survives an arc nearly as indestructible as Michael’s.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Michael Myers
Speaker not identified
Michael Myers
Speaker not identified
Donald Pleasence / Dr. Loomis
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