John Carpenter did not want to make a sequel to his smash hit indie flick HalloweeN, but Moustapha Akkad convinced him. Carpenter got to work thinking of ideas. His first idea took place three years after the events of the original HalloweeN, in Chicago. Laurie would be a suffering alcoholic/pill popper/whatever. Anyways, Michael comes after her. Of course, this sounds very similar to the plot of HalloweeN H20. Unfortunately, this idea was not in the budget. It is interesting to note that in HalloweeN II, Jamie Lee Curtis is wearing a wig, as she has already cut her hair short. HalloweeN II picks up exactly where HalloweeN left off. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to the Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, where she is treated. Meanwhile, Loomis (Donald Pleasence) and Brackett (Charles Cyphers) are on the hunt for Michael. When Brackett finds out his daughter, Annie (Nancy Loomis) was killed, he leaves the case to Deputy Gary Hunt (Hunter Von Leer). Loomis sees a man in a Myers mask, and believes it to be Myers. Loomis causes some commotion, pulling out his gun, which causes a car crash, with the masked man in the middle. Later, Loomis and Hunt find out the man was not Michael Myers. The real Michael Myers has tracked down Laurie, and is wandering the halls of the relatively empty hospital, killing doctors and nurses everywhere, while Laurie sleeps in her room. Meanwhile, Loomis and Hunt go to Myers' old elementary school, looking for clues. They find a picture, drawn Myers. Young Myers is standing with his two sisters. He punctured the picture, with a knife, right through one of them. Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) comes in, and brings an end to the hunt. She tells Loomis that the governor has ordered him to return to Smiths Grove. Accompanied by a Marshall, Loomis and Chambers drive away from Haddonfield. Back at HMH, Myers is running wild, killing nurses, paramedics, guards, and doctors everywhere. Laurie, is dazed, and has no idea what's going on. Back in the marshal's car, Chambers informs Loomis that Laurie was actually Michael's sister, given up for adoption. This entices Loomis, who pulls his gun on the marshal, and orders to be taken back to the hospital, to protect Laurie. Once Loomis returns to HMH, and reunites with Laurie, all hell breaks loose, as Michael attepts to get his other sister. Loomis and Laurie will soon learn that The Nightmare Isn't Over. The Boogeyman's Review HalloweeN II is a very good sequel to a very good movie, which cannot be matched. One unfortunate point of this movie is that Carpenter decided to go for a more gory approach, following the success of Friday the 13th, and the movie lacks the substance which the original had. Never-the-less, Halloween II is an entertaining, and enjoyable movie, that any horror fan should not miss. **** out of *****