Halloween II has always occupied an interesting place in the history of the franchise. The 1981 sequel brought back Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode and Donald Pleasence as Dr. Loomis, picked up immediately after the events of John Carpenter‘s original Halloween, and was directed by Rick Rosenthal rather than Carpenter.
But how much of Halloween II is actually Rosenthal’s movie? That’s a complicated question, because Carpenter has openly admitted that he took a much more active role in the film than his producer and writer credits might suggest. He eventually took over the editing, cut substantial material from Rosenthal’s version, and shot additional footage.
With Halloween II recently returning to theatres and spooky season approaching, it’s a good time to revisit Carpenter’s own explanations for what happened behind the scenes.
Carpenter didn’t want to direct another Halloween movie. Instead, Rick Rosenthal was brought in to direct the sequel. Rosenthal had limited experience at the time, but Carpenter had been impressed by his short film The Toyer.
In Gilles Boulenger’s book John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness, Carpenter recalled taking a chance on the young filmmaker.
“This is your movie, but you have to do one thing, only one, and you’ll never hear from me again if you do this one thing: It has to be scary and you must make it scary because that’s what the public wants to see!”
Carpenter said Rosenthal used much of the same creative team as the original movie, including cinematographer Dean Cundey and several returning actors. But there were reportedly personality conflicts on the set, and Carpenter eventually became concerned about the movie Rosenthal was making.
Carpenter said he didn’t regularly watch Rosenthal’s dailies during production. When he finally saw a cut of the movie, however, he wasn’t impressed. In John Carpenter: Prince of Darkness, he described the cut as “pedestrian” and “predictable.” His assessment was even more blunt in a 1982 interview with Twilight Zone Magazine.
“I saw a rough cut of Halloween II, and it wasn’t scary. It was about as scary as Quincy.”
Carpenter explained that he told Rosenthal the movie needed to
“go faster, it lingers for no purpose, some of these dialogue scenes don’t go anywhere, and there aren’t enough scares.”
According to Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness account, Rosenthal went back into the editing room with editor Mark Goldblatt. But Carpenter said almost nothing changed.
This is where Carpenter’s involvement became much more significant. He was not only the film’s writer and producer; he believed he had a responsibility to Universal and the people who had financed the movie. In Prince of Darkness, he explained:
“Since nobody liked his cut, including Universal, and I was the producer of the movie—I therefore had a responsibility to the people who put up the money.”
Carpenter then went into the editing room himself, cutting the movie shorter and making it move faster.
“I didn’t make it better, but I made it scarier, faster.”
Carpenter made a similar point when discussing the movie in his 1982 Twilight Zone Magazine interview. He said he had no influence over the direction of the film but did have influence during post-production.
The editing wasn’t enough. Again, Prince of Darkness provides Carpenter’s own account:
“Finally, we needed an opening scare, a connecting shot, and another scare, so I went out for one or two nights and shot additional material.”
Carpenter later gave an even more specific description of the process, explaining that he had removed 17 minutes from Rosenthal’s cut.
“After cutting out 17 minutes of bad, sub-television moviemaking we had a 77 minute film. We needed a 90 minute movie, so I shot some connective material to fill it out.”
The result was the theatrical Halloween II audiences eventually saw. Carpenter’s verdict?
“And the movie was a hit, even though it wasn’t very good.”
The most surprising part of Carpenter’s account isn’t his criticism of Rosenthal, it’s his regret over what he did. In Prince of Darkness, Carpenter acknowledged that taking another director’s movie into the editing room was something he deeply disliked.
“If you’d seen the two versions, mine is a little bit more heightened. It was not fun to do. It is not my proudest moment. I did something I don’t believe in. I did something that I would hate for anybody to do with me. It was an evil thing to do and I didn’t enjoy any of it.”
He never portrayed himself as the heroic director who rescued a bad sequel. He was describing an uncomfortable professional decision that he believed he had to make.
Carpenter has repeatedly said that he didn’t think there was much of a story left after the original Halloween. In a 2014 interview with Giant Bomb, Carpenter explained:
“I felt that there was no more story after the original.”
He said audiences wanted to see Michael Myers return, and the producers wanted him back for financial reasons. That helps explain Carpenter’s complicated relationship with Halloween II. The original Halloween had told a simple, self-contained story. But it became a huge success, and suddenly there was pressure to continue it. Carpenter didn’t believe the story needed a sequel, the business did.
Then there was the decision that would permanently change the mythology of the franchise: making Laurie Strode and Michael Myers siblings. In a separate account, Carpenter admitted that he came up with the idea because he was struggling to find a reason to continue the story. He discussed the decision in the context of having to expand the movie for its television broadcast.
“I was absolutely stuck. I didn’t know what to do. I mean, the movie is the movie… I don’t want to touch it.”
Carpenter said he eventually came up with the sibling connection during a late night that may have involved more than a little alcohol.
“I think it was, perhaps, a late night fueled by alcoholic beverages, was that idea. A terrible, stupid idea! But that’s what we did.”
That revelation would become one of the defining pieces of Halloween mythology for decades. It would also eventually be discarded by the 2018 Halloween sequel, which ignored the continuity established by Halloween II and its subsequent sequels.
This is where the story becomes more complicated than simply saying Carpenter “took over” Halloween II. Rosenthal directed the movie. Carpenter did not. Carpenter himself said in Twilight Zone Magazine that he “had no influence over the direction of the film” but did have influence over post-production. At the same time, his Prince of Darkness account makes clear that his involvement went beyond offering suggestions. He recut the movie, removed approximately 17 minutes, and shot additional material.
So the finished Halloween II was shaped by both filmmakers. Rosenthal directed the production. Carpenter reworked the finished movie.
Whatever Carpenter thought about the movie, the strategy worked commercially. Halloween II was a box office success, and it helped establish Michael Myers as a character who could return again and again.
It’s tempting to reduce the production history of Halloween II to a simple story: Rick Rosenthal made a movie, John Carpenter hated it, and Carpenter took it away from him. The reality is more interesting. Rosenthal was given the opportunity to direct a sequel to one of the most successful horror movies ever made. Carpenter wanted him to make it scary, but ultimately didn’t believe Rosenthal’s first cut delivered enough suspense or horror. Carpenter then used his authority as producer to reshape the movie and ultimately helped deliver the movie that audiences saw in theatres.
But decades later, Carpenter’s own words show that he didn’t feel triumphant about any of it.
“It is not my proudest moment.”
That’s the most revealing quote of them all. Carpenter didn’t simply admit that he interfered with Rosenthal’s Halloween II. He admitted that he felt bad about doing it. And that’s what makes the story worth revisiting all these years later. Halloween II may not be the movie either filmmaker originally envisioned, but it is the movie that helped turn Michael Myers from a singular horror icon into a franchise. And John Carpenter, for better or worse, was there to make sure it scared people.
Are you a fan of Halloween II? What do you think of John Carpenter coming in to rework Rick Rosenthal’s movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.