Halloween II

Sequels are usually beaten to a critical pulp, and it's not hard to understand why. They are primarily made because the original made a lot of money, and heaven forbid that it stops there. It's not enough to make a killing at the box office (no pun intended here); you have to capitalize on what you made. It still goes on to this very day. However, audiences tend to be a lot more discerning in terms of why sequels are made. They can tell when they are being scammed out of their hard earned allowance that their parents given them each week. These same parents wonder why their kids still live at home at the age of 30.

These days, they can be the cream de la crème of the must see events at the movies. It doesn't matter if they suck, people will still see them regardless of crappy reviews. Case in point, "Spiderman 3," which was one of the biggest hits of the summer 2007 movie season, as well as one of the summer's biggest disappointments.

In a lot of ways, sequels are undone by the high expectations placed on them. There are certain movies that really have no chance of living up to the brilliance of their predecessor, but maybe they can be enjoyable enough when you come into them with reduced expectations. Sometimes that can be enough, for me anyway. Of course, even if that was the case with "Spiderman 3," I would not have liked it all the same.

Case in point here is "Halloween II," the sequel to (at the time) the highest grossing independent film ever made. "Halloween" was and still is one of the scariest movies ever made. The ending of the movie had Michael Meyers disappearing from sight, visual proof that evil never dies. "Halloween II," however, takes place at the exact moment the original ends. Michael Meyers is still on the loose, and even while he moves more slowly than ever, he is still threatening. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasance) is still on the hunt for the man he tried to keep locked up, and Jaime Lee Curtis returns as Laurie Strode, and Michael is still on the hunt for her.