Rob Zombie takes his brand of hillbilly horror to new unpleasant levels with his follow-up to the much-maligned reboot of the Halloween series. Once again, gone is the slow-brewed tension that the franchise was framed upon. In its place are a series of brutal exercises -- not only in onscreen deaths, but in genre filmmaking as a whole. The release that usually comes with enjoying a slasher film has been changed to sheer repulsion -- and this doesn't come from a conservative standpoint either. Zombie's fetishized portrayal of violence baffles the brain with its mix of in-your-face gore and unrepentant viciousness, as if a homicidal maniac was let loose in Vietnam, complete with an MTV director filling in as a war photographer following his every move. One might think there was a method to this madness, but then, mixed with the sheer pretension of the added fantastical elements, it becomes quite clear that Halloween II is simply a mess -- made by a misguided filmmaker whose access to Hollywood properties apparently comes with no barriers.

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