Development John Carpenter and
Debra Hill, the writers of the first
Halloween, had originally considered setting the sequel a few years after the events of
Halloween. They planned to have
Michael Myers track
Laurie Strode (
Jamie Lee Curtis) to her new home in a high-rise apartment building. However, the setting was later changed to Haddonfield Hospital in script meetings.
Tommy Lee Wallace, who served on the crew of the original film, stated that "no one was all that excited" over the prospect of a sequel, but producer
Irwin Yablans was eager to make a second film. When Yablans approached them about the project, Carpenter and Hill were in the midst of developing
The Fog (1980). According to Yablans, he had planned to produce
The Fog, but that
Robert Rehme intervened and acquired production rights with his company,
Embassy Pictures as part of a two-picture deal with Hill and Carpenter. A lawsuit between Yablans and Rehme ensued, after which it was determined that Embassy would retain rights to
The Fog, while Yablans's
Compass International Pictures would be guaranteed production rights for
Halloween II. The sequel was intended to conclude the story of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. The third film,
Halloween III: Season of the Witch, released a year later, contained a plot that deviated wholly from that of the first two films. When asked, in a 1982 interview, what happened to Myers and
Dr. Sam Loomis (
Donald Pleasence), Carpenter flatly answered, "The Shape is dead. Pleasence's character is dead, too, unfortunately." This would later be
retconned and both Michael and Loomis would return for multiple later installments.
Writing The screenplay of
Halloween II was written by Carpenter and Hill. Carpenter described that his writing of the screenplay "mainly dealt with a lot of beer, sitting in front of a typewriter saying 'What the fuck am I doing? I don't know.'" In a 1981 interview with
Fangoria magazine, Hill mentions the finished film differs somewhat from initial drafts of the screenplay. Screenwriter
Danny McBride felt that Michael Myers would be scarier if he had no motive for killing people. Film critic
Roger Ebert, who praised the first film, notes that the plot of the sequel was rather simple: "The plot of
Halloween II absolutely depends, of course, on our old friend the
Idiot Plot, which requires that everyone in the movie behave at all times like an idiot. That's necessary because if anyone were to use common sense, the problem would be solved and the movie would be over." Hill rebuffed such critiques by arguing that "in a thriller film, what a character says is often irrelevant, especially in those sequences where the objective is to build up suspense." Historian Nicholas Rogers suggests that a portion of the film seems to have drawn inspiration from the "contemporary controversies surrounding the holiday itself." He points specifically to the scene in the film when Gary (Ty Mitchell), a young boy in a pirate costume, arrives at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital with a razor blade lodged in his mouth, a reference to the
urban legend of tainted Halloween candy. According to Rogers, "The
Halloween films opened in the wake of the billowing stories about Halloween sadism and clearly traded on the uncertainties surrounding trick-or-treating and the general safety of the festival."
Casting The main cast of
Halloween reprised their roles in the sequel with the exception of
Nick Castle, who had played the adult Michael Myers in the original. Veteran English actor Donald Pleasence continued the role of Dr. Sam Loomis, who had been Myers' psychiatrist for the past 15 years while Myers was institutionalized at Smith's Grove Sanitarium. Curtis (then 22), again played the teenage babysitter Laurie Strode, revealed in this film as the younger sister of Myers. Curtis required a wig for the role of long-haired Laurie Strode, as she had her own hair cut shorter at the time.
Charles Cyphers reprised the role of Sheriff Leigh Brackett, though his character disappears from the film when the corpse of his daughter
Annie Brackett (
Nancy Loomis) is discovered. Nancy Loomis appears as Annie in a
cameo role as her father, Sheriff Brackett, closes her eyes as her corpse is being taken out of the house in a stretcher. Actor
Hunter von Leer heads the manhunt for Myers in the role of Deputy Gary Hunt. He admitted in an interview that he had never watched
Halloween before being cast in the part. He stated, "I did not see the original first but being from a small town, I wanted the Deputy to have compassion."
Nancy Stephens, who played Loomis's nurse colleague Marion Chambers in the original, also reprised the character and was given a more important role, revealing to Loomis the family connection between Laurie and Michael. Stunt performer
Dick Warlock played Michael Myers (as in
Halloween, listed as "The Shape" in the credits), replacing Castle who was beginning a career as a director. Warlock's previous experience in film was as a stunt double in films, such as
The Green Berets (1968) and
Jaws (1975), and the 1974 television series
Kolchak: The Night Stalker. In an interview, Warlock explained how he prepared for the role since Myers received far more screen time in the sequel than the original. Warlock said: Warlock also claims that the mask he wore was the same one Nick Castle used in the first film. Hill confirmed this in an interview. These included
Pamela Susan Shoop,
Leo Rossi,
Ana Alicia and Gloria Gifford. Rossi played the part of Budd Scarlotti, a hypersexual EMS driver; Rossi as well as several others, such as Stephens, had been members of an acting class with Rosenthal. Shoop played Nurse Karen Bailey, who is scalded to death by Myers in the hospital therapy tub. Featured in the only nude scene in the film, Shoop discussed filming the scene, and recalled getting an
ear infection: "[The water] was cold and dirty. They were playing it off like the water was boiling, but it was absolutely freezing! Leo [Rossi] and I were so cold, our teeth were chattering.!" Gifford and Alicia played minor supporting roles as head nurse Mrs. Virginia Alves and orderly Janet Marshall. Actor
Lance Guest played an EMS driver, Jimmy Lloyd.
The Last Starfighter director Nick Castle (who played Myers in the previous installment) stated in an interview, "When I was assigned to the film, Lance Guest was the first name I wrote down on my list for Alex after seeing him in
Halloween II." Castle adds, "He possessed all the qualities I wanted the character to express on the screen, a kind of innocence, shyness, yet determination." Future
Saturday Night Live and ''
Wayne's World'' star
Dana Carvey also appears briefly in a non-speaking role as Barry McNichol, wearing a blue baseball cap and receiving instructions from the TV reporter Debra Lane (Catherine Bergstrom). Carvey originally had a bit of a bigger role, including some speaking scenes, before his scenes ultimately got mostly cut. Most of the film was shot at
Morningside Hospital in
Los Angeles, California, and Pasadena Community Hospital in
Pasadena. Rosenthal recalled filming at Pasadena Community Hospital as being extraordinarily difficult due to its proximity to an airport, which disrupted shooting frequently due to incoming airplanes.
Direction Reluctant to extend his involvement in the film, Carpenter refused to direct and originally approached Tommy Lee Wallace, the art director from the original
Halloween, to take the helm. Carpenter told one interviewer: "I had made that film once and I really didn't want to do it again." After Wallace declined, Carpenter chose Rosenthal, a relatively unknown and inexperienced director whose previous credits included episodes of the television series
Secrets of Midland Heights (1980–1981). Rosenthal was chosen to direct based on a short film he had made,
The Toyer, while a student at the
American Film Institute. Debra Hill had also considered directing at one point, but did not want to appear as "just a protégé" of Carpenter. When asked about his role in the directing process, Carpenter told an interviewer: Rosenthal was not pleased with Carpenter's changes. He reportedly complained that Carpenter "ruined [my] carefully paced film." Regardless, many of the graphic scenes contained elements not seen before in film. Roger Ebert claims, "This movie has the first close-up I can remember of a hypodermic needle being inserted into an eyeball."
Music Carpenter composed and performed the score with
Alan Howarth, who had previously been involved in
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), and worked with Carpenter on several projects including
Escape from New York (1981),
Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982),
Christine (1983), and
Prince of Darkness (1987). The film's score was a variation of Carpenter compositions from
Halloween, particularly the main theme's familiar piano melody played in a
compound 5/4 time rhythm. The score was performed on a synthesizer organ rather than a piano. One reviewer for the
BBC described the revised score as having "a more gothic feel." The reviewer asserted that it "doesn't sound quite as good as the original piece", but "it still remains a classic piece of music." The film featured the song "
Mr. Sandman" performed by
The Chordettes, which would later be featured in the opening scenes of
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998). Reviewers commented on the decision to include this song in the film, calling the selection "interesting" and "not a song you would associate with a film like this." The song worked well to "mimic Laurie's situation (sleeping a lot), [making] the once innocent sounding lyrics seem threatening in a horror film."
Post-production The film was principally edited by
Mark Goldblatt.
Skip Schoolnik, an editor who had simultaneously been commissioned to edit the television cut for the original
Halloween, was invited by Carpenter and Hill to view the cut of
Halloween II at the time. Schoolnik and Carpenter spent a weekend editing Goldblatt's cut of the film, ultimately excising around 14 minutes. During this editing process, Carpenter realized that an unresolved plot hole was present: It was unclear as to how Michael Myers was able to track Laurie to the hospital. To resolve this, Carpenter shot a sequence featuring a young boy (Lance Warlock) walking on the street with a portable
radio playing a news broadcast concerning the murders and Laurie's whereabouts; as the boy walks along, he accidentally bumps into Michael, and resumes walking. According to Warlock, Carpenter also shot the close-up footage of Michael's burning body shown at the film's conclusion, as well as the murder sequence of Alice Martin (Anne Bruner), a teenage girl who is killed by Michael early in the film. ==Release==