Halloween II (1981) logo

Television Cut

When Halloween II hit televisions screens across the nation shortly after its home video release, a drastically different version of the film was shown. Over twenty minutes of cut footage had been reinstated into the film, as well as several scenes that had been shuffled about in the order. Though most of the new scenes comprised of additional dialogue between the nurses, the most notable inclusion was an extended ending showing Jimmy and Laurie reunited in the ambulance at the end.

This version of Halloween II only aired a handful of times in the 80s, and was eventually replaced by one more closer to its theatrical counterpart, leading to it being one of the most widely traded Halloween bootlegs (after the producer’s cut of The Curse of Michael Myers). In the early 2000s, AMC began airing the original television cut, leading to it getting a renewed interest. It’s since been included on home video releases by Scream Factory since 2012.


List of Differences

  • The film begins with the opening credits, before moving into the recap of the first film’s ending. As a result, the theme song fades into Mr. Sandman.
  • The recap of the first film’s ending has been changed. In this version, Loomis does indeed shoot Michael six times (as opposed to seven). A new audio dub has Laurie scream when the first shot is taken.
  • Loomis’ interaction with the next-door neighbour has been change. The lines, “Is this some sort of joke? I’ve been trick-or-treated to death tonight” and “You don’t know what death is!” have instead been replaced with a dub of the neighbour saying, “Is this some sort of Halloween prank?”
    • Though the theme begins to play at the end of the scene, the credits have already rolled.
  • The next scene is of the ambulance driving away with Laurie inside. The scenes of her being carried out of the Wallace house and placed into the ambulance have been removed.
  • At the hospital, you see more of the initial operation after they first drug Laurie, as well as blurred POV shot through her perspective. Jimmy and Bud watch until Mrs. Alves slams the curtain in her face.
  • After that is the scene of Loomis and Brackett driving around in the car. The chase with Ben Tramer still happens, but the shot of the car hitting the van has been removed. Deputy Hunt shows up to inform them of Brackett’s death, but his revelation that Annie was one of the bodies is shouted in this version.
  • After that is the POV shot of Michael walking around the alleyways that originally occured right after the credits finished.
    • The opening theme is still heard at the beginning of it, making for some rather odd music cues.
  • The Elrod scene is changed rather haphazardly. Though the dialogue at the beginning plays out the same and we still see Michael Myers enter, the shot of him picking up the knife is missing. Mrs. Elrod then reaches back for the knife, and rather than see blood on her hands, the edit gives us a close-up shot of Michael Myers looking down, and her screen is heard.
    • The shot of Michael looking down at her was an outtake from the Karen death scene. As such, it’s got a weird green tint to it that doesn’t fit in with the rest of the scene.
  • Reflective of the film’s original cut, Michael walks away after hearing Alice. She doesn’t die in this version.
  • Afterward is a deleted scene of Janet and Jimmy talking to one another in the hallways. Janet informs Jimmy that Laurie cracked a bone, and the cut on her shoulder was deep enough to leave a scar. After Jimmy asks if she’s still awake, Janet says Dr. Mixter gave her a double dose and adds, “If she can keep her eyes open she’s made out of steel.”
  • We then see Dr. Mixter, still drunk, talking to Mrs. Alves about the procedure. He thinks things went well considering the circumstances and hopes there won’t be much of a scar. He adds that the best thing for them to do is to keep checking on her throughout the night. Afterward, Jill enters with the news that three bodies have been found. Mrs. Alves asks where Janet is, as she forgot to call Laurie’s parents. Dr. Mixter then quips they were at the same party he was.
  • Though the child with the razor in his mouth and his mother are still in the television cut, only the scene of them in the lobby is present. The scene of them in the parking lot has been removed.
  • There’s a new scene before Karen arrives at the hospital, with Jill and Bud by the security desk with Mr. Garrett. Mr. Garrett thinks drugs are responsible for the murders, and Bud quips that drugs are ruining society.
  • After they leave, Karen arrives at the hospital. The dialogue between is extended, as Mr. Garrett once again blames drugs for the murders.
  • Bud’s rendition of Amazing Grace has been changed to, “Amazing grace, come show me your face. Don’t make me cry, I tell no lie.”
  • A new scene involves Jimmy informing Karen that he’s going to go check out the Ben Tramer car crash, believing it to be Michael Myers. Both of them are unaware the real Michael Myers is lurking in the background.
  • Different sound effects are heard of the babies in the maternity ward as Michael lurks among them.
  • Mrs. Alves scolds Janet while she’s on the phone trying to reach Laurie’s parents at the party they were at with Dr. Mixter. Jimmy mouths to Janet to cover for him; Mrs. Alves still hears him and tells him he has two minutes.
  • Jimmy appears in Laurie’s room and hands Laurie the coke she had asked for earlier. There’s a few additional lines of dialogue before the scene continues as normal from the theatrical version.
  • Mr. Garrett’s death scene plays out differently. We see Michael enter the basement, and there are different inserts of him lurking around this time around. There’s an additional voiceover added of Mr. Garrett explaining he’s checking out the security box. Though he still dies, the shot of the hammer entering his skull is removed.
  • The next scene is added, and features Jill talking on the phone (after the phone lines have already been taken out) while Jimmy makes his way towards Laurie’s room to inform her that Michael Myers is dead. Instead of being relieved, Laurie panics. Jimmy calls for help, and Mrs. Alves, Jill, and Janet all come in to help sedate Laurie. The lights in the hospital go out and the emergency generator kicks in.
  •  A different take is used of the scene where Dr. Loomis and Deputy Hunt examine the charred remains of Ben Tramer. Afterward, the two wait outside the morgue to get into an elevator. walking outside the morgue to get in an elevator, where Dr. Loomis explains that he believes Michael might try and go home to nurse his injuries.
  • The next scene of the mob at Myers house has an added voiceover Graham saying, “Michael Myers isn’t here; we’ve checked the entire house!”
  • A new scene before Karen and Bud interact in the bedroom shows Karen and Janet alone in the hallway. Janet informs Karen that Mr. Garrett said some stuff was taken out of the store room. The two then talk about how they can’t find Mr. Garrett or Mrs. Alves. Janet begins to worry and Karen tries to calm her down, only to start worrying herself.
  • There’s additional dialogue in the scene involving Bud trying to convince Karen to join him in the hot tub.
  • The hot tub sequence has been edited differently in the television version to remove the nudity and violence. Bud’s death in the background is blurred more and the white light is higher, and Karen’s scream is different when she discovers Michael. Afterward, she is only dipped in the hot tub once and the final shot shows the temperate gauge continuing to rise.
  • Jimmy returns to Laurie’s room and finds her in a catatonic state. He calls for Jill, who realizes that Laurie has had an anaesthetic reaction. There is some additional dialogue as Jimmy and Jill wait for Dr. Mixter to respond to their call with no success. Growing impatient, Jimmy says he’s going to find Mrs. Alves. He walks into the ladies lounge, but in this cut, it’s empty.
    • In the theatrical version, this scene is replaced by the one of Janet going to search for Dr. Mixter and finding his dead body before her murder. That entire sequence has been removed for the television version.
  • After leaving Laurie alone, Laurie has a dream of her younger self meeting Michael at the sanitarium. She pleads with him not to hurt her because she’s his sister. Laurie then wakes up.
    • In the theatrical cut, this dream is replaced by the alternate “I told you, I’m not your mother.” dream.
  • Michael once more enters Laurie’s room. However, this cut just has him tossing pillows inside rather than stabbing the bed. The scene is also extended as he closes the door behind him as he leaves.
  • When Laurie is in the room by herself, she grabs a phone and pleads, “Mama, he won’t die! He won’t go away!”
  • There are added shots of Jimmy roaming the hospital looking for help.
  • Jill and Jimmy meet up, and the scene contains additional dialogue as they begin to notice the hospital is seemingly deserted and they need to find Laurie.
  • Jill’s death is cut different. The shot of the scalpel entering her back is removed, and she now drops her head after she dies.
  • There is an additional shot of Dr. Loomis and Marion Chambers in the back of the Marshall’s car, as well as an added shot of the car driving through Haddonfield.
  • As the television cut presents Jimmy roaming the hospital for the entire climax and removes him discovering Mrs. Alves’ body, the scene in the car with Laurie is edited to make it appear as if Jimmy never joins her.
  • When Michael walks through the glass door, he is only shot twice by Dr. Loomis.
  • The Marshal is now stabbed in the back rather than having his throat slit. Additionally, him being stabbed in the back is presented in a wide shot.
  • In the operating room, there are different angles used as Michael flings his knife around.
  • The subsequent explosion is edited to appear as the cause of Jimmy slipping and falling in this cut rather than Mrs. Alves blood. However, the blood is still noticeable when he falls.
  • In the morning after, Officer Graham and Deputy Hunt’s dialogue about the body count is different. Deputy Hunt has no estimate in this cut.
  • While the theatrical ends after Laurie gets into the ambulance, the television cut continues inside. A white sheet rises, and Laurie panics thinking it’s Michael. It’s just Jimmy, with a bandage around his head. The two smile as the ambulance drives off and the film fades to the credits.


Home Video Releases

For years, the television cut of Halloween II lived on as a popular bootleg among Halloween fans and collector’s alike. In 2012, Scream Factory picked up licensing rights to Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch and collector’s editions were put out of both films. Among a new slew of extra features, the release of Halloween II contained a DVD of the television cut, sourced from its original master. Though presented in the usual full-frame presentation, it was the highest quality release of the television cut ever made available.

Subsequent releases of Halloween II by Scream Factory have retained the bonus disc – the 2014 Complete Collection Blu-Ray set (only in the 15-disc edition), and the 2018 4K-sourced remaster.


The Ultimate Cut

In the early 2000s, after broadcasts of the television cut of Halloween II became a frequent occurrence on AMC, a fan-created bootleg began floating around of what was referred to as the Halloween II Ultimate Cut. This fan-edit presents the theatrical cut of Halloween II, with the television scenes spliced in where they belong akin to the extended cut of Halloween that Anchor Bay had released.

One unique aspect is that certain scenes with substantial changes were played back-to-back so you could see both variations of it, such as Deputy Hunt telling Sheriff Brackett about Annie’s death, Karen’s death, Jimmy and Jill discussing how empty the hospital is, and the Marshall’s scene. Other scenes were intercut with each other to help make out for missing shots (such as Laurie walking down the hallway being intercut with both versions of Michael being in her room).

However, as it still shows all of the deaths cut from the television cut, Jimmy’s discovery of Mrs. Alves and slipping on the blood causes this edit to remove the additional footage of him walking around in the film’s climax.

While not an official release, the ultimate cut was a popular title in the early days of fan collecting as it was the most similar to the shooting script for Halloween II. Unfortunately, it is rather hard to come across nowadays.


Media

  • Screenshots from the television cut, sourced from the official 2012 DVD release.