An alternate version of Halloween II, also known as the "Rick Rosenthal Version", the "Television Version", or the "Producer's Cut", was aired on television in the early 1980s. Most of the graphic violence and gore had been edited out and several minor additional scenes had been added. This alternate version is occasionally shown on the AMC network. In 2002, AMC aired the alternate version as part of their Monsterfest Film Festival.
It has been suggested that the redacted film represents director Rick Rosenthal's original vision of the movie before John Carpenter's edits. A special edition DVD of the alternate version was planned for release in 2001, but Universal released the original theatrical version instead.[33]
Rick Rosenthal's version is cut differently, offered less gore, more character development, and a swifter pace, even though it has the same 92-minute running time. A pronounced difference between the alternate and theatrical versions is found in the plot. While the theatrical version has the film ending with the presumed deaths of Michael Myers and Dr. Loomis, the alternate version shows Jimmy (with a head wound but alive) in the ambulance with Laurie Strode. They hold hands and Laurie says, "We made it."[33]
References
1. ^ a b c Halloween 2 at Box Office Mojo; last accessed April 19, 2006.
2. ^ a b c Behind the Scenes, Halloween III: Season of the Witch at HalloweenMovies.com; last accessed April 19, 2006.
3. ^ a b Debra Hill interview, Fangoria, quoted at HalloweenMovies.com; last accessed April 19, 2006.
4. ^ Tommy Lee Wallace interview, in Ellen Carlomagno, "Halloween III: Season of the Witch: An On-The-Set Report On The Ambitious Sequel to Carpenter's Classic!", Fangoria, #22, October 1982, p. 8, available here; last accessed April 19, 2006.
5. ^ a b c John Carpenter, interview with Twilight Zone Magazine, November 1982, available here; last accessed April 19, 2006.
6. ^ a b c Roger Ebert, review of Halloween II, Chicago Sun-Times, 1 January 1981, at RogerEbert.com; last accessed April 19, 2006.
7. ^ Debra Hill, quoted in Robert E. Kapsis, Hitchcock: The Making of a Reputation (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), p. 172, ISBN 0-226-42489-8.
8. ^ a b c Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), p. 121, ISBN 0-19-516896-8.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_II