Many fans assume the hospital scenes in Rob Zombie's sequel Halloween 2 are an homage to John Carpenter, but that's actually not the case. The Halloween franchise has a long legacy, one now spreading out over eleven films, soon to be thirteen. Or soon to be three, if one goes by Halloween 2018's recently truncated timeline. Retconning aside, among the lot, there are great Halloween films, pretty good Halloween films, meh Halloween films, and a few absolutely dreadful ones.
It's safe to say most people would place Rob Zombie's 2009 sequel Halloween 2 on the dreadful end of the spectrum, or at the very least in the meh category. While Halloween 2 isn't without a few pluses, including a terrific performance from Brad Dourif as a grieving Sheriff Brackett, the film stumbles by turning Michael Myers into a mostly maskless bearded hobo, making Dr. Loomis into an arrogant jerk, and having Laurie Strode be so standoffish she's hard to even like.
Needless to say, while Zombie's first Halloween film had a good deal in common with the movies of the past, Halloween 2 took the franchise down a wildly different path. However, there's one early sequence that many fans have always thought to be a tribute to the first Halloween 2, which actually isn't.
Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 Hospital Scenes Aren't a Tribute to the Original Sequel
As any Halloween fan knows, 1981's first sequel, Halloween 2, is set almost entirely within Haddonfield Memorial Hospital, after an injured Laurie Strode is taken there. Rob Zombie's 2009 Halloween 2, meanwhile, sees its first 20 or so minutes take place in a hospital, as Laurie is stalked by Michael Myers. This turns out to only be a dream sequence, but it's entirely understandable why fans would think it was a nod to the original Halloween 2, which was written and produced (although not directed) by franchise creator John Carpenter.
However, when asked about his film, Rob Zombie has denied that any part of it was inspired by Carpenter's Halloween 2. Furthermore, he's also reportedly expressed his dislike for that movie, lending further credence to his denials of an intentional tribute. Zombie has also stressed that what happens in his hospital sequence is entirely different from the events of Halloween 2 1981. Considering that Zombie and Carpenter have had very public disagreements in the past few years, there seems to be no love lost between the two filmmakers. Accidental or not though, most Halloween fans will likely still view Zombie's hospital scenes as a throwback to Michael Myers' original hospital massacre.
