Moustapha Akkad's Exclusion from 'Halloween II' Enrages Fans, His Son

It was an exciting day for horror fans when "Halloween II" (the Rick Rosenthal-directed sequel) made its long-awaited debut on Blu-ray. Having been released on DVD with very little in the way of special features, fans of Michael Meyers delighted in watching his murderous rampage continue on in a hospital, this time in high definition. But as thrilled as fans were about its Blu-ray release becoming a reality, they were equally shocked and disgusted at a certain phrase that was missing from the opening credits:

"Moustapha Akkad Presents."

Instead in its place there was this:

"UNIVERSAL, AN MCA COMPANY, PRESENTS."

Fans of the "Halloween," franchise see this as utterly sacrilegious and disrespectful of Akkad's legacy and contribution to these films. As of this writing, no official reason has been given for this unexpected change, but many have started boycotting the release. If Universal Pictures thought no one would notice this one little change, the studio was seriously mistaken.

Moustapha Akkad was a Syrian-American film producer and director who became best known for producing the "Halloween" films from the classic original to the other Rosenthal-directed sequel, "Halloween: Resurrection." He stayed with the series through thick and thin long after John Carpenter and the late Debra Hill abandoned it after the lackluster response of "Halloween III: Season of the Witch." In one documentary about the series, Akkad was seen looking at a big action figure of Michael Meyers and saying thank you for existing to it.

Tragically, Akkad was killed along with his daughter Rima in the Amman bombings back on November 9, 2005, in Amman, Jordan. His son Malek went on to produce Rob Zombie's reimagining of the series with his "Halloween" and "Halloween II." The website ShockTillYouDrop.com caught up with Malek, who had this to say about the exclusion of his father's name from the 1981 sequel's credits:

"It's disgusting. It's a disgrace, obviously, bias, objectively, any horror fan would find this as an insult to the man who has done so much to the series. And to come after his tragic death, he's not even around to defend himself. It's classless. I'm talking to Universal now and they're 'looking into it.'"

Malek has since started a boycott of the film on Facebook; you can view the page by clicking here.

Sources:

"Moustapha Akkad Missing From HALLOWEEN II (1981) Blu-ray - Talks of Boycott," Shakelford, J. Rusty, HorrorBid.com, September 14, 2011.

"Halloween II: How Universal Disrespected Moustapha Akkad," Ryan Turek, ShockTillYouDrop.com, September 14, 2011.

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