Thankfully that is remedied in this sequel, which also features an original story instead of the film being a remake of the original Halloween II (though the opening of the film is clearly influenced by that film).
The returned focus of Laurie really helps you have some sort of care for the would-be victims of Myers (instead of the last film, where characters are introduced only to be instantly offed).
The only major beef I have with this film are the ghostly visions Michael Myers has of his mother, though I was eventually able to excuse that weirdness.
While, I still prefer the original, at least this film turned out to be a decent Halloween film.
8/10