Why exactly would anyone want to remake a classic film? With so much to live up to, times five, due to the time tested nostalgia factor, there is almost no conceivable way you can trump the expectations. But if there was one person that I would trust to remake Halloween, it would probably be Rob Zombie. House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects were a call back to the classic horror films of the 1970’s. It’s almost like Zombie, and his collected crew, are able to channel Tobe Hooper and the directors of that era. It’s more about mood than anything else. It’s that creepy unsettling feeling that you feel. A mixture of the set design, camera direction, casting, and soundtrack. This is why I knew Rob Zombie would scare the living hell out of us again, with one of horror’s classic characters. But I was wrong.
Zombie’s re-imagining of the John Carpenter 1978 classic went wrong in conception. The concept is simple, and a good one at first glance: Who is Michael Myers? We got a small glimpse of his childhood origin in the original film, but Zombie’s vision was to expand upon this mythology. Because Myers was the key to the first film’s success. Sure, you had Jamie Lee Curtis’ lungs, and Carpenter’s now classic score, but the kids came because of the man in the mask.
In Zombie’s new film we learn why Myers wears the mask, and we even learn why he doesn’t speak. We learn a lot about Michael Myers, and that is problem #1. The reason why we enjoyed his character in the original was because he was such a mystery. It was what we didn’t know, what we didn’t see, what we were forced to make up in our heads.
Zombie’s script paints a picture of his early childhood, with an angry passive aggressive crippled old man, a stripper mother, a young baby sister and a promiscuous teenage sister. The family is a living breathing, walking talking, hick cliche. The step-father yells at Michael and calls him a faggot, because, well, that’s what his paint by numbers character type does in movies. Young Michael likes to kill animals, and one day decides to do the same to a school bully who had been bothering him. We see his anger build, and we understand that he is just projecting the anger thrown upon him. But somehow we relate too much to this kid wearing a clown mask who brutally murders most of his family members on Halloween night. These people have been mean to him and deserve what’s coming to them, right? Well not exactly. But because this is now Michael’s story, we are along for the ride.
So 15 years later, when Michael breaks out of his mental institution, it’s no wonder that we don’t care for his countless victims. No, it’s not that we want to see Michael kill innocent people. But it’s his story we’ve been following this whole time. And by whole time, I mean 45 minutes. Because in Zombie’s Halloween, the first 45 minutes is Myers’ childhood origin story. The second problem comes in because we now begin following the story from the first film, but from Michael’s point of view. Sure, we do cut to the group of teenage girlfriends, and the virtually unnecessary story of Dr. Sam Loomis. But some of the attack scenes are shown from his point of view, so when the masked head shows up behind the glass window, it’s not a scary because, A. We know who is behind the mask, and B. the story has made us relate more to the killer with it’s deceptive point of view storytelling.
And I’m left with so many questions, and not too many answers. How did Michael become “pro wrestler big” while living in a mental institution for all those years? I’m sure they didn’t allow him to lift weights. How does a monster like Myers even attempt to find his younger sister in a town full of teenagers? It seems like one photo from 15 years earlier alone would not be nearly enough to do the trick. With no legal records in the system, it’s not like Myers could have found the information in a computer database. And It’s not like he would be able to access said database if it had existed. Where does Myers get his superhuman like powers? And what even happened to him in the end of the film? It seemed like Myers began his killing spree as a child by only hurting the people who bullied him (which probably explains why he left his mother and baby sister untouched). So why does Michael of a sudden discard his moralist killing tendencies as an adult? And when did he get a chance to hide his classic mask below the floor boards?
Zombie isn’t as much at fault as a director. He did the best he could. Although, this film feels way more mainstream than anything else he’s ever created. The creepy 70’s horror feeling is missing in action. Replaced with extreme close-ups, short focal shots, and at times, Saving Private Ryan-like shaky cam sequences. Halloween is not a bad movie, it’s just not great. It stands in the shadow of a legend. And by today’s standards, Halloween is probably the best American created horror movie in a couple years (but is that really saying much?)
/Film Rating: 6 out of 10
August 31st, 2007 at 4:48 am
I completely disagree with this review. Its not a remake its an adaptation Peter.
August 31st, 2007 at 5:08 am
@ Peno - It uses the same name, characters, and situations as the original, so remake fits as a description. Additionally, Peter pointed out serious flaws on why this film doesn’t work on its own merits, regardless of whether it’s an adaptation or remake.
Excellent review, Peter!!!
http://www.therecshow.com
August 31st, 2007 at 11:57 am
i was hoping for a twisted horror gore show, and i ended up routing for Michel the whole time.. i mean it was cool to see his childhood and it what made him tick but come on after the the brutal attack in his cell and the truck stop the movie just went down hill in my opinion.
August 31st, 2007 at 1:26 pm
“Although, this film feels way more mainstream than anything else he’s ever made.”
I could barely stand it, it felt like Zombie held back way too much maybe in an effort to please someone (or rake in the dough). Miss Zombie was even worse than usual, and the writing was horrific. Big disappointment, and that’s not even comparing it to the horror classic.
August 31st, 2007 at 6:55 pm
when i saw this first cut i knew even with a million reshoots u werent going save this flick . im super pissed i grew up watchin these movies and they were all way better than this one. when i heard zombie was directing i was fuckin excited. now after watching the end result i feel like i got shitted on. all i got to say is rob zombie u SOLD OUT why dont go remake the first wives club bc ur pretty good at making pretty bad movies
August 31st, 2007 at 8:21 pm
I was so disappointed at all the bad reviews this film has been given, thinking that it would end up being horrible.
I am so glad that I disagree with the negativity. This film was awesome. OF COURSE it wasnt John Carpenter’s Halloween of 1978, at least I knew this beforehand.
I thought he captured the night time dark blueish windy scaryness perfectly, and that whole debate on if the hickish background ruins part of this movie is ridiculous, it was FINE.
Anyway, I wasnt really expecting much more of this movie, so I was very pleased.
I want to see it again now, and definitely get one of those new 2007 masks.
August 31st, 2007 at 9:38 pm
Okay, it seems like you are stuck into the old version, the old was the best..don’t care, like Rob Zombie I spent a lot of time studying psychopath and classic horrors movies and 70′ music, which leads me to : His version is not perfect for you, but perfect for me. He puts the human part in M.Myers, the fact that everything comes from our childhood (good or bad) also he reminds us that we “the educated people” who judge so easily sick and dangerous men forget a major point : the evil part is in each of us…some are lucky so the darkest part do not appears…
Hail Rob Zombie, he who understand how real horror movies should always be.
August 31st, 2007 at 10:34 pm
The movie was great it was the first remake that I ever seen this good and actually scary at times. It’s also the first movie that I been to wear the audience was screaming at certain scenes in the movie, ppl actually clapped for it. I don’t know what you all expect ever movie is not going to be perfect all I see now on movie films is negative feedback it just seems Americans are getting to be bunch of complainers and wieners nothing is ever good enough.
September 1st, 2007 at 1:38 am
I couldn’t agree more with this review. When will Hollywood learn that less is more? What scares you more, being woken up in the middle of the night by a complete stranger holding a knife, or someone you know and understand doing the same thing? Fear is all about the unknown. Rob Zombie does exactly what you shouldn’t do in a horror film here, he explains and reveals far too much about the killer. What made the original such a classic is that we went through exactly what the characters (namely JLC) went through, not knowing who was after them and why he wanted them dead. When it ended, you still didn’t know these things, making you leave the theater with that fear (the sister aspect wasn’t introduced until its sequel, and then it was all about him hunting down family members). Once you understand the who and the why, it helps you (as the audience) feel more safe and helps give you control of the fear. It’s like all the classic fear elements… what lurks under your bed… in your closet… in the shadows… it’s all about the unknown. If you knew what was there and why, you wouldn’t fear it as much. This film was a huge disappointment because of that.
September 1st, 2007 at 7:15 am
Im torn. What worked, worked well, and what didnt realled pulled this film down from the potential it had. Cliched as it was that Zombie gave MM a so overused backstory, it was shot and performed with style and I was actually wanting to see more of Sheri. But then some things dont ring true, if MM is so bad ass whyd he have to duct tape a crippled man to kill him? Or hit Judiths bf from behind? Minor points I know but they are there. The transistion from preequal to remake is where the film does fail. Despite the high body count there is not one scene that felt scary. Its all bum rushed overkill with the new Hulk Meyers busting his way through stuff until the end where Zombie really sells out. In all the talk about sequels, he states he thinks his film is a stand alone piece blah blah blah. But the climax is clearly him kissing producer ass to leave it open by not showing the “money shot”, if you will.
Bottom line, Rob Zombie (despite The Devils Rejects) is no John Carpenter and that poor Scout Taylor Compton is no Jamie Lee Curtis. But it was interesting to see a different take on a classic film.
One last note-I really didnt buy it how Michael couldnt even mutter the word sister. Would have saved a bunch of time lol. Danielle Harris would have made a better Laurie Strode to.
September 1st, 2007 at 3:56 pm
he was still a kid when he killed his parent so he wasent that strong then, that why he duct taped his step father and hit judith boyfriend from the behind, ppl are overthinking this movie.
September 2nd, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Those that say this was zombies REVISION.. have not seen the movie yet or have never watched the original. The movie uses some of the same dialog ( the only good dialog I might add) from the original as well as the same old gags. That alone makes it a REMAKE. Zombie did not make this his own no matter what you say. Lord I wish he would have. What really made me sick was that he took the all time evil unkillable myers and turned him into a weirdo chubby kid with filth for parents.
I really had positive expectations for this film… now I just wish I had the two hours of my life back from watching this terrible terrible film.
September 5th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
I thought Rob Zombie did a phenomenal job. You already knew his background and who he was going to go after anyway, so why are you b*tching about learning his background? And why are you acting so shocked? From the moment I heard this film was being remade, all the articles I read stated that Zombie planned to go back and dig deeper into why Michael became what he was, and was he actually going back for Laurie to kill her or just to find her and be with her. And I’m sure every naysayer here could have done a MUCH better job than already was, would love to see your portrayals. Child MM was the scariest part, that kid is one of the best actors I’ve seen in a long time. But whatever, go figure that a bunch of people aren’t satisfied, everyone’s a critic, no one has anything good to say anymore. The theatre I went to see it in kept a huge crowd reaction the entire time, including a lot of clapping at the end…which I didn’t join in on considering it’s pretty much pointless, but I did agree with their gesture because I was deeply impressed. And he had time to hide the mask before his mom got home. He went and kissed Laurie and told her Halloween, went and hid all of his shit, then he probably picked her up and went outside. Nitpickin’ muthaf.ckas.
September 6th, 2007 at 3:24 am
I completely agree with this review. By seeing Michael as a child & hearing him speak FINALLY in a Halloween film just brought you too close the character. If you bring that personal touch to a killer like Michael Myers he’s not as scary anymore. Michael Myers is just an empty nothing that kills, thats why he’s always been scary.
If Zombie had taken Michael Myers out of this movie and inserted any of his other well known type-cast characters I would have liked it alot, but you just can’t mess with a franchise like that. I mean, Michael Myers mother was a stripper? And since when did he have an alcoholic pervy stepdad? Too typical Zombie for the Halloween series.
However, the middle 45 minutes of the movie were great I thought, aside from the random killing of the Strodes which made no sense at all. And, REALLY GREAT to see Danielle Harris again & as someone else had mentioned would have made a MUCH better Laurie than Scout Taylor Compton, horrible choice for Laurie! And the ending, I almost screamed & walked out when Loomis got killed. WTF, a staple in the series for 6 movies & in this remake Zombie just off’s him?! Donald Pleasance is probably spinning in his grave! Sum it up, Zombie stick to what you do best & leave the classics alone!! Listen to the fans for a change!
September 8th, 2007 at 7:04 am
I was a kid when I saw the first one too. The Halloween movies are kind of a classic in my family. Every halloween we yank the dvds out watch get drunk and have a ball.
I saw this before my mum and sister for the first fifteen minutes I was saying “I cant watch this with my mum and sis” Some aspects were really good. McDowell did a great job. ANd Micheal was okay, but I agree with the veiwer, the mystery of Micheal is what gave you such a creepy feeling. Zombie just turned him into another Manson type, Ted Bundy women hating killer.
Also I agree too, the family was just crap. way over the top. ANd can Zombie go one movie without showing his wifes ass??
I didnt mind Zombies other picks, I really liked 100 corpses. t was just this messed up crazy freaked out merry go round and that suits his style.
But what he did with this institution of a series was pretty half assed.
You couldnt sympathize withe the female characters att all. You couldnt wait till Micheal killed them just to shut them the f up.
Watching them get murdered was like watching a “snuff” movie. Sure showing a bit of flesh is normal in a horror movie. But it just seemed 1. The young actress’ were trying to prove how un-inhibated they are and 2. You can clearly see Zombie gets off on sex and violence.
Trying to confront the audience with a horror film in a classy way is the true art of horror. But just throwing up foul mouthed idiots. Talking about sex in every second scene(whats with Lorrie talking to her mom in the morning and the bagel?? Who does that??) Showing blood covered naked teens, a rape scene that seemed remenisent of Tarentinos Kill Bill (but Tarentino knows you dont actually show the rape) and was totally irrelavnt purley n there for shock value. A weak ending (he had no idea how to end it you could tell)
Character development was as shallow as the red neck puddle Zombie created. Contrasts were, one speaks like a slut one doesnt.
Stealing bits from other slasher flicks and using ideas from classic serial killers sint what Micheal was all about. He tried to cram two movies into one. Confused the viewer. It was as bout as subtly artistic as an axe in your head.
I give it 4 out of ten and sadly, I cant share this one with the family.
September 8th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Not everyone knows Zombies background.. Since when did knowing the directors history become important for a Halloween film??
People know Halloween and Micheal Myers first, Carpenter second.
This was, know Zombie first, Halloween second.
He should stick do directing hick flicks.
Zombie really has a hate for women. You could tell he was using Myers to open that up. I wonder if Zombie was abused when he was a kid.
Or the hot girls at school wouldnt f**k him…
September 14th, 2007 at 9:16 am
After reading this review, I was thinking “Give me a break”, but then realized, a review typically has to be one sided to get any attention. But if anyone is reading this review and thinks Peter is accurately portraying this movie, think again.
If you are indeed looking for the old 70’s type hack and slash horror flick, this may not be what you want. Rob Zombie et al., apparently took some time and effort to create a crafty clever scenery around Micheal Myers, allowing you to see him as a fully exposed child for a good portion of the first part of the movie. True, typical hack and slash movies don’t do this, but you know what? That gets old. It requires no craft to hide a killer behind “mystery” as Peter so desperately desires from the “classicsâ€. You may get thrill out of the lack of craft it takes to leave the person behind the mask a mystery, but I get a thrill out of seeing articulated intelligent work to create a story which exposes the killer.
While far from academic, this movie does indeed follow as closely as one might expect from a hack and slash movie, the realism of an already screwed up kid setting in a tumultuous environment. We see Micheal Myers as still a cherubic kid in many ways, which is true of real life child killers. This movie also does not make the child kill scenes some great high-fiving, cheering murders, and keeps them plausible and realistic better described as sober and horrific. As an adult, his murders are best described as “appropriately awkwardâ€. The murder scenes many times exude realism in their dragged out simplicity.
So, if you want the classic “feel†that requires little craft, be my guest. But if you like directors who get with the times and still maintain an unforgiving brutality to their horror scenes, and they can pull it off like Rob Zombie did, you’ll like this updated way to tell a horror story.
September 14th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
went into seeing this movie with an open mind, not sure what to expect. to me, the original was a classic and it would have been tough to duplicate let alone come close to john carpenters version. i know its what sells tickets, gore, sex, harsh language, but when i took my teenage kids to see this, i almost had all of us leave because of the situations involved. Michael Myers has always been what i would consider cool, as i have the mask and where it to scare the kids every halloween, but Rob, you swung and missed with this version, but it was an interesting concept to explore the mind of michael
September 15th, 2007 at 9:44 am
I enjoyed the beginning but i’ll have to admit I got bored after he broke out of the asylum. The problem is MM became likable, so he wasn’t all that scary and you even rooted for him to meet up with his sister. His killing just seemed routine and neccessary for the plot to move on.
I kept asking myself questions throughout the movie like what time period are we in - 80’s or 90’s?, why would MM want to kill his sister? This was never really established since he protected her in the beginning. Anyway I won’t nit-pick this one it just wasn’t all that good. Probably 6/10 at least for horror movies these days. The fourth Halloween was the best, I remember seeing it on opening night and can remember the audience cheering for Danielle Harris.
September 23rd, 2007 at 8:43 am
I haven’t seen this film yet, so my opinion may not count. I just had to say that the reviews that I have read do seem too stuck on the style of the film. While I don’t really enjoy the torture-porn style of Zombie very much, I do appreciate that he tries to take away some of the frustration of the oldschool horror genre, we never knew why these monsters behaved the way they did because the filmmakers didn’t have what it took to create a plausible back story. A lot of fans in that era thought that’s what it was supposed to be like, but lets face it, film should evolve like everything else. I can’t wait to see why M.M. is such a twisted bastard, thought I doubt I’ll really be pulling for him.
September 25th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Didnt have the talent to create back stories on characters???
Is that a joke?
Films have been around a lot longer than Zombie and this redneck aint the first filmaker to put a charcter into a fictional mass murderer.
If your saying Zombie is better at horror than Carpenter, Stephen King, Wes Craven and all the other legends, you need to have a think.
This is as close to a snuff film as you can get….
September 27th, 2007 at 7:53 am
I thought this remake was terrible and it does not even come close to the original. The language was very harsh. As a big fan of the past halloween movies, I was dissapointed in this one.
October 10th, 2007 at 6:24 am
There is very misleading and flawed logic within this review! The author states that the original mystic of the movie is what made it and then ironically questions issues apparent in both movies?
Micheal had superhuman strength and found his sisiter in the original movie, so how now can this be a flaw attributed to only the remake?
Better luck next time
October 11th, 2007 at 9:00 am
To call this a “remake” of the origional is an injustice. this is NOT a remake. It is a new viewpoint and an updated version and personally, i think it was a daring attempt which suceeded quite well. after 30 years of watching deranged killers hack and slash their way through victim after victim, it’s about time a director tackles the subject of “why?????”. we have always merely taken it for granted that the psycho killer has some unique bond with the victim, or a sibling separated at birth, or was him/herself the victim of abuse, etc. which is all well and good for those who want to create their own illusion - the “less is more” concept”. There is nothing wrong with that either, but we are an evolving audience who may wish for more and want to delve further into the phychosis and phychological background of the killer. Hannibal Rising did the same thing and it worked very well.
the origonal holds it’s own and always will stand apart in it’s own way and that’s fine for a film of it’s time and culture. This new film “Humanizes” Michael and i thing that’s good in many ways because some viewers are getting bored of the Inhuman, why-cant-he-die?, where did the superhuman strength come from? improbabilities.
while no one can sit here and say it’s the finest film of the decade or even the year, it’s refreshing to see a new viewpoint that honors the original, yet attempts to answers questions and show how the mind can evolve and why people do the things they do from a totally new point of view.
October 24th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I dont care who you are stop hatin on the movie it was badass even if we dont know if he really died at the end of the movie but you know Rob Zombie is the shit and you all can suck it get it got it good see yah
November 5th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
This isn’t any worse than “H20″ or “Resurrection”, but considering how awful those two movies were, isn’t saying much. The real problem with “Halloween” is that when Dimension spat up “H20″, all the events in parts 4, 5 and 6 were just tossed aside. Zombie should have ignored “H20″ and “Resurrection” and picked up where “Part 6: Curse” left off rather than do a remake. A remake?? What the —-..?? Was there anything amiss with the 1978 original that demanded a remake? What logic is at play here? The same idiocy that led Dimension to ignore the ongoing story in 1998, I believe.
SOMEONE needs to buy “Halloween” from these ignoramuses at Dimension and return to the original series or let it die. I’ve never seen a studio screw everything up so badly. I don’t blame Rob Zombie for this latest celluloid abomination, it’s really just the mindset of the braindead folks at Dimension that are responsible.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
4, 5, and 6 were lame as hell, I’m glad H20 came out, that was better than the shit heaps in between. It’s not like Zombie had a choice, like he could say “Come on, guys, let’s just continue the story, I don’t want to remake it..” And I cannot stress enough that he had Carpenter’s blessing to “make it his own.” So if you want to bitch, go bitch to John Carpenter.
November 27th, 2007 at 3:49 am
umm hi im 11 yers old and i saw the first halloween of ron zoms and all the orthers the reson he is killing all hes family because of the curse of mike myers he is doomed 2 kill all of his family and thats y he has super powers!
p.s remake of halloween 2??
November 30th, 2007 at 5:24 am
i’ve got no idea what this show is all about regardless of whether it’s a remake/expansion of myth or whatever it is… it’s pointless! wasted 2 hours of my precious life watching brainless killings wihtout motives, with the occassional nudity which didnt seem to fit at all in the big picture (if there was any picture/story conveyed at all). all in all, i dont think this movie is even worth the place on the big screen. if it’s wasnt directed and produced by the same person, i dont think anyone would’ve let the public audience endure this
December 29th, 2007 at 9:46 am
“And I’m left with so many questions, and not too many answers. How did Michael become “pro wrestler big†while living in a mental institution for all those years? I’m sure they didn’t allow him to lift weights. How does a monster like Myers even attempt to find his younger sister in a town full of teenagers? It seems like one photo from 15 years earlier alone would not be nearly enough to do the trick. With no legal records in the system, it’s not like Myers could have found the information in a computer database.”
you are a complete idiot. these are the same problems the first one had. so why are u bringing them up to rip apart zombies version?? did you even WATCH the original halloween?
December 29th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
It was rude, it was twisted, it was brutal. I loved it! Sorry that all the others cant see life in this manner. Shit is tough and it aint right sometimes. I’m gald someone has the guts to show it like it is.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:03 am
Godaaammm!!
In the original and the sequel to the original MM knew his siter as she visited him once while in the asylum, The scene where she delivers the keys to the myers house is the recognition scene.
And Bruce?? Show it like it is?
I’m sure Mississippi aint that bad dude!
Hey, Rob Zombie is trying to pass himself of as another breakthrough director in the league of Tarrentino. But he aint and never will be.
He tries to inject the witty dialog and original insults but they come off tacky as hell and crude. Rob Zombie is the poor mans Tarrentino.
I mean what do you expect from a guy that changed his last name to Zombie??
Character development is non existent and in the case of MM its totally un-original.
“Lets turn Myers into a Manson style serial killer”
And what bombshells does he drop about his past? He did crap at school and like to kill animals. Wow, amazing, that says it all.
Id give it 4/10 and the reason I’m being so generous is because McDowell saved it from being a complete failure.
Rob? quit trying to turn everything into a manson style horror and stop flashin your wifes saggy butt in every flick and get te hell over yourself and you might get there.
The ending? what a let down, he obviouly had no idea how to end the thing and killing of McDowell was more a franchise move to destroy any hope of another director using him in a sequel.
Micheal Myers as a big ex-wrestler was stupid.
ANd as for the person who said he had Carpenters complete blessing. In a TV interview Zombie gave he stated he didnt ask for permission, he simply called him up and said “Hey Jon, its Rob Zombie” “Oh Hi whats up?” “Just lettin you know Im remaking Halloween”… “Oh okay, have fun!” click….
Rob Zombie will never have class like the directors he looks up to, he will always have crass and his wifes saggy ass…
January 7th, 2008 at 4:50 am
you know, I’m in the 1% of the population that actually loved this film.
I watched the original a few days prior, just to get reacquainted with the story and characters.
Why is it everybody is so damned negative and nitpicky? Film critics are just a bunch of over analytical whiners that can’t sit down and just enjoy a movie. That’s the reason why we watch movies, right? I don’t listen to music and criticize the musicians the whole time. Why would that be any fun?
I love the fact that the entire movie is about Michael Myers, the human. He’s not just some random, dumb guy killing people. He has emotions; he exhibits sorrow, anger, happiness, kindness, loneliness, and utter evil. He speaks to people as a child.
He has been taken out of the realm of Nightmare and into the realm of Reality. We understand him. He is no longer just a monster, incapable of feeling. We see into the mind and soul of a serial killer.
These things happen. I can think of a few people I’ve encountered in my entire life that resemble ALL of the characters in the movie, from the school bullies to young Mike to Dr. Loomis to the fucked up family. The characters weren’t as over the top as some people think.
And yes, maybe there were a few minor plot holes but it’s not really that hard to figure out. Use your brain. He duct-taped the stepdad because he didn’t want anyone else to hear, maybe? Who knows? Anybody that is crazy enough to murder someone likely has a few screws loose, anyway. He had time to hide the mask after he killed the family. He would very likely remember where he hid the mask after all those years. After all, that was the mask that set the stage of his killing rampage. I’ve read a book about serial killers. Trust me, it’s not that far fetched.
And to all the original Halloween purists– come on! What did you expect? A digitally remastered version of the same film? Granted, that is a VERY tough film to remake and have it be of comparable quality, but Rob Zombie did a fantastic job. You should have just not watched it and spared everyone your hate-filled rants.
And dudes bitching about the amount of sex and nudity in the new flick–these are probably the same ones that frequently masturbate to it. They probably already own the damn DVD and regularly watch the sex scenes.
Thanks for indulging us, Rob!!! No slasher flick is complete without a decent amount of T&A.
Anyway, that’s my take.
Screw everyone, Rob did a phenomenal job!!!!!
January 7th, 2008 at 5:01 am
Oh, and the scene where the escaped Michael rediscovered his old mask?
BRILLIANT!!!!!
April 13th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
ok, just watched for the first time last night. now, i am a big horror buff, in the short 19 years of my life, i have been fascinated by horror films, and this remake deserves only one word, BRILLIANT. rob zombie takes a mysterious, heartless serial killer, and turns him into the bad guy that you want to win. i guess people will disagree because some people dont wanna know the backstory, and they dont care, they are in it for the kill, which is not a bad thing either, but i loved the reality of it, he was mentally and verbally abused. no friends, only a loving mom, and a baby sister who didnt know any better, as for the boyfriend and older sister, i for one was estatic when he murdered them, and the bully. these are the things that create the serial killers we call sick. but he wasnt a bad person, the child mind is like a sponge, it learns everything you teach it, micheal was taught nothing but negativity and hate, and this is what made him the iconic serial killer we love today.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:50 am
By itself, it’s an okay film at best. But next to the original, it doesn’t stand a chance. At best, it’s maybe as good as a “Friday the 13th Pt ?” movie.
Zombie tried to add more gore than the original, and as a result, it’s just not that frightening. To me, the all-time scariest scene in any horror movie had nothing to do with gore:
The out-of-focus scene with the close-up on Jamie Lee Curtis with Michael lying dead in the background… The focus, not the camera angle, shifts to Michael as he sits up and comes back to life.
Nothing even remotely as good as that in this version of the film… I was hoping this would be a more intense ride like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake and the Dawn of the Dead remake. I guess the problem is that the original Halloween is just too good of a film and too legendary, while these other films that had been remade were, while cult classics, quite weak in comparison to John Carpenter’s Halloween.
Finally, this review is dead-on accurate and to me, it’s two hours that I can’t get back. I own both versions and I can never see myself choosing this new version over the old one again. This DVD will forever be filed in the part of my collection that is there to make my collection seem huge!
June 15th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
“But some of the attack scenes are shown from his point of view, so when the masked head shows up behind the glass window, it’s not a scary because, A. We know who is behind the mask”
are you serious? all halloween movies are terribly predictable, no person with an intellect superior to a nut would ever get scared when he “suddendly” appears in the middle of a teenage orgy and stab someone because thats what he has already done 1000 times before.
This movie was pretty decent even thought i dont like rob zombie at all, this is the best anyone could have done with a piece of boring shit concept that all halloween movies are based on.