Principal Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon-ZombieDirector: Rob Zombie
Genre: Horror, Slasher
The Basics: Rob Zombie screen wrote and directed this remake of John Carpenter’s classic horror film.
It all starts on Halloween when 10 year old Michael Myers, driven insane by a combination of inner demons and a horrible home life, murders a school bully, then brutally slays his abusive stepfather, his promiscuous sister Judith, and her goofball boyfriend, leaving only his mother and baby sister alive.
After a year long trial he is sent to Smith’s Grove sanitarium under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis. For the next year he withdraws deeper and deeper into himself until there is nothing left but the evil that drove him to murder.
15 years later, Myers escapes the hospital and makes his way back to his home town to find his now 17 year old sister, killing everyone who gets in his way.
Recommendation: Fans of slasher and psychological horror will like this one. If you haven’t seen either of them, watch the original first. This version is also much bloodier than the original (Carpenter didn’t use stage blood in his version, Zombie used a lot.)
My Take: I’ve had to adjust my view on movie remakes in the last few years. For one thing, film remakes are as old as Hollywood. People must remember that many of the greatest films of all time such as Ben Hur, The Wizard of Oz, and Dracula were all later versions of source material, i.e. remakes.
But still, I cringed a little when I heard this movie was going to be made, until I learned that Rob Zombie was the one making the movie. I am a fan of his work, for both his music and his films, and he does a good job of balancing his own unique spin on the story while still keeping some of the elements that made the original a classic.
From the beginning, we see that Myers is a killer at heart after he butchers his pet rat. We also get a sense of what makes him “the way he is”, as we see his home environment with an abusive stepfather, and mostly-absent mother, in addition to the constant bullying he receives at school. And even though he is showing the signs of mental disturbance (like with a dead cat in his backpack), the audience now sees Myers pushed over the proverbial edge. The psychology of the character is elaborated through the case notes read by Dr Loomis, and during the scenes in the sanitarium, we witness over several sequences the “humanity” of the character die as Myers becomes more and more stoic and hides his face behind paper mache masks he has been creating. By the time we get to him as an adult, he is more the Michael Myers that horror fans know, but with much more depth of character.
Rather than casting a stunt man, Zombie further develops the Michael Myers character by his choice of casting an actor (Mane) to play the role. Mane does an incredible job of using body motion and eye motion to craft his psychopathic façade as Myers. His performance can be seen at times almost sympathetic, but at other times chilling and intimidating. At 6’9”, Mane is the tallest person to portray Myers, to date. In this film, Michael wore “the mask” when he was ten. The mask in these scenes looked more like the mask we all know; while the mask in modern time was make to look like the rubber was decaying away (nice touch). One more cool thing about the character: the iconic white mask was custom made for this film using a mold of Tyler Mane’s face.
The movie becomes more familiar to Halloween Fans when Myers escapes and goes on his killing spree. The stalking scenes while Laurie, Lynda, and Annie are on their way home from school are redone in Carpenter fashion, as are the references to Myers being the Boogeyman. Zombie also reproduced one of the original Halloween’s most famous (and one of my personal favorites) scenes with loving care. This is the scene where Bob and Lynda have finished having some good ole’ teenage sex, and Bob goes to get beer. Myers ambushes Bob, pins him to the wall, and impales him, then tilts his head in a kind of wonder as he watches the dead body. He then puts on a ghost sheet along with Bob’s glasses and strangles the unsuspecting, still naked Lynda to death.
Rob Zombie knows what horror fans want to see, which was evident in this film. Movie blogs prior to this film’s release had spread rumors that Michael Myers was not going to don the iconic mask, he was going to use a gun in one scene, he was going to speak, he was going to run, and other such slasher film no-no’s. Fortunately, all these proved to be untrue.
The plotline of Laurie Strode being Michael’s sister was central to this movie. Fans of the franchise knew this element from the beginning, but Rob still saves the reveal till near to end of the film in true horror fashion. This brother-sister element was not introduced until Halloween 2 where it was used to explain why Myers was continuing his pursuit of Laurie Strode, in the original two films, while Zombie uses this to further Michael’s character and give him motivation, outside of bloodlust, for his killings. The only thing that was not easily explained was how he knew Laurie was his sister. One could guess that when Myers saw her through the window of his house, and “maybe” he recognized her eyes, but no evidence exists to this point.
I also was particularly impressed by Scout Taylor-Compton’s performance as Laurie in this movie. She was much less of a goody-two-shoes than Jamie Lee Curtis was, but she did it without being a slut. She also played off of Tyler Mane very effectively. The audience sees a bit of the Myers’ curse in her at the end where she pulls the trigger of Loomis’ gun until she gets a round off, she then belts out a scream that could be seen as either shock and horror of all that has come to pass, but at the same time, reminiscent of Michael during his childhood psychotic episodes. We are left to wonder…
Rob Zombie was told by John Carpenter to make this movie his own, and that is just what he did. It is much bloodier and more sexually charged that the original. The psychology is a bit different, but I wouldn’t call it more disturbing in that sense. Zombie shows us what can be done with a remake, and in my opinion, Hollywood should watch this movie and take notes.
The Breakdown:
Cast Performance: Excellent. Malcolm McDowell had never seen the original Halloween when he did this film, and it is obvious to see him create the Dr. Loomis character in his own way. He took on the case of Michael Myers to make a name for himself, as seen in the references to his book about Michael and his speech to a college psych class. But, in a way, Loomis feels responsible for Myers’ current state, since he wasn’t able to perform the “miracle” he might have promised; to cure a psychopath.
Rob Zombie fills the movie with his cast of favorites including his wife, William Forsythe, Bill Mosely, and Sid Haig along with horror film veterans such as Danny Trejo, Brad Dourif, Udo Kier, and Dee Wallace. And as interesting twist, his usual cast gives opposite performances that what Zombie fans are used to. For example, Sheri Moon-Zombie, who has previously played the role as the sociopath Baby Firefly, she now plays the nurturing and loving mother to Michael Myers in this film.
Violence/Gore: Heavy. Much bloodier than the original.
Nudity: Abundant. This film has a few depictions of teen sex acts, which are all climaxed by an attack by Myers (no pun intended.)
Ambiance/Music: Excellent. Zombie uses the music from the original Halloween along with tracks by bands such as The Misfits and The Blue Oyster Cult to create atmosphere along with the small town U.S.A. location. Very effective.
Interesting Notes: *Of all the actors in this film that portray teenagers, Scout Taylor-Compton who plays Laurie Strode was the only was who actually was a teenager when the film was shot. All others were in their twenties. Even with this in mind, they all did a good job or portraying American teen girls in the 21st century. I was particularly impressed with Compton’s performance as Laurie, as stated before.
Also interesting is that Danielle Harris who plays Annie Brackett in this film had previously portrayed Laurie Strode’s orphaned daughter Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 and 5 when she was a kid.
Overall rating: 4.25/5 on the Bob Kline scale.
Rob Zombie was told by John Carpenter to make this movie his own, and that is just what he did. It is much bloodier and more sexually charged that the original. The psychology is a bit different, but I wouldn’t call it more disturbing in that sense. Zombie shows us what can be done with a remake, and in my opinion, Hollywood should watch this movie and take notes.
The Breakdown:
Cast Performance: Excellent. Malcolm McDowell had never seen the original Halloween when he did this film, and it is obvious to see him create the Dr. Loomis character in his own way. He took on the case of Michael Myers to make a name for himself, as seen in the references to his book about Michael and his speech to a college psych class. But, in a way, Loomis feels responsible for Myers’ current state, since he wasn’t able to perform the “miracle” he might have promised; to cure a psychopath.
Rob Zombie fills the movie with his cast of favorites including his wife, William Forsythe, Bill Mosely, and Sid Haig along with horror film veterans such as Danny Trejo, Brad Dourif, Udo Kier, and Dee Wallace. And as interesting twist, his usual cast gives opposite performances that what Zombie fans are used to. For example, Sheri Moon-Zombie, who has previously played the role as the sociopath Baby Firefly, she now plays the nurturing and loving mother to Michael Myers in this film.
Violence/Gore: Heavy. Much bloodier than the original.
Nudity: Abundant. This film has a few depictions of teen sex acts, which are all climaxed by an attack by Myers (no pun intended.)
Ambiance/Music: Excellent. Zombie uses the music from the original Halloween along with tracks by bands such as The Misfits and The Blue Oyster Cult to create atmosphere along with the small town U.S.A. location. Very effective.
Interesting Notes: *Of all the actors in this film that portray teenagers, Scout Taylor-Compton who plays Laurie Strode was the only was who actually was a teenager when the film was shot. All others were in their twenties. Even with this in mind, they all did a good job or portraying American teen girls in the 21st century. I was particularly impressed with Compton’s performance as Laurie, as stated before.
Also interesting is that Danielle Harris who plays Annie Brackett in this film had previously portrayed Laurie Strode’s orphaned daughter Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 and 5 when she was a kid.
Overall rating: 4.25/5 on the Bob Kline scale.
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