Last night I was invited to the sneak preview of Rob Zombie’s Halloween, and before the film had even started, I was nervous as hell. I had heard both good and bad things about this film, and I was so worried that it wasn’t going to meet my expectations. I think Rob Zombie has a growing talent when it comes to directing and if he failed with this project, it could be damaging to his budding film career. After watching the film, I had a sigh…..of RELIEF! Rob Zombie did us Halloween fans right! Yes!
THE GOOD:
My biggest reservation about the film before going to see it was Zombie’s decision to delve into the infamous Michael Myers’ childhood and how he became to be the legendary boogeyman that terrorizes Haddonfield. I always thought this was going to be a bad idea, because I always thought Myers should stay an enigma and I didn’t want to feel sorry for him. As I was watching the beginning, I realized that wasn’t Zombie’s intentions at all. True, Myers comes from a broken home. His mother is a stripper, (played by Sheri Moon Zombie) her abusive and crippled boyfriend (played by the great William Forsythe) lives with them, and his sister is a slut. Although, he doesn’t come from the best home, it’s apparent that his family is not responsible for creating the monster that lives inside him. It’s still a mystery as to why a young Myers (played brilliantly by newcomer Deag Faerch) snaps and becomes the unstoppable killing machine. You can’t relate to this character, nor do you feel sorry for him, and the unspeakable things he does to his family at the beginning are quite disturbing and gripping.
Fans will also like the fact that this movie is filled with genre favorites. We get cameo appearances from Clint Howard, Brad Dourif, Dee Wallace, Ken Foree, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and even a dude from The Monkees!
But the best part about this film was Zombie’s ability to effectively fool the audience. After the origin of Michael Myers, the story follows the young Laurie Strode and her friends like it did in the original Halloween. The audience gets hit with a pang of nostalgia as Zombie takes us on similar paths and lets us witness similar death scenes. However, just when you think the film is going the same way as the original film, Zombie pulls the rug from right under the audience, and takes you on a completely different and terrifying path that made most Halloween fans in the theatre jump, scream and cheer.
Even though he changed quite a few things with his re-imagining of Halloween, Rob Zombie was smart enough to keep certain things the same. The score is dead on with John Carpenter’s legendary and unforgettable score from earlier Halloween films. Fans will appreciate the fantastic look of Michael Myers’ mask (It’s nothing like the horrible mask we saw in H20) and they will also appreciate the shots of the boogeyman lurking in the shadows. (These scenes had the audience applauding!)
THE BAD:
I can’t believe I’m going to write this, but the weakest parts in the film (which I thought would have been the strongest parts) were surprising the leads. Now don’t get me wrong, Malcolm McDowell did an awesome job onscreen. He was likable; he even got a few laughs, and was very sincere as Dr. Samuel Loomis. I just didn’t feel like he had put the same life and energy that the late Donald Pleasance once had. I know that McDowell had some pretty big shoes to fill, but I just didn’t believe him to be the true counterpart to Michael Myers.
Newcomer Scout-Taylor Compton as Laurie Strode was great when it came to her showdown with her killer brother, but before that, she was way too annoying for words. She had me PRAYING that Zombie would speed the film up and just get to the horror already. (Thankfully he did.)
Although, I had no problem with Tyler Mane’s portrayal as Michael Myers, a lot of fans will not like the fact that he looks superhuman and that he moves at a quick pace. The main reason why Michael Myers was so scary in the first place, was because he looked like an ordinary man and that he moved like one. Although, he’s super scary in this film, the creepiness factor is not there anymore.
Last but not least, Michael Myers’ origin scenes did run a tad too long for my liking, but considering the kickass second half of the film, all was forgiven.
OVERALL:
Finally, a horror remake done right! Rob Zombie created a chilling and disturbing companion piece to the original Halloween that fans will not want to miss. I personally want to thank the man for re-creating an unforgettable theatrical experience for people like myself who were too young to watch the original film in theatres years ago. I now have a memorable theatre experience I will be able to brag about to my children, (when I have them that is) just like my parents had bragged to me about their experience of first watching the original Halloween on the big screen. Well done Mr. Zombie! I am eagerly looking forward to your next project! I give this film a rating of 8 out of 10.
