As a big fan of Rob Zombie I was very much looking forward to this film, having loved his stylish, gritty and powerfully visceral style in his critically acclaimed The Devil's Rejects. Whilst I found the same fresh tone in this "re-working/imaging/making" of a horror classic, it is of course not without its flaws, of which there are unfortunately plenty. I myself am not a massive Halloween fan and have only ever seen the first movie, so I thought this new remake was fine to an extent. However, talking to fellow fans of the series they felt that it completely messed around with Michael Myer's character, his past and his universe.
Here we get to see Michael's childhood, a dark and depressing one where we being to see all the factors which make him what he is. He, on the surface, seems like a normal 8 year old child but deep down is battling against angst, powerful emotions and disturbing urges his mind and body can't control. His family are the epitome of "trailer trash" - he is raised by his drunk, foulmouthed, jobless and abusive stepfather, his older teenage sister is the irresponsible school slut and his mother, who at least dearly loves him, is a stripper who can't handle the demands of rearing a family and is always at the end of her tether (excellently played by Sheri Moon Zombie, completely opposite to her role as the feisty and frankly insane Baby Firefly in House and Devil's and who is always a pleasure to watch). Myers is bullied at school relentlessly as he is at home by his stepfather and so, as external and internal factors reach a devastating balance, he completely loses sense which starts the chain reaction where becomes the legendary savage killer the series is infamous for. Act 2 is Myers growing up in a Sanitarium where psychiatrist Dr Sam Loomis (played by the always cool Malcolm McDowell), the only one who understands Myer's true inner being, tries to help him but to no avail as Michael becomes more and more recluse, eventually not speaking, eating and sleeping anymore and completely hiding away behind his obsession of masks. Act 3 is Myers, fully grown into a hulking figure of cold, black emptiness, (now played by 6' 8" Tyler Mane in a brutally awesome performance) escaping from his prison and going on the murderous rampage in his home town as seen in the original Halloween movie in a basic re-treading of the classic movie.
I didn't have a problem with this movie to be honest because this is Rob Zombie's vision and not a direct scene for scene remake, however the latter half of the movie goes against this and it turns out to be nothing more than the original movie albeit sped up to fit into the remaining time limit. Because I'm not familiar with the original Halloween movies this is probably why I was more forgiving, as a standalone film I liked it and thought it was far from the "mess" which people and fans have been saying it was. Alas this is a film which stands in the shadow of a classic series and so it will, no matter what, have a lot to answer for and so the backlash has been pretty big (even though the last few titles in the series have been less favourable).
Whilst Zombie does add some dimensions to the infamous Myers character and his past, it's not enough to make it any more interesting that what we have already seen a million times before in movies about psychopaths. Yes the character typically had issues which transformed into something far greater as is always done with all Hollywood psycho killers, and that's all that is shown here again albeit more stylistically. Zombie's directing is not at fault here as it suitably powerful and artistic, it's more so his writing which is poor that lets the movie down. That and the fact that there's really nothing new here to make it any different to what we have all seen a million times before in slasher films- it's the same old movie just looking different.
Whilst I love Zombie's original look and style this is still a predictable horror movie, more so being the same exact Halloween with a new look. Long term Fans of the series will no doubt be angered and should stay away but if you want a stylish, gory and innovative approach to the predictable by-the-numbers slasher movie then I say watch this. As a fan of Zombie's style and not a fan of Halloween, I enjoyed it, but I'm in the minority here. I rate this film high only gore, action, choreography, style, look, music (great score by Tyler Bates and the Halloween theme always kicks ass) and direction as a stand-alone movie. This director's cut DVD does have some slightly longer scenes and a very good alternative ending which works better than the one in the movie which is why I'm giving it a slightly higher score than the norm too.
As a Halloween series movie and a remake (along with writing and character issues) I would rate this lower. But I honestly say I was entertained by it, it was good for what it is and an interesting take on what essentially is a predictable teen slasher movie. I felt this was a more than a worthy addition to an otherwise dying franchise and definitely boosts it back to where it was before. Though many people will disagree, i think this more than makes up for all the crappy sequels and semi-sequels the series has produced over the last few years.
Verdict: An above average yet all too predictable slasher movie that entertains immensely. 7/10
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