The new Halloween
 

I got it on DVD for Christmas and I was wondering what everyone thought of it. I have... Mixed expectations.

I skipped it because I heard it had a pretty terrible reception. I still have to see the other 6 or so movies, as I've only seen the original.

I just saw the "Halloween" remake, really didn't like it much at all. Thought it spent way to much time trying to develop Meyers character and there was just something about the film, had no suspense what so ever. The original is just better, but it was a good try.

Oh and MarioRPG just so you know, when you get to "Halloween 3" there is no psycho knife wielding killer, just rubber masks and lots of bugs!!

It sucks.

The problem with the film is that it was trying to be Halloween in Rob Zombie's mind. The terrifying thing about Myers was that there was no real reason why he went berserk at a young age. He was just a normal kid who then cruelly butchered his own sister. That alone is enough. The hinting of Evil just covers what is pretty much senseless murder that can strike anywhere.

Zombie fucked this up by turning it into his representation of film which includes trailer trash relationships (which conflict with the clean cut Myers parents we see at the very beginning of the original film) and a lot of rationalizations for this behavior. But the true horror comes from the lack of it. Zombie simply is not John Carpenter and his 'reimaging' would make a fairly good (if derivative) horror film, but he does not have the subtlety that was needed. He's still in the Friday the 13th mode of horror instead of the true and deeply unsettling horror which is sad since his Devil's Rejects was very good on that part. Perhaps Zombie is best left a fan of the films as his style is just too different to fully recreate a film like this.

Very well put Zub Manowar, that really sums it up. Zomboid also raises a good point!

That's why they call me...Zub? ;)

I agree with Zbu Manowar, Zombie really screwed that one up . Another problem I had with it was that it seemed to be Vulgar just for the sake of being Vulgar. Did "Fuck" really need to be every other word? That movie had more F-bombs then the whole original Halloween series! The only thing I liked a bit more then the original was that the death of Myers Sister was handled better IMO.

I like to pretend this movie never happened. Like Hanibal Rising....
...see Zub's first paragraph for reason...

setting the bar high for scanners and hellraiser in 2008 then

That is true, except its not the Friday the 13th mindset he is in. Its the 1970's exploitation film mindset. Look at the Devils Rejects and House of 1000 corpses. I found more similarities between those films and The original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (which in my opinion, was kind of a Exploitation film in the way the violence and presentation was handled) and other low budget movies from that same era.

If Zombie were left to do his own films, not remakes or other things, with his own original ideas, we would undoubtedly see a lot more quality work coming out from him. The problem with halloween it seems (havent seen it yet) is that it isnt a halloween movie, its just a movie that seems to have the the name tacked on top of it.

I think that at this point, pretty much any rob zombie movie is going to continue to have a bunch of dysfunctional rednecks and his wife in more important roles. The whole thing was just a bastardization of a true classic. I doubt that I'll even watch it on tv in the future.

He hand picked the project, it's not like it was forced upon him. Furthermore, word is he has opted to followed it up with a remake of CHUD.

Actually, last I read was that he's not doing the C.H.U.D. remake.

I just don't understand the mentality of people wanting to do remakes. If I was a movie director with the option to do whatever I wanted, I would create something completely new rather than doing a remake or "reimagining" of an older movie. It's not like these guys are short on ideas... and even if I don't like everything they do, I'd much rather see a completely new movie by them instead of a remake. I thought House of 1000 Corpses was extremely weak compared to Devil's Rejects, but I'd watch it 100 times before I'd see the Halloween remake again.

My two main concerns with Zombie's Halloween were the pacing and the lack of suspense. His movie spends way too much time on Michael as a kid, and while the drunken bastard step dad and stripper mom were a nice touch, it just went on for way too long (not to mention that the young boy's acting skills were quite... well, they weren't really up to par with everyone elses). But then the film jumps forward suddenly and loses all of the suspense that the "Michael stalking Laurie" sequence had in the original film. In the Carpenter film, Michael follows Laurie around in the car, stands ominously behind bushes, then darts away when he's spotted. In Zombie's, he just sorta stands next to trees, hulkingly huge, and follows her down the street at about 20 feet away, where everyone can see him. After this rushed and non-suspenseful series of scenes he starts to murder people. I liked how Zombie handled the violence, but the pacing during the massacre sequence (aka the whole last half of the movie) was awkward and varied too much in my opinion. It would speed up and crank along, moving nicely and gaining momentum, possibly even a hint of suspense, but then it would collapse on itself. Another minor complaint is that the final encounter with Michael was oddly structured, and while I enjoyed it, it just left some hunger for a big thrilling moment, which I feel was never delivered.

All in all, it's good in it's own right, and it just goes to show that in most cases the remake never tops the original.
Lucky for us, the ending (hopefully) eliminated the possibility of Zombie making sequels.

Peace.

It was a hell of alot better than the last few Halloween movies so atleast we can hope Rob Zombie has revitalized the franchise.

I agree that it was better, but that's not really saying much as the majority of the sequels were absoloute trash. And did we really need it revitalized? It's just going to spawn more crappy sequels--SPOILER ALERT-- as I'm sure Hollywood will figure out a way to bring him back.

There are spoiler tags. Use them.

To a point, yes. But we have to remember that Halloween itself was considered an exploitation flick and, by the nature of the ones I've seen, not exactly a hardcore one. If anything Zombie's focus was too extreme in thinking that Halloween was exactly the same as Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Not all exploitation films were made the same way (despite the label 'exploitation') and Zombie should have known better. Being a horror fan, he should know that Halloween was more focused on the terror aspect with the gore being a backer to it for impact, not the sole impact of the movie itself.

Indeed. He may love doing remakes in the future, but with Devil's Rejects he was able to show that he's fully capable of doing his own works with great effect. I almost wish that Grindhouse had become a bigger hit so he could actually do his own version of those style of films in his own vein. I'd love for him to actually make a movie with the same pastiche feel of 'Werewolf Women of the SS.'

It should have been stabbed in the head with a coat hanger and flushed down the toilet.