More Trick than Treat in “Halloween”
Michael Myers up to his old tricks in time for Halloween.
Audrick Bituin
September 29, 2007
Filed under Uncategorized
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton
Running Time: 109 Minutes
When I first heard about Rob Zombie’s remake of John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” my first thought that came to mind was, why?
The amount of remakes in the past few years has been so unnecessary. I wasn’t surprised that this movie was happening. I put my feelings aside viewed the movie with a fresh slate. I honestly thought that I could give this movie a chance. I’m sorry to say that I did. Halloween is a horrible misstep in the Halloween franchise and just a bad movie.
Rob Zombie set out to make a new kind of Halloween, and it shows. Instead of following the story through the eyes of Laurie Strode, the movie’s focus is on Michael Myers. This movie shows the origins of how Michael Myers became the person he is today.
The first 40 minutes of the movie show a young Michael Myers and his background. He had a horrible childhood, with an abusive stepfather and cruel sister. The only people that he loved were his mother and his baby sister, who he affectionately calls “Boo.”
While in theory it might be a good idea to show the origins of Michael Myers, the way in which events unfold is unnecessary. You don’t need to know why or how Michael acts, you should just know that he is a horrible monster and killer.
The fundamental problem with this movie is that there are no likable characters in this movie. Each character feels like a stereotype spouting badly written dialogue. It seems each character is manufactured and not real.
The second part of the movie shifts the focus of the film to Laurie Strode. Her character is supposed to be the heroine of the movie and the audience’s sympathy is supposed to go to her. However, the character of Laurie is not that sympathetic. What’s worse is that Laurie’s friends are even more unlikable and unsympathetic. There really is no redeemable quality in these characters, so you feel no connection to them when they are in danger.
There are several severe gaps in logic in this film. For instance, when the movie makes the leap from young Michael to adult Michael, he suddenly sprouts to a 7-foot unstoppable killing machine. We as an audience are led to believe that Michael is a frail human being in the beginning but we are then supposed to believe that he is an impenetrable and unstoppable monster. The most glaring gap in logic is how Michael finds out that Laurie is his long-lost little sister.
Another aspect that was frustrating was the cinematography in the film. The current method of shaky cam is so frustrating to watch. It seems that every time the tension rises, the camera has to shake to instill fear into the viewer. It is the sign of a weak direction when you have to rely on cheap tricks to scare the audience.
The last 20 minutes of the film are essentially a sped up remake of the original. So if you have seen the original, you can probably guess as to what will happen. There are some notable changes in the ending, which I won’t spoil, but they are definitely different than the original.
Rob Zombie’s Halloween is an unnecessary film that further tarnishes John Carpenter’s original film.
One Out of Four Stars
