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Directed by: Rob Zombie Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Daeg Faerch I am a huge fan of the Halloween line of movies, so it was with great anticipation that I headed to the theater Friday night. I am not overly familiar with Rob Zombie's line of work, having only seen the first half of House of 1000 Corpses, but I felt like he could really do incredible things with a prequel/remake. I wasn't OVERLY disappointed. The biggest problem comes with Rob's inability to completely dive into Michael's head. He gives you a little glimpse and then says "OK, they know he's crazy, next..." with regard to both his family's slaying and his sanitarium time (it's 29 years after the original, I assume that doesn't need spoilered). I wish he had fully dove into Michael's psychosis and made it more of a character study, because that's what I was truly hoping to see here. Instead, you get an hour of rehash/reimagining of the original, which is too sacred of a text. I knew this wasn't intended to be a total prequel, but I guess I expected a little too much. McDowell wasn't the scene stealer I'd thought he'd be, and Faerch just didn't slam home MM like I hoped. That said... it is still really worth your money if you are a Shape fan. There are parts that are legitimately scary, including one "scare" that literally shocked me out of my seat with a mouth full of swears. The gore is obviously ramped up from Carpenter's version; it's not like you'd expect less from Rob or got much from the original. A decent story, a fine directing job, great acting from Sheri Moon Zombie as Michael's mom, and a nod to the well-played small part of Danny Trejo, always a favorite of mine. PROS: It's another Halloween! More gore and a small peek into Mike's early life. CONS: The peek is far smaller than I hoped. Rating: 4/5
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Sep 2, 2007 15:04
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 14:11 |
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I thought the movie was pretty good. I told my friend after I saw it, that I got exactly what I expected, nothing more or less. I think a problem with horror films these days is that they often try to do too much. This movie just wanted to be a slasher film, and that's about it. I liked the backstory stuff, and I don't agree with the OP that it was lacking because it didn't give us a better look inside his life. I think that's what makes Michael so scary - he seems to be driven by no real particular motive, just the desire to kill. I don't want some Freudian account of why he wants to kill. He's just a severely messed up and evil guy - who might be somewhat supernatural, too. Overall 4.5/5
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Sep 3, 2007 16:54
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Let me preface this by saying I don't believe in the sanctity of the original. Watch it again sometime, with friends. It makes for very, very funny camp now. With that out of the way, I'm still baffled as to the point of making this thing. The inclusion of backstory makes this movie the opposite of Halloween; we don't need to know why Michael does what he does, so if there's going to be some extra info, it had better at least make sense. A few of the sequels introduced and abandoned some goofy Druid storyline, and this one slates MM as a goth kid with a family full of caricatures. At least the Druid plot gave a reason (as if one was needed) for Michael's ability to take 6 bullets in the chest and walk away unphased. The dialogue is so unbelievable and out of control (anytime two or more Haddenfield girls are together, the lines come straight from a porno) that I never identified with any of them or cared when they were killed. Re-imagination as it may be, many of the death scenes are just gorified versions of Carpenter's, and a crucial bit of dialogue in the last few minutes is cropped word-for-word from the original with embarrassing results. Zombie has no idea what to do with the camera; 50% of the movie is quick cuts between close-up shots and instead of wondering what's behind the character's shoulder, you're wondering where the character is in the room. Etc, etc. Ultimately, you don't have to read the paragraphs above to get what you're looking for in a Halloween review. It wasn't scary, and it wasn't funny. 1/5. P.S. Malcolm McDowell is spot-on as Loomis. Perfect casting, and undeniably the best part of the film for me.
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Sep 3, 2007 18:01
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I watched all the Halloween movies when I was a kid, but wasn't that interested in them, and I never really liked either of Rob Zombies first two movies, but for some reason when I heard about this movie I thought it was going to be great, and I wasn't overly disappointed. The back story was well-done, the most interesting part of the movie for me. I can;t say I was really scared, but some of the killing scenes made me pretty squeamish. I love Rob's dialogue throughout the movie. Some of Laurie's dialogue with her friends is a little over the top, but probably closer to what actual high school girls are like then a lot of movies. My only real criticism is the close up shaky cam that Rob uses a lot closer to the end. It's hard to tell exactly what's going on during a lot of the stalking/killing scenes. Overall, I'd say its an above average slasher movie. 4/5
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Sep 5, 2007 01:35
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It's very well done, I hadn't seen the original version but everyone told me this was better and I love slasher movies. And so I went out and I don't regret seeing this at all. The movie seemed somewhat random at times, call me dumb, but I didn't get exactly what killing the trucker in the bathroom stall had to do with anything. But that scene was still pretty bad rear end nonetheless. It only had one part that would make you jump from your seat. For expecting a terrible movie (IGN gave it a 0/10 and all the other reviews are equally as bad), this wasn't what I expected at all. Definitely worth seeing, and Rob Zombie proved once again that he doesn't need more than a handful of special effects to make a good movie, all he needs is buckets of blood and some people willing to act. 4.5/5 Thank You Card fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Sep 5, 2007 |
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Sep 5, 2007 21:08
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Mr.Kips posted:...The movie seemed somewhat random at times, call me dumb, but I didn't get exactly what killing the trucker in the bathroom stall had to do with anything. But that scene was still pretty bad rear end nonetheless.... I guess he just wanted to showwhere he got the jumpsuit from. Overall I enjoyed the movie. Not too much ridiculous dialog like Rob Zombie's other 2 movies with much reminiscent of the original. 4/5
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Sep 9, 2007 03:23
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I thought it was a horrible pile of bile. I'm not a re-make hater in any shape or form but this was just a crap film. Loomis and Michael aside, none of the characters had an depth. It was like they just happened to be there while the cameras were rolling. I realize it's a horror/slasher but Zombie could have at least made an attempt to make the audience believe Laurie as a character. It wasn't the girl at fault at all, she just had a poo poo character with a horrible script. 1/5 and I'm in a generous mood. The "Was that the boogieman" bit had me cringing all the way to the bottom of my seat.
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Oct 10, 2007 23:33
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One of only two movies I've ever walked out of, the other being Johnny Mnemonic. The acting was terrible and the vulgarity seemed HORRIBLY forced. I understand what Rob was trying to do, showing Michael coming from a broken home, showing that he didn't have any compassion... I know it was a remake, well a remake with a built-in prequel, but it just didn't work for me. It was just all so cliché. I walked out during the third sex scene. The mom was a stripper, the big sister banged her boyfriend instead of taking Michael trick or treating. Fast-forward to adult Michael going after his now grown baby sister. She had two friends from school, both died while banging random dudes. I left during the second girlfriend scene. It was offensive. 1/5 for Danny Trejo
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Oct 11, 2007 12:30
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Just watched this movie this week and found it really disappointing. Now I'm a huge fan of the original and consider it to be one of the best when it comes to slasher movies. I didn't run out to see this one right away because I do like the first one so much and I wasn't expecting much but I was still pretty disappointed. I had heard this one had a bit more back story and thought it could be interesting but it wasn't. Rob Zombie could have done so much more with it and the "perfect storm" of "internal and external influences" that created Michael Myers didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and didn't give any real insight as to why he is the way he is. Trying to explain it with some vague "internal and external influences" crap seems like lazy writing. I pretty much agree with a lot that was said here. Rob Zombie doesn't have the flair John Carpenter does when it comes to camera angles. The dialogue is awful and uninteresting. The lines that Rob Zombie chose to use from the original were either horrible or horribly delivered. McDowell was okay as Dr. Loomis. He had some big shoes to fill but he did alright. I really enjoyed Danny Trejo. All the other characters (especially Laurie) were pretty blah. It was cute of Zombie to cast Danielle Harris (Michael Myers' niece from Halloween 4 and 5) as Annie. Rob Zombie does deserve credit for at least trying to shake things up a bit by not following the rules of the old school slasher flick genre to the letter but it's not enough to save this movie. It's gorier than the original but nothing that'll keep you awake at night. There wasn't a lot of suspense until the end and the only jump I got was Michael attacking Laurie's dad on the porch. If you're thinking about renting it or it's on your Netflix queue pass on it. You're not missing anything. 1/5 because I enjoyed Danny Trejo.
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Dec 23, 2007 06:34
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I thought it was cool to go over just how f'ed up Michael Myers family was. And props for Rob for getting Danielle Harris, the little girl who was in Halloween 5, to be in the film... and nude. 4/5
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Dec 24, 2007 22:36
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This wasn't as horrible as I thought it could have been. It wasn't too bad at all, but then again my expectations were pretty low. Good points: It was filmed well, and (with a few exceptions) acted fairly well. Some of the teenagers were typical horrible actors, but all the major characters were decent, and people like Brad Dourif and Malcolm Macdowell did about as well as they could given the material. It kept me in fair suspense even if it did rely a little too heavily on cliche. Bad points: Inconsistent writing, especially dialog (why the gently caress are teenage girls talking like bikers?). Some one dimensional characters. Cliched plot contrivances (you send one cop car and no ambulance to a 911 call where there's a reported stabbing??). Pacing could be snappier. Overall, not a bad effort. Certainly worth a rental if you're a fan of the genre. 3/5
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Dec 29, 2007 22:02
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Hearing about it i was kind of excited to see something with Michael Myers even being done. The plot was OK but i expected more out of it. The whole movie kind of made MM look like a 5 year old with a knife in his hand. The only good thing about this movie was how much of an rear end in a top hat his moms boyfriend was. "Alright,now clean it up". Thats why its called a remake i guess. I didnt really like the ending much either. Kind of stupid,they could've done something MUCH more interesting with it. Although, the little girl who played Jamie Llyod in Halloween 4 & 5 was in the movie as one of Laurie Strodes friends. Also,The man who does the voice of chucky was in the movie somewhere. I saw Brad Dourif as one of thje charecters on the credits but i havent watched it since to find out which one he is. 2/5 Gead Hames fucked around with this message at 12:09 on Mar 14, 2008 |
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Mar 14, 2008 12:07
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 14:11 |
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God awful. More of Rob Zombies' "Redneck" inspired bullshit. Loomis' character(who is a good actor, but chose to play Loomis this way) was so detached and self involved compared to the Donald Pleasence version. I posted years ago that there would be stupid redneck poo poo in this movie and Michael's dad would be some trashy piece of poo poo that drank a lot, and well here we are. I waited until it came out on blu-ray to watch it because you literally cannot see horror movies where I live in peace. The whole reason Michael was scary back in the day is there was really no motive for his killings other than some loose connection to his family. This film honestly would have been a lot creepier if there was less of the typical RZ redneck stuff, and Michael being completely normal up until the night he decides to "change". 1/5
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Nov 17, 2008 01:43
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