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Review #518 of 365
Movie Review of Halloween (2007) [R] 109 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $3.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 3 September 2007
Time: 5:30 pm
DVD Release Date: 18 December 2007 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: Download now from 
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Directed by: Rob Zombie (The Devil's Rejects)
Screenplay by: Rob Zombie (The Devil's Rejects) based on the 1978 screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Malcolm McDowell ("Heroes") • Brad Dourif (Pulse) • Tyler Mane (Troy) • Daeg Faerch (Interminal) • Sheri Moon (The Devil's Rejects) • William Forsythe (Freedomland) • Richard Lynch (Luger of the Black Sun) • Danny Trejo (Snoop Dogg's Hood of Horror) • Scout Taylor-Compton (Wicked Little Things) • Dee Wallace (Expiration Date) • Pat Skipper (Seabiscuit)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to read spoiler points for Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)
"…definitely an unnecessary addition to the Halloween line…"
The story, for those that haven't seen the original nor any of its clones, concerns a young boy named Michael (Daeg Faerch) whose home life is obviously a case for an immediate call to Children and Family Protective Services. His stepfather, Ronnie (William Forsythe) is a verbally abusive drunk. His mother, an exotic dancer, Deborah (Sheri Moon) obviously loves her children, but not enough to pay sufficient attention to their real lives as to see the horrifying son she has been raising. Michael gets caught at school after a huge bathroom fight with kids teasing him about his mother's profession, in possession of a locker full of photos of various small mammals it appears he's mutilated and killed. The principal (Richard Lynch) brings in a child psychologist, Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcolm McDowell), to talk with Michael's mother and convince her he needs a full psychological evaluation. In one of the most astute pieces of parental advice ever given, he notes for her that these kinds of things are often an early warning sign of terrible things to come. Of course, she doesn’t listen and defends her son's actions. Before Michael gets home that evening, however, he beats to death his bathroom tormentor in a forest. That evening, which just happens to be Halloween, will be the last as well for Ronnie, Michael's sister, and her sexually aggressive boyfriend. All tolled, Michael kills in cold blood, four people that day. He spares his baby sister and mother. A lengthy court battle lands him in a psychiatric prison under the care of Dr. Loomis. He lives there for 17 years and becomes the subject of a best seller by Loomis. He also manages to kill a nurse at the facility that prompts the suicide of his mother who cannot, apparently, deal with the devil in her son as she chooses to end her life and abandon the baby sister. Meanwhile, Dr. Loomis feels he's made no progress and resigns as the psychiatrist to the now adult Michael (Tyler Mane). Then, some very intelligent persons, who've obviously never seen these kinds of movies, get the brilliant idea to transfer Michael in the middle of the night on the eve of Halloween to some other facility. Before they would get a chance, Michael, who now looks more like Big Foot than a human being, escapes in a murderous rampage killing everyone at the facility including the one maintenance guy who actually befriended him. More holes in the plot—see spoiler points.
Next thing we know, Michael is traipsing around his old haunts of Haddonfield, IL that used to be his hometown. He's jacked a new outfit from a trucker at a truckwash, and he's on the prowl for new people to kill. (More spoiler points arise from this of course.) Will Sheriff Lee Brackett (Brad Dourif) and Dr. Loomis be able to catch him in time (spoiler points galore)?
Halloween (2007) would have been a great deal scarier and horrifying were it not for a few things:
1) We've seen this all before quite a few times.
2) Admittedly, the shock and awe factor of all these slashing deaths have become somewhat trivial. The desensitizing factor has finally set in. What might have been vastly more horrifying would be to return to the truly suspenseful style of the master of horror, Alfred Hitchcock. With little blood and gore, who has scared people silly better than he? In looking back at Disturbia (2007) and how scary it was, it seems they were on to something for it was far, far, far more suspenseful and scary than Zombie's Halloween especially given the slasher death to screams ratio. Though it might sound odd, actually, someone eventually really must address the opening questions and explain what these pointless slasher films mean to our culture. While both males and females are victims in this film, more often than not the killers are dejected, rejected males and the victims are young, mostly powerless, females. What does this mean to the minds of those who make the films versus the minds of those who enjoy the films? Can it really be said these are just harmless good fun? When there is a psychologically scary point to the films, they might be more justifiable, but as was the case in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and the latest Hostel entries, this element was nearly if not completely absent. Certainly, many people like to be scared just like they like to laugh themselves silly. The adrenalin rush and the sense of 'safe 'endangerment are what have kept amusement parks in business. As the great horror suspense master Mr. Hitchcock proved time again, however, one never need see the weapon come in contact with the victim to yield these results.
3) The ending has to leave room for a sequel, so everyone knows from the first frame of the film that Michael Meyers is going to outlive the film. So, no surprise there.
What's pretty clear overall is that this film was made actually for one and only one reason—to make a lot of money. A fact that many filmgoers often forget is that films themselves are commodities, and they are among the most lucrative exports we USAers make. With residual profits coming through the pipeline for decades insofar as continued interest in them can be sustained. Nothing does that better, as has recently been learned, than what has come to be called a 'rebooting' of the franchise. So, take the same old film idea, and give it a hotshot new director and writer, and update it for new generations who will subsequently also then rush to by all the old films and sequels turning over-stock shelves into gold mines. As far as remakes go, this one is technically okay. The only miscasting was, sad to say, in that of Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis. He just doesn't fit the role very well seeming almost creepier at times than Michael Meyers. The acting in general was worthy, but it's hard to imagine a Jamie Lee Curtis emerging from this film as the focus is entirely on Michael Meyers behind his many masks. Amazingly, Tyler Mane delivers a decent performance, that is until the final, unbelievable climax. He and young Daeg Faerch, with their soulless eyes and callous mannerisms, correctly embody the evil within this character. Rob Zombie has filled the film with nods to the original and some of the more memorable scenes. As for fulfilling the reboot mission, he has done okay, though this film was entirely unnecessary. Equally so, he joins the list of people who have traded in their true artistic talent and originality for something that seems intended to do little more than further line the pockets of the film's already-flush producers. Finally, there were quite a number of young children inappropriately present at the screening of Halloween. It seems that parents and guardians of young children need a wake up call. Just because you can take young children to [R]-rated films, does not mean that you should. There is no way that this film should be seen by young children, and it really seems like the MPAA might have erred in giving it an [R]-rating in the first place. What does it take in the category of violence to earn an [NC-17]? A few glances of frontal male nudity usually push a film into the [NC-17] category, but over an hour of what the MPAA themselves describe as "…strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity and language," doesn't earn an [NC-17]? For more on this read the Rants and Raves Column called, "Young Children at [R]-Rated Movies: Advice for Parents and Guardians". Fans of the original are certain to loathe this film as is the case with so many opportunistic remakes. Some may even find it terrible, as they have overly glamorized the original. Likewise, the film may draw a new core of fans who are into slasher film but were too young to have seen the original. On the whole, though, Rob Zombie's remake was definitely an unnecessary addition to the Halloween line, and he someone should have warned him not to make the film too much like The Devil's Rejects and, perhaps, to go out on a limb and utilize some new talent. This would have helped silence many critics in advance.
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Halloween (2007)
Cast Members
Malcolm McDowell
• Brad Dourif • Tyler ManeDaeg Faerch
• Sheri Moon • William ForsytheRichard Lynch
• Danny Trejo • Scout Taylor-ComptonDee Wallace
Director
Rob Zombie
Writer
Rob Zombie
| CD Soundtrack | Poster | |
2 comments:
Someone posted an interesting poll about the new Halloween vs the old one on pollsb.com (click on my name to get there).
inally I find someone who agrees with me! I have been looking all over the web to try to understand how this movie got a R rating. I made the terrible mistake of taking my 12 year old son to Halloween 2007 this past weekend with out researching any reviews. After all how bad can a Halloween movie get? Boy was I wrong. It had to be one of the most disgusting, perverted pieces of trash ever made. Of course I was expecting blood in a slasher movie. But the sex, swearing, adult situations were way out of line. (Kid’s killing kids? common now.)
Forget the fact that Rob Zombie has no creativity whatsoever and this was just a movie to see how much shock garbage he could put in 109 min. (By the way it’s not even remotely frightening). What I’m really upset is the fact that it received that the same R rating as movies like Jerry Macguire, Rain Man, and the Matrix. What a joke. Just show’s how greedy and lack of morels film studios have. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT THIS IN A NC-17 MOVIE.
Thank you Scooter
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