Remakes are often quite tricky. Most people are skeptical about how they will be in comparison to the original, and a lot of people just wonder, "What's the point?". And considering the massive amount of praise and fame the original Halloween received, I think it's safe to say that Rob Zombie had some big shoes to fill. Surprisingly enough though, I actually think he did a pretty good job and Halloween is easily much better than most people would expect.
Unlike the original which starts out with Michael murdering his sister Judith, this version of Halloween goes even further back, showing out the reasoning behind Michael's madness. Michael (Daeg Faerch) has a really shitty life. His stepfather Ronnie (William Forsythe) is an asshole. His sister Judith (Hanna R. Hall) is neglectful and careless. His pets...well, he kills them before they have any chances of disrespecting him. The only person close to him that seems to show him any love is his mother Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie), and even she is a bit neglectful and well...really stupid (shown off by her skills of rationalizing her son's collection of dead animal photos). One day Michael just snaps. He kills the local bully (Daryl Sabara from Spy Kids). Later that night on Halloween, he snaps even further, murdering his stepfather, his sister, and her ugly boyfriend. He then gets locked up in the local nuthouse and goes even further down the rabbit hole, crushing his mother's hope and happiness as he goes down further. This material covers about the first 40-45 minutes off the movie, and I must say it's quite effective. The performances overall are pretty solid (especially Sheri Moon Zombie), the kills are just gruesome enough to satisfy gorehounds, and it's a pretty involving story. At times, you actually feel a bit bad for Michael which is what Rob Zombie intended.
After the scenes with Michael and his mother end, Michael breaks out of the asylum and from then on..the movie changes pace and tone. His main target is his sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton), and her two friends Annie and Lynda (played by Danielle Harris and Kristina Klebe). And you know how it goes from here. Michael goes after her friends first and eliminates anyone in her way until he's chasing around Laurie and the kids she's babysitting.
Unfortunately, this part of the movie doesn't work as well as the first half. First off, 2/3 of the main actresses are horrible. Danielle Harris (the Halloween queen) is pretty good as Annie, but the other two are almost unwatchable. Compton just screeches and whines just about all her lines. She's embarassing to watch in the scenes before Michael (they try and make her funny, no), and borderline spastic when she's screaming and running around. At times it almost looks like she's singing her lines, "HELLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPUHHHH". Klebe is pretty painful as well. In the original, the character Lynda was the ditzy, fun little sexbomb. In this one, Lynda is obnoxious, irritating, and just gross. Klebe just comes off as a cheap, amateur knock off of P.J. Soles' infamous performance. And for fuck's sake...we didn't need to see her bush. Just saying.
As neat as some of the bloodtastic kills are, there's not a ton of time to build up genuine thrills. Yes, Halloween kept me entertained but overall this version just doesn't have that genuine air of menace and terror that the original did. Rob Zombie does his best but overall, to quote a recent character in the Scream series....don't fuck with the original.
Despite easily being outshined by the original Halloween, this version still does the job. It moves along pretty quickly with some nice bloody kills. The first 40-45 minutes is really strong and even though the last half definitely doesn't measure up, it's at least entertaining with a few decent scares. And considering all the shitty remakes that probably inspire the original to roll around in their grave...I would say that's a pretty decent compliment for a horror remake.
3/4
Unlike the original which starts out with Michael murdering his sister Judith, this version of Halloween goes even further back, showing out the reasoning behind Michael's madness. Michael (Daeg Faerch) has a really shitty life. His stepfather Ronnie (William Forsythe) is an asshole. His sister Judith (Hanna R. Hall) is neglectful and careless. His pets...well, he kills them before they have any chances of disrespecting him. The only person close to him that seems to show him any love is his mother Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie), and even she is a bit neglectful and well...really stupid (shown off by her skills of rationalizing her son's collection of dead animal photos). One day Michael just snaps. He kills the local bully (Daryl Sabara from Spy Kids). Later that night on Halloween, he snaps even further, murdering his stepfather, his sister, and her ugly boyfriend. He then gets locked up in the local nuthouse and goes even further down the rabbit hole, crushing his mother's hope and happiness as he goes down further. This material covers about the first 40-45 minutes off the movie, and I must say it's quite effective. The performances overall are pretty solid (especially Sheri Moon Zombie), the kills are just gruesome enough to satisfy gorehounds, and it's a pretty involving story. At times, you actually feel a bit bad for Michael which is what Rob Zombie intended.
After the scenes with Michael and his mother end, Michael breaks out of the asylum and from then on..the movie changes pace and tone. His main target is his sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton), and her two friends Annie and Lynda (played by Danielle Harris and Kristina Klebe). And you know how it goes from here. Michael goes after her friends first and eliminates anyone in her way until he's chasing around Laurie and the kids she's babysitting.
Unfortunately, this part of the movie doesn't work as well as the first half. First off, 2/3 of the main actresses are horrible. Danielle Harris (the Halloween queen) is pretty good as Annie, but the other two are almost unwatchable. Compton just screeches and whines just about all her lines. She's embarassing to watch in the scenes before Michael (they try and make her funny, no), and borderline spastic when she's screaming and running around. At times it almost looks like she's singing her lines, "HELLLLLPPPPPPPPPPPUHHHH". Klebe is pretty painful as well. In the original, the character Lynda was the ditzy, fun little sexbomb. In this one, Lynda is obnoxious, irritating, and just gross. Klebe just comes off as a cheap, amateur knock off of P.J. Soles' infamous performance. And for fuck's sake...we didn't need to see her bush. Just saying.
As neat as some of the bloodtastic kills are, there's not a ton of time to build up genuine thrills. Yes, Halloween kept me entertained but overall this version just doesn't have that genuine air of menace and terror that the original did. Rob Zombie does his best but overall, to quote a recent character in the Scream series....don't fuck with the original.
Despite easily being outshined by the original Halloween, this version still does the job. It moves along pretty quickly with some nice bloody kills. The first 40-45 minutes is really strong and even though the last half definitely doesn't measure up, it's at least entertaining with a few decent scares. And considering all the shitty remakes that probably inspire the original to roll around in their grave...I would say that's a pretty decent compliment for a horror remake.
3/4
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