HALLOWEEN: REMIXED & REIMAGINED - A review of the 2007 remake

 

I must first say this.There are about ten minutes of this film I would have shaved. And one of my major complaints is the unnecessary changing of Tommy Doyle's last name (Doyal) and the reversing of the Annie & Lynda scenes. Now, if these are my only major complaints....I think this is saying something good about the new film. We'll start giving credit where credit is due. First off, Zombie has a passion for the genre, a knowledge and skill to present it in a way that true horror fans can only dream about these days. If it weren't for the likes of Rob Zombie and Eli Roth - we'd be subjected to numerous PG-13 pieces of shit like "The Return" "The Ring" and "The Village" - who gives a shit about a fucking ring unless it's ring around the collar....so, I shall move on. Danielle Harris (known for her role as Jamie in Halloweens 4 and 5) takes on the Nancy Loomis character, Annie Brackett. She rocks this shit out, folks. And let me tell you how great it is to see her in a big screen release. It's been too damned long. Now, I have to direct attention to Sheri Moon Zombie's performance as Deborah Strode (I'll assume her name is Deborah in homage to the late Debra Hill...I hope anyway) Sheri really surprised me with this role. Her on screen presence as a mother in hell with an abusive boyfriend and a family going to shit...while she strips to make ends meet....and yet, she holds a sensitivity in the midst of all the turmoil...is just simply admirable....and when Michael (played brilliantly by newcomer Daeg Faerch) snaps and goes on his own Ronald DeFeo type family massacre...it feels like a serial killer killing people...not a slasher going after his victims...we feel real death. These scenes were disturbing - and Sheri's discovery of what her son has done is entirely opposite of the disbelief the original film's Mrs. Myers conveyed. Sheri reacts like a mother falling into the deepest corners of hell. Her appearance in this film is one of the high points. Zombie's choice to take a 'stab' at Michael's past is what had me captivated through most of the film. It's got to be one of the best things about this new version. Malcolm McDowell is quite impressive taking over the role of the late Donald Pleasence as Dr. Samuel Loomis (quoted at the beginning of the film...great move, Rob!)  McDowell has a different take on the role...yet he also possesses some of the very qualities Pleasence brought to the original. Another disappointment for me is the missing line "Death has come to your little town, Sheriff." and a couple of key moments from the original that really needed to stay in to make it the complete package I was hoping for. Unfortunately, although very good in the role, there wasn't enough time spent on Laurie Strode. Scout Taylor-Compton gives a great performance as a teenager babysitting - but, she is not as distinctive from her friends as Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie was in the original. One moment I really liked was her discovery of her friend Lynda. Her reaction was realistic - most of the characters in this film reacted the way a human would react...not a character. That is Zombie's biggest strength here. His biggest weaknesses being the trashy language used by many characters and the amount of time spent on them. This is why the first two-thirds of the film is fantastic...we see these characters...we feel for them. We understand part of who they are. Once we shift to Laurie Strode - it feels rushed. Lynda barely becomes a minor character - when she was one of the important characters in the original. The mistake of omitting great moments like Annie being trapped in an outside laundry room as we see the shape peering in at her from behind and the shape sitting up behind Laurie after the kids run screaming from the Doyle house....is just a bad move on Zombie's part. Yes, it may be as he says "a re-imagining" but as Andrew Kasch states in his review on Dread.com "...at the end of the day, the title on the marquee reads "Halloween" and when you re-use characters, set-pieces, and full lines of dialogue, you're automatically working in the shadow of the original."  to which I agree to the fullest extent. Sometimes, even if you are doing something different...you still need to make sure you aren't shaving off the best parts of the mold you're working from. Zombie seems to lose vision in the last 15 minutes of the film and doesn't regain it until the last moment. This is where the stalking becomes repetitive..there is a moment very much like that in Halloween 5 where Michael seems to become humbled to human sympathy for a few moments. On the other hand - this small extension of affection does make sense in the fact that the only thing human remaining in Michael is the love he had for his little sister. (Yes, Rob says he never even remembered that plot-point from Halloween II...but, I mean..come on....did you really think you came up with that on your own?) I think it is used to better extent - but, one thing that bugs the shit out of me is the explanation Sheriff Brackett gives to Loomis about how the child was adopted. He just stole the kid and dropped it off at an orphanage miles away and omitted the kid from the report of Deborah's suicide. So, what else did he do? Did he also give away all the baby toys, the crib, the highchair, etc to the salvation army while the rest of the police force in Haddonfield were eating chili cheese fries at the local greasy spoon? If these small moments could be omitted...it would only enhance the strength of the first two-thirds. Now, I'm also coming from the perspective of being one of the biggest fans of the original. I have told many people I felt that remaking or 're-imagining' this film is like putting a Starbucks in the Taj Mahal. You may as well put a Taco Bell express in one of the pyramids...but, after viewing it - I was impressed with the film's strong points...because when Zombie has his moments of glory in this film..they are very strong. I almost wish he had made a prequel that led to the very first moments of his arrival in Haddonfield after his escape - because if we are going to be taken down that road again....we need more time spent on the good points from the original film...which come to think of it...I can't think of any part of the original that wasn't good. However, Zombie spends WAY too much time on Michael stalking Laurie (there is an awful scene involving an empty swimming pool that just took me right out of the film and made me wonder why I hadn't bought any popcorn) when he really should have included more of the classic moments from the 1978 film. Now, I know it sounds like I'm just bitching a tirade of negativity. The film is NOT the original. Is it better than the original? No. Should it be compared to the original? That's up to you. Should it be judged by the original? No. This is a completely different film. An entirely different animal. This is not John Carpenter's story. This is Rob Zombie's story. This is not Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence's take on these characters being directed by Carpenter. This is a completely different shooting style, direction, written and performed film nearly 30 years after the original hit the screen. In order to appreciate this film for what it is...we HAVE to separate it from the classic. I was very impressed with the new ideas that Zombie brought to the table...he has done far more for the series than any of the last few films have. I would rank this one right after the first two. I loved the characters in Halloween 4, but looking at the film as a whole....this one really does the trick delivering the goods. What does this one have going for it? It adds a new dimension to the character of Michael Myers, it adds new scope, a new angle and a brand new perspective on the classic tale. There are a few clunky moments..but, not really that many. I walked out of the theatre pretty satisfied with what I had witnessed. Rob did a great job of taking something this sacred in the eyes of horror fans and even touching it. Gus Van Sant absolutely bombed in his shot for shot remake of Psycho. That was just needless. The main thing I need to mention here is this. On Halloween's opening weekend - the top films across the nation included The Bourne Ultimatum (raking in $13.2 million) Superbad at the number 2 spot (raking in a whopping $15.6 million) and HALLOWEEN made a record breaking labor day debut - pulling in, you ready bitches?.... $31 million dollars. Now sit your asses down and think about that. That is practically UNHEARD of for an R-rated Horror film these days. That says something. Even fans of the original need to step back and say...damn! Now can I get a unanimous "HOLLA!!!!" Zombie breathes his own personality and style into this film...and now Halloween wears a grittier, dirtier, more raw, realistic and disturbing new look. You'll have to judge for yourself...but, my final word is that this film gave us information we'd only been teased with for years. For that, I say...thank you Rob Zombie. The only thing I wonder now is....what if Eli Roth had been given the chance to do this? Hmmmmmmm.......

Love in an elevator...or something close.

People and myself. Hmmm. It seems like this connection I have with people....(no one in particular...) is like gooey taffy all over my damned hands and it's hard to wash off. If you follow that at all - I commend you! =) I mean...in layman's terms...It's hard for me to let go of former partners, friends, coworkers...whoever made an impact on me or that I got attached to. It seems that I put higher value on some people than they do themselves or than they deserve, you know what I mean?

My logical side keeps pushing me into the elevator of practical thinking..but I always hit the damned "open door" button until I'm sure that any of these people don't need me anymore. This is a habit I've long had and am actually getting much better at. I just feel that I'm a loving person and it's hard for me to think of a human that touched me in any way to be just some object or experience that is no longer needed. There are people in my heart that I have not even seen in over 20 years and some aren't even alive anymore....but, no one replaces them. And i hate the fact that so many people that I meet treat their friends or past relationships or even family that piss them off like they don't really care enough to keep them inside their hearts once their purpose has been dried up and emptied out like a sour gallon of milk.

There are a few people that have altered my life in some pretty amazing ways...even in small ways that in turn became more monumental...seeds that grew into beautiful forests of knowledge and experience, if you will. Some of them (not all of them) include Kristi, Holly, Ken V, Howie, Alejandro, Curtis and Morgan, Debbie, Kevin, Joey, Sybil, Dom and Ash, Big Jon Wood...there are so many, but - man, a few of the people that have impacted my life I never even got close to...they just did something or said something or came into my life for a brief moment and displayed some wonderful characteristic that planted itself in my heart and is stuck there as long as I walk the earth.

My point? I have a harder time understanding why people I have cared about just disappear on me. Why? Well...yeah...Mom, Good old mom....she abandoned me after I was dumped off at my grandma's house in lapeer "temporarily" when I was ten in 1984. She promised to come get me within two weeks.

I went to high school in lapeer...and eventually even worked there when I was well over 21. So, yeah....that's the seed. I've come to realize through the years that sometimes people don't value other people as much as they should - and once they are gone....why wouldn't you still care about what happens to them?

Some don't. I still think about my first relationships...and not in a "God, I miss him!" sort of way....but, in a "I hope he's doing okay..and got to do what he had wanted to do" sort of way. This goes for friends that I haven't seen in years.

It boggles me how anyone can tell you they "care" or that you're an important influence in their lives or even that they love you and then revoke it all when something changes the relationships between the two.

There are people that I have shared romantic relationships with that I really wouldn't care to see again....but, I still wonder if they're okay. And I wouldn't ignore them if they were to write to me or run into me. That's not who I am.

And the reality of these facts that seem to be true for some people leave me miffed. It's not that I don't already know these things...they reside on that floor that the practical thinking elevator takes you up to...however...it made me realize also that my reasoning for feeling the way I do is because when I care about someone it's pretty deep and very, very sincere. So, I try to make some logical sense out of the behavior of others...and when there isn't any...I do the things I need to do to try and bury the broken bond...however, I always try to keep communication open. I have tried more than once with certain people to overlook some really shitty things they did to me. That tends to generally backfire every time. I know it isn't reasonable to try and make sense of it. It isn't an easy task and it's hard to swallow. People come and go...

But, I like to close and lock a door myself...I hate being locked out.

Does that make sense? It does to me...perfectly.

In retrospect...I do eventually let go of people...but, I can't and won't let go of the value...that's the part that seems to be sticky taffy...cuz it also sticks to you and the person in question, making it harder to come free of their impact or meaning to you.

That's all...I was just sort of thinking these things...cuz I just do..I get all analytical when I'm alone hehehe.

I feel my life has opened up some great possibilities for me...and I can't wait to jump into the warm waters of experience and see what develops - with me...with the people that I care about that are still here....and most of all...with my quest to find that "truth that speaks to my heart"...you know the one? No? Really? Even after I explained..you don't...hmmm?

Shit! I could have had a V8!