It was the night that Michael Myers returned home. Back in 1978, the feature film "Halloween", staring Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis, was a smash hit. Since then, many sequels have been released, but not one of them has been as good as the first film directed by John Carpenter. That was until I saw the new remake of the original film, which is directed by Rob Zombie.
For those that don't know the story, or are too young, or have been living under a rock since the late 1970's, please check out the official website, www.HalloweenMovies.com
Now that you are up to speed, lets get to my take on the film. I did not know what to expect at first. Although Rob Zombie is a competent director, none who have tried have been able to capture the same feeling and suspenseful atmosphere that Carpenter was able to capture. Due to that, I was a bit skeptical at first, but as soon as the first scene ended, I knew I was in for a treat. No pun intended.
First thing to note, this film is much more gritty than the original. The language is very explicit and some of the things shown are downright awful...which was awesome. All of the actors chosen for this film played their roles very well. This film has a bit more back story of the Myers character, as we get a chance to see just how Michael Myers became the killer that we all know. In the original movie, Myers background was shortly discussed to the town sheriff by Dr. Loomis (played by Donald Pleasence). In the new film, it serves almost as a prequel of sorts, since we get to actually see the development of Myers. We see why he killed his older sister in the first place, and how he went psycho. Although it is interesting to see that, I felt it also took away from the fear factor. In the new remake of the film, we see his face, we know he is coming for Laurie Strode, and we know why. As opposed to the original film, when it was a faceless, random guy that was killing all these babysitters. We knew nothing about him, and the unknown is a bit more frightening. Regardless, a good amount of people have seen the original, so in this remake, it was alright to explore the character and have more development time.
In this version, we get a monster-sized Michael Myers, which I found made him much more intimidating. He comes crashing through walls, and simply looks like an unstoppable force that will not go down. The setting of the film is still taking place in the fictional town of Haddonfield, IL. In the new film, they never mention the year, but by the clothing, it seems to be placed in the 1970's. For today's audience though, they are going for a somewhat modern feel. We still get the hot females in this film as well. Plenty of sex and violence. For those that saw any of the sequels, you might notice that one of the girls in the film was actually the same little girl that played Jamie Strode in "Halloween 4", Danielle Harris. The same chilling musical score is intact. The classic piano tracks that send that shiver down your spine, known as the "Halloween Theme", is still in this film, although updated. Besides familiar faces and tunes, many of the scenes retained some of the similar dialogue from the original, although a bit modified for today. I'm sure this is done as a nod to the original film. The killing scenes, although in a similar situation as the original, were changed as well, which I thought was fantastic. You expected one thing and got another. You could not see it coming at all.
In the interest of length, we will now proceed to my horror film checklist. Does it have a good story? Check. Does it have decent acting? For a horror film, it is very well done. Check. Are there hot chicks in this film? Hell yes. Check. Are there plenty of shocking moments that keep you on your toes throughout the film? The whole time, check.
Overall, this was a more complete telling of the story of the original film. Is it better then the original? No. The original is a classic and in my opinion it can't be beat. Is it a great addition to the series? Yes. For today's younger crowed, or the people that have not seen the series and could use a good scare, be sure to check out this new film.
The winner of this bout, and still the champion: Halloween (1978)
PHOTO CREDIT: www.answers.com (click for link to photo)
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