Halloween (2007)

Along with a fascination with Charles Manson and The Munsters, and the distinction of having traded in a mundane last name (Cummings) for one befitting a truly geeky horror movie lover, Rob Zombie also has the distinction of having spoken out against sequels – when he killed off the protagonist of his second film The Devil’s Rejects, Mr. Zombie boasted that he did this because he believes sequels cheat the audience. So there’s an interesting tinge of irony to his decision to write and direct a remake of the first in a long line of Halloween movies, one that lasted eight movies in total, over almost 25 years.

Although Mr. Zombie approaches things differently from the original – focusing well over a third of the film on Michael Myers’ childhood antics and giving Laurie Strode (Lamie Lee Curtis in the original and Scout Taylor-Compton this time) less than half as much time to scream and run and fight for her life – the basic story remains the same. Michael is a twisted young fellow. We’re subjected to enough of the abuse and neglect he suffers as a child to see that there are reasons for this. And Michael acted out while he was still a kid (he’s ten in this one, as opposed to six in the original). You get to witness the acting act in full, plodding detail here, so I need not give you the details, except to assure you that it’s enough to get him sent to the loony bin for a long time.

Seventeen years after being put away, Michael escapes and that brings us to Halloween, the anniversary of his first slicing and dicing, and he’s back in town, apparently seeking to take care of some unfinished business. In pursuit is his former psychiatrist (Malcolm McDowell), who takes a break from his book and lecture tour shilling his Myers-focussed psycho killer expertise to try to bring the big guy back under control.

The original, of course, is considered a horror movie classic, having inspired hundreds of movies featuring creepy silent monster killers in pursuit of copulating teens. But this time out, while there’s more naked flesh and freer reign to show blood and guts, Mr. Zombie has elected to go with a plodding psycho killer fest, with Myers doing his rounds in a rather uninspired businesslike manner. It’s only in the film’s final 20 minutes that things become exciting, and even then, poor Taylor-Compton is given little chance to raise her profile anywhere near as much as Curtis did in the original.

Taylor-Compton screams gamely once she’s given the chance, but otherwise does not distinguish herself, and McDowell gives an earnest effort as Dr. Sam Loomis, but I can’t shake the sense that he comes across more like an infomercial psychic than a legitimate mental health professional. Several of the other cast members (including William Forsythe, Sid Haig and Bill Moseley) are regulars in Mr. Zombie’s movies, not to mention his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie, who plays Michael’s mom.

As for the big guy himself, Tyler Mane has little to do as the adult Michael, but Daeg Faerch, who plays the ten year old version, is genuinely creepy.

There’s plenty of slicing and dicing here, and a few moments of tension toward the end, but this is mostly a workmanlike and uninspired remake of a movie that really wasn’t thrilling enough to inspire seven sequels anyway – let alone a remake. Sorry, Mr. Zombie.