Rob Zombie's Halloween

Being a huge fan of the original John Carpenter's Halloween, I'm a combination of skeptical, repulsed, and intrigued by Rob Zombie's "re-imagining" that is getting ready to hit theaters on August 31st. I'm not a fan of Zombie's other films, but I do admire his potential in the same way I do Eli Roth's. Everything so far in the way of trailers and TV spots have been interesting, but not exactly screaming excellence in the way Carpenter's did or for that matter his remake of another classic, The Thing.

How does everbody feel about this remake, and who is interested or not interested in seeing it?

I am interested in seeing this film. I too love the original (and its first sequel), and I am curious to see how this turns out. I don't really think I'll view it as art like the first one, but I think it should be a good slasher flick.

My expectation of this film is that it's not going to be that good. Maybe a so-so film. I'm not exactly jumping at the chance to go see it. If I hear it's awesome I MIGHT go, otherwise I'll just wait for DVD.

Maybe if we keep an extremely low expectation for this film, we'll be pleasantly surprised by it!

Some shots I've seen in the way of pics and video clips 100% echo Carpenter's film. It's not a shot for shot remake like they did with Gus Van Sant's Psycho apparently, but a lot of the original elements and major scenes are in the new version. The greatest strength of the film I can see from the trailers and stills is Michael Myers himself. They got the mask right finally all these years and awful sequels later, and the guy playng him, Tyler Mane(Sabretooth from X-Men) looks pretty scary and convincing in the role. His size(6ft10) is a little peculiar for the role of Myers since he absolutely dwarfs any previous stuntmen to don the mask, and they weren't exactly little guys! We'll just have to wait and see if he's still as stealthy a character as he was in the original, or now a brute like Jason Voorhees.

Another plus for the film is the casting of Malcolm Mcdowell as Dr. Loomis, played originally by the late great Donald Pleasance. Mcdowell who most of you will know as Alex from A Clockwork Orange was a great choice for one of the most important roles in the film next to the Laurie Strode character and Myers himself!

I'm hoping for the best but expecting the worst, and maybe just maybe Zombie will actually do the original justice! We'll see in a week from now.

I'm a huge Halloween and John Carpenter fan. The original is my favorite horror movie of all time so it was an incredible letdown for me when I heard the awful truth of this remake. With the help of Psycho, Halloween gave birth to modern horror. Unfortunately its offspring have copied it so much it's now terribly cliched by today's audience.
It wasn't a total surprise that this was being remade as it seems like John Carpenter's entire catalogue is going. Look at this list!

1. Assault on Precinct 13 (2005)
2. The Fog (2005)
3. Halloween (2007)
4. Escape From New York (2009)
5. The Thing (2009)
I have Big Trouble in Little China for 2011. Any takers?

Yeah Rumpled Fedora they are remaking all of Carpenter's films at an alarming rate. By 2011 you have Big Trouble in Little China and not far after that they'll remake Vampires and Ghosts of Mars, lol!

I just read a recent interview with him, and he doesn't have a care in the world that they are doing this. He declined to comment on The Fog, but he did say he liked the Assault on Precinct 13 remake and that he gave Zombie his blessing to remake Halloween and was looking forward to seeing the finished product. One person who's pissed off about the Escape from New York remake is Kurt Russell. He's apparently very serious about his roles, and is not happy they are doing it all!

Man has Hollywood run out of fresh ideas or what?

Can't wait, Can't wait, Can't wait . . . .

This movie will rock. I like the original Halloween, I just picked up the "New" dvd remaster and will rewatch it this weekend. As I have said a few hundred times, House of a 1,000 corpse's is a great and creepy horror movie, and Devils Rejects (one of the best names for a movie also) was jst a really fun movie to watch.

I think that the new Halloween will be great.

I have always wanted Carpenter to make, Even Bigger Trouble in Little China, I mean how far apart was Escape form New York to Escape form L.A.?

deckard24 said:

Yeah Rumpled Fedora they are remaking all of Carpenter's films at an alarming rate. By 2011 you have Big Trouble in Little China and not far after that they'll remake Vampires and Ghosts of Mars, lol!

I just read a recent interview with him, and he doesn't have a care in the world that they are doing this. He declined to comment on The Fog, but he did say he liked the Assault on Precinct 13 remake and that he gave Zombie his blessing to remake Halloween and was looking forward to seeing the finished product. One person who's pissed off about the Escape from New York remake is Kurt Russell. He's apparently very serious about his roles, and is not happy they are doing it all!

Man has Hollywood run out of fresh ideas or what?

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I'm not sure where Mr. Carpenter's heart is these days. He appears to be selling out with open arms. Kurt Russell has some sense in him and has a reason to be angry.

Ha! The idea Ghosts of Mars remake is funny but isn't that the way to go? Remake the less-than-stellar films that had potential and leave the good ones alone?

Rumpled Fedora said:

I'm not sure where Mr. Carpenter's heart is these days. He appears to be selling out with open arms. Kurt Russell has some sense in him and has a reason to be angry.

Ha! The idea Ghosts of Mars remake is funny but isn't that the way to go? Remake the less-than-stellar films that had potential and leave the good ones alone?

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Kurt loved Snake. He even kept Snake's coat which he used for EfL.A.

Kurt Russell seems like a cool guy. I was happy to see him reprise some of his ZANY old Disney movies by doing the Superhero movie Disney did a few years ago,m "Sky High"

Rumpled Fedora, good point on the remaking of the not so great films in Carpenter's body of work as opposed to the classics. You think that would be the idea these days, but sadly it's not! Yeah he seems to not care about these remakes at all, and he even acts as a producer on most of them, including the God awful remake of The Fog.

Roundshort you said you just watched the remastered edition of the original Halloween, is that the one with the classic poster of the pumpkin and the slashing kitchen knife on the cover? If so I meant to pick that up the other day at Best Buy, but I wanted to look into whether or not it was worth it. Is it honestly that better looking than the last one they released, the anniversary edition? What is that now 4 or 5 different versions of Halloween they've released on DVD?

I just bought it, I am hoping to watch it tonight, if the gf allows, she is not on the horror movie train. Yes the cover is the slasher pumpkin on the cardboard sleeve, and the actually DVD jack is the mask. I think it was a whopping $9.40. I needed it for the collection

Thanks man, I'll have to get to Best Buy a.s.a.p.! I too understand the need of the collection, it's like the one ring and it calls to me!

Ooh, I thought you should've held out, unless you're an absolute completist. Last year, boxes and boxes of original Halloween negatives were unearthed. They've found alternate takes, deleted scenes, bloopers, and there's even the possibility of the original ending(!). Now that would be interesting to see!
I'm hoping for a special 30th Anniversary Edition with this stuff!


http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=2585

Rumpled Fedora, Thanks for the heads up! I was at the store last night and was going to buy the new DVD that they just released, when I realized it's the same one I've got from several years ago just with a different sleeve cover. All I saw before was the new colorful sleeve with the pumpkin and slashing knife, and I thought it was a newer updated edition.

Roundshort if you didn't own Halloween before it's still a good buy, until they release this super archived edition that Rumpled Fedora just informed us of!

Thanks again RF, that looks like like it'll be pretty amazing when it's all said and done. You're right 2008 marks 30 years, so if they hurry and get it together they can release it next October!

deckard24 said:

Rumpled Fedora

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Sorry, I just realized that Rumpled Fedora was the name of one of the posters. I thought it was some kind of expression you used, lol. Made me laugh, anyway.

That's hilarious! lol!

Yeah, I guess it doubles as an expletive. ******* ******!!!

I am against it. I am as against it as if someone did an Indiana Jones remake. You just don't **** with the classics. And now all of the dumb 13 year-olds are going to be all "THIS MOVE IS FREAKIN AWESOME" and I will have to explain that it is a remake.

How about people stop remaking movies and come up with their own? Sounds like a good idea to me. So far Rob Zombie has failed to do that himself, his "House of a Thousand Corpses" was a knock off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

AngieAki said:

I am against it. I am as against it as if someone did an Indiana Jones remake. You just don't **** with the classics. And now all of the dumb 13 year-olds are going to be all "THIS MOVE IS FREAKIN AWESOME" and I will have to explain that it is a remake.

How about people stop remaking movies and come up with their own? Sounds like a good idea to me. So far Rob Zombie has failed to do that himself, his "House of a Thousand Corpses" was a knock off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

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Agreed through and through. Zombie is such a hack. Bah.

This movie was a bad idea from the get-go.

First of all, I agree completely with AngieAki...you shouldn't mess with the classics. And "Halloween" is definitely a classic; to me, it's as close to perfection as filmmaking can get. Yes, it's flawed in some ways, but to me the flaws are so minor that I don't even notice them anymore.

Second, I agree with Resident Alien (surprise, surprise!); Rob Zombie is a total hack. Honestly, I feel he'd be a better comic director than a horror director.

Third, to me, Zombie doesn't display the slightest understanding of what made the original "Halloween" and its antagonist a classic. He's using all of the tired cliches in the new film and to me it's just appalling. Michael's gone from being "normal" sized and super-humanly strong to being a hulking, SERIOUSLY tall man...one whom you'd expect to be able to perform amazing feats of strength. Watching a normal-sized man perform feats of supernatural strength and power made the original Myers a truly terrifying persona. You simply don't expect to see a 6'2", thin man manhandling doors, grown-men, and vicious guard dog German Shepards. THAT'S why the Shape was such a terrifying presence in the original film. Turning him into a 6'10" beheemoth makes him less frightening. Sure, he's huge and hulking and powerful...but, then the audiance EXPECTS him to be amazingly strong and able to splinter doors, lift men off their feet, and be an unstoppable juggernaut. But, it's simply not as effective or as frightening.

Also, Michael's backstory is now filled with the cliches that make up the past of a lot of serial killers; he's abused, his houshold is BEYOND dysfunctional, etc.

Now...some might disagree with me, but...I think the original film's "explanations" (or lack thereof) made Michael a scarier boogeyman. Which option is more scary? A child who comes from a broken home, is physical and verbally abused, has a family that treats him like sh*t and is bullied at school all the time growing into becoming a serial killer...

OR...

a normal, sweet-faced, cherubic child who comes from a seemingly normal home, one day snaps...and grows into a super-natural force of nature that is the greatest evil known to man.

True, the original "Halloween" never really explained whether or not Michael came from a "normal" household. But, isn't that even more terrifying? Do we really need to know EXACTLY what made Michael snap? And do those explanations have to come from the Book of Movie Cliches? Zombie's explanation of Myers' psychosis screws with the essence of what made Michael Myers so successful as a villain to begin with. Why mess with the persona of the Boogeyman? It's not right...it doesn't make sense...and I don't think it's going to work as effectively as the original. The explanation demystifies Myers, breaks down his aura, and makes him just another pants-pissing, chip-on-his-shoulder psychopath. It's not scary...it's stupid. Zombie claims he cherishes "HALLOWEEN"...but, his treatment of the aura, mystique, and legend of Myers shows he has no REAL understanding of what makes the original film work and what makes it so effective. Explaining away Myers' evil and giving him real, humanistic reasons to be evil takes away from the power of the Myers legend and Michael's evil nature. Personifying the Boogeyman makes the Shape less effective, mysterious, and frightening. It's the simple plain truth. What made Myers so frightening to begin with was that NO ONE could explain why he was so evil...NO ONE knew why he was what he was...or how he became that way...and that was what worked so well in the original film. The fact that Loomis couldn't explain Myers but understands the potential of his evil is what makes the original story so chilling and effective. To me, Zombie shows absolutely NO comprehension of what makes Michael so terrifying in the first place. Also, Zombie claims he doesn't want to be signed to do a sequel to his version of "Halloween" because he claims he no longer wants to do the same project twice. Again, if that's the case...WHY DID HE REMAKE A FILM THAT WAS DONE ONCE AND DONE PERFECTLY TO BEGIN WITH?

And I know threre are people who would argue, "But, this ISN'T the same film. It's a reimagining!" Well, if that's the case...why do I see so many of the same characters, situations, and duplicate framings and shot by shot copying of shots from the original?

Sorry...I'll try to catch my breath now...

True "Halloween" fans who understand the mystique of Myers and WHAT made him work in Carpenter's "vision" are in for a huge letdown, in my opinion. But, I'm sure we're not really the audiance that this film is being made for. It's being made for the "American Idol" generation...the ones that will grow up thinking the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" remake is the "definitive" version of that film. It's being made for all the people whose creed is; "If the film has **** and blood...it's a masterpiece ."

The thing that really turns my crank is that the media lapdogs will be all over this "brilliant reinvention" and they will love the "refreshing 180 degree turn" Zombie brings to the saga with his "vision" of the Shape. The media will back Zombie up, hype up this disaster and it will influence enough people to go see the movie that is being described as "refreshing" and "brilliant" and the film will make a ton of money during its opening weekend, be declared a "success", and Zombie will feel satisfied and feel like his vision has been "justified" and accepted. And the true "Halloween" fans will be left with a stinking turd...

Sorry for the rant...but, "Halloween" is my favorite film of all-time and I hate to see it recieve this "remake" treatment.