Released : August 31st, 2007
Directed By : Rob Zombie
Produced By : Rob Zomibie
Starring : Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris


Well guys I told you that we would be branching out into more media reviews and what better way to start then with one of the most anticipated movie releases of this year.

I have never been a huge Halloween fan as the Michael Myers character has always been one dimensional to me, and anyone who knows anything about serial killers will tell you that they are some of the most brilliantly insane and intriguing people in this world, however someone forgot to give that memo to whoever dreamed up the idea of Michael Myers.

With that said I was very excited when I heard there was a remake being produced that would finally go further into his backstory and present more of the character that is Michael Myers, a lot of that excitement diminished for me however when news came that Rob Zombie would be directing the film.

The problem I have with this film is the problem I have had with all of Zombie's films. Zombie has a tendency of substituting substance for gore and violence at every possible point. The original Halloween was nothing short of gruesome but at least it built up to each act, in this film people are killed mindlessly as Myers rampages through his home town after escaping a mental institution for killing his family.

At points the film does show promise, there's a few genuine laugh out loud moments and a lot of the plot makes a lot of sense, that is until Myers becomes an adult. In the early part of the film Zombie does an incredible job of setting up Myer's backstory, he makes Myers a relateable character and almost makes you feel sympathic to the point that you might question if Myers was doomed from the start. It's easy to see why Myers goes crazy and kills his family, but Zombie doesn't try to explain Myer's condition at any interval. It normal for a kid to get violent towards those that constantly attack his character, but how do you explain the rest of the gruesome deaths in this film? At one point Myer's victims go from two guards who take turns raping a girl, to a man who's taking a shit, if Myer's was suppossed to be the anti-hero shouldn't the guy be able to do his business without dying?

While Halloween shows a lot of promise in the early years, once it reaches adulthood it sours badly. Everything from the dialog, or lack thereof to the deaths start to even bore. Don't expect anything innovative and freighting, to say this was a slasher flick would be giving it too much credit, it's more of a papercut flick.

With that said, Halloween is a film that only needs to be watched once for the quality job Zombie did on the backstory of young Myers. Other than that there isn't much to see here but another not so bad film by Rob Zombie, like most of his films, Halloween shows a lot of potential but gets weighed down by Zombie's refusal to let go of his shock-exploitation film influence.

Grade : C

Direction - Not that it says much, but this is quite possibly Zombie's best work as a director.
Acting - The standout star in this film is without a doubt childhood Myers (Daeg Faerch), the rest of the cast is average at best, and abysmal at worst especially Tyler Manne who portrays adult Myers, even his movements are threatening.
Originality - There isn't any
Replay Value - The only person who needs to buy this are hardcore collectors, or people looking for a light paperweight. I've seen the film 3 times now and it only got less entertaining with each viewing.