Review of Halloween (2007) by Stephen M — 18 Apr 2012

Rob Zombie has hit a new low with this movie. As a fan of the original, I must say that I looked forward to watching this, but it came no where near my expectations.

Giving Michael Myers a backstory was a huge mistake. Part of the creepiness of the original came from the fact that we had no idea why he did it, and so that element of mystery was ruined. Zombie also seems to give the most obvious, (and I'm sorry) boring backstory ever - "He was bullied and abused, and then he snapped" has been used time and again, and it did nothing for me.

I felt Malcolm McDowell gave a strong performance as Dr. Samuel Loomis, which was true to Donald Pleasence's portrayal in the original, but for me - Zombie seemed to take out what made Michael Myers scary, and give him a face, human interaction with others, and a backstory. The mystery was taken out, and I couldn't enjoy the movie much. The second part of the movie, which was a remake of the original didn't build much tension, and obviously, some parts were predictable. As with his "House Of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devils Rejects", it seems like Zombie knows little of making great movies, just watching them and sticking bits from his favourites together to try to make something he can call his own masterpiece.

Another bold effort by Rob Zombie results in another failure to create a good horror movie.