Review of Halloween (2007) by Allan C — 04 Nov 2018

Rob Zombie's reboot of a horror classic was wildly divisive for horror fans, but I fall on the side of the film's defenders. Zombie's reboot is really two separate films. The first half is an unsettling masterpiece of horror, where Zombie imagines the formative years of a young Michael Myers, which were never shown and barely discussed in the original films.

Daeg Faerch plays the 10-year old Michael Myers, and presents as completely soulless and lacking any empathy, killing small animals and the victim of bullies, abusive stepfathers, and lacking any parenting from his stripper mother, Sheri Moon Zombie, in a surprisingly moving and empathetic role (likely her best performance).

Faerch's 10-year old Myers very much reminded me of Joshua John Miller's disturbing performance in "The River's Edge" as the needlessly cruel character lacking in any moral compass.

Zombie's version of the young Michel Myers is not just a single scene of Myers' murder of his sister and boyfriend, as was the case in the original film, but is a depiction of the build-up to that disturbing murder scene.

Zombie then invests a significant amount of screen time following young Myers' time institutionalized and his many counseling session with Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell), which document Myers slow downwardly spiraling mental state and his withdrawing into himself to become the eventual "Shape" that horror fans are so familiar.

The second half of the film picks up 15 years later with an adult Myers (Tyler Mane) escaping from the mental institution to return home to Haddonfield, IL, where he terrorized hapless babysitters Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) and her friends (Danielle Harris and Kristina Klebe).

Rob Zombie's "Halloween" reminds me of "Full Metal Jacket" in that the first half of the film is so strong, that the second half pales in comparison. It's not that the second half of the film is bad.

In fact, the second half of both "Halloween" and "Full Metal Jacket" are quite good, but the first half of both of these films are so good that the rest of the film feels like a disappointment.

Zombie delivers the slasher film goods when it comes to suspense, scares, and gory violence once Myers goes on his bloody rampage that horror fans expect, succeeding in making Michael Myers scary again.

This second half of the film also feels a bit awkward because there are moments that feel like pure Rob Zombie, but there are other moments where it feel like he's trying to slavishly stay true to the original.

Those homage moments to the original film are fun and effective, but when Zombie allows himself to do something original, as he did with the first half of the film, that's when this reboot really shines.

As with his prior films, Zombie populates his film with a cast of colorful character actors including Brad Dourif, William Forsythe, Sybil Danning, Dee Wallace, Danny Trejo, Richard Lynch, Udo Kier, Clint Howard, Lew Temple, Tom Towles, Bill Mosley, Leslie Eatbook, Ken Foree, Micky Dolenz, Daniel Roebuck, Sig Haig, and probably others I missed, which is always a treat for fans of grindhouse cinema.

I'd read somewhere that Zombie had originally wanted this film to primarily focus on young Myers and the second film would be the grown Myers. That film might have been a horror masterpiece, and although the second half is still solid horror entertainment, it's not a masterpiece.

It's merely a grizzly well executed slasher film. Overall, Rob Zombie's reboot of "Halloween" is solid filmmaking and should be appreciated as a smart reimagining of a horror classic.