Review of Halloween (2007) by Aestrangel — 04 Sep 2007

Rob Zombie's re-make/re-envisioning of the classic horror film, "Halloween", was not only scary, but extremely thought provoking and sad. Zombie's third shot at film making (writing/directing) has solidified his status as a formidable player in the horror genre.

The movie is separated into 3 acts: the 1st exploring the sad and disturbing childhood of Michael Myers, the 2nd dealing with Myers's stay at the sanitarium, and the 3rd basically being an updated version of the original film.

Zombie has amped up the blood and body count, which is in stark contrast to the original film (and which I'm not personally complaining). Overall, Zombie's new additions to the Myers Legend add a fresh spin to the original.

Of course, Zombie's film doesn't have the amazing Jamie Lee Curtis, and for die hard fans of the series, this may prove problematic. While Scout Taylor Compton was good in the role of Laurie Strode, she just didn't have that innocent, pure quality that Curtis brought to the character.

In the original, the audience is truly focused on Strode's fears and anxieties. In Zombie's version, the suspense is near absent, as the focus of the tale is all about Michael himself. As far as dialog is concerned, I actually expected more of the demented wit that Zombie's other movies were peppered with.

Zombie has a way with writing dialog, and for me this was just on par.