Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Halloween (Movie Review)

I like Rob Zombie. If you know me you might not have guessed it, but I do. I like his music, and I liked House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects (the latter a LOT more than the former). Knowing that, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I enjoyed this movie. It looks like Zombie is the Kevin Smith of horror movies, using the same core group of actors for all his movies.

I’m not a big horror fan, at least not the type or horror that spawned the original Michael Myers and his cronies, Freddy Kruger and Jason Vorhees. I’ll admit it, I frighten easily. I had to finish watching the original Amityville Horror with the lights on and a blanket over my head, and my eyes were closed through half of The Blair Witch Project. But give me a bunch of suspense with my horror, toss in some good actors and an actual story, and I’m in.

I liked this movie more than the original. We actually see Michael Myers become this psychotic killer, something that I don’t remember from the original. We see him as a disturbed boy with an abusive home life who, after being institutionalized for slaughtering his step-father, his sister and his sister’s boyfriend, grows into a psychotic killer with an affinity for masks. He’s by no means a sympathetic character, but he’s more than just a generic, lumbering killer.

I didn’t find the movie all that scary, especially since I knew the basics of the story from watching the original. The fun was having it updated and seeing where the differences were. I’d recommend the movie to any horror fans, especially modern ones such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake or the Saw movies. There’s lots of blood, lots of foul language, and a decent amount of nudity and sex.

2 comments:

Thea said...

Great review! I too loved The Devil's Rejects (much more than 1000 Corpses), and I give major props to Rob Zombie for his gritty, unflinching style. Sheri Moon Zombie is awesome too--I love her sweet, psychopathic roles.

I liked Halloween, but something about it just didn't completely work for me. It certainly started out with a bang--the kid that played young Michael was fantastic. I loved the whole backstory with his family, the gradual metamorphosis into a killer, his time in the psychiatric hospital, Michael's growing obsession with masks, etc...

But about 1/2 through the movie I was feeling...bored! It was almost as though the constant barrage of violence and nudity just was used so much that it was desensitizing. By the end of the film, I really just wanted Laurie to stop screaming and die already. (Hmm, maybe I shouldn't admit that! LOL)

Still, overall I gotta agree with you--it's a solid slasher flick, and one of the better remakes out there. I'm excited to see what the talented Mr. Zombie does next!

Rob Rosenblatt said...

The only thing that really bugged me about the movie was the ease at which Michael ended up finding Laurie. I can understand him going back to his house in Haddonfield, but how does he know she's his sister?

I'm okay with the constant barrage of violence and nudity. That's just the kind of guy I am.