By Sara Pintilie/entertainment editor
Rob Zombie took a shot at remaking (or “reimagining” as Zombie puts it) the horror classic, Halloween.
In his version, he explains more of the persona of Michael Meyers and why he snaps on that fateful All Hallows Eve.
To remake a movie is one thing. It’s almost like a flip of the coin; it can be a flop (The Pink Panther, Alfie) or a hit (Scarface, Ocean’s Eleven). But to remake an iconic film is almost like digging your own grave; most moviegoers will already have a negative bias going in.
I give him a B for effort, but the end result is infuriating.
In the original, directed by John Carpenter, the horror lies in the simplicity of the film.
One day Meyers snaps and murders his older sister. Fifteen years later, Meyers escapes and hunts down Laurie Strode. That’s it.
Zombie tries to make it more complicated by changing Meyers into white trash and sets a good chunk of the flick in the sanitarium trying to give more depth to Meyers.
The other great aspect of the original is the lack of gore.
See, in the olden days, horror movies relied on “holy crackers, look out behind you!” instead of “son of a gun, that’s a lot of blood and is that an intestine?!” scare tactics.
The new Halloween is lousy with blood and excessive violence, but I was already expecting that—it’s a Zombie flick.
Everything praise-worthy in the original is lost in Zombie’s reimagining.
The movie, botched remake aside, is all right, not good, but passable.
I don’t suggest seeing Halloween in theaters, but it could be something worth renting if there’s nothing else in.
I liked how the initial murder scene was shot (it has the right pace unlike the rest of the movie) and certain camera tricks the director used.
Also the film was entertaining, though it wasn’t really scary, and Zombie used a ton of horror movie clichés, but it held my interest throughout.
The cast is relatively unknown. Zombie’s wife, Sheri Moon, plays Meyer’s mom, and Danielle Harris (Halloween 4 and Halloween 5) is Strode’s friend, Annie Bracket, but they held their own.
One thing bugged me extremely.
I have a movie pet peeve dealing with gun goofs, maybe because it only requires simple logic. A six-barrel shotgun shoots six bullets, so seven or more shots are really noticeable, and it drives me insane.
Well, a big gun goof is in the film, making me like this movie less.
If you are in the mood for some Michael Meyers, skip on the new flick and rent the original.
