Halloween (2007)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Rob Zombie

Writers (WGA):

Rob Zombie (screenplay)
John Carpenter (1978 screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Evil Has A Destiny

Plot:

After being committed for 17 years, Michael Myers, now a grown man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution (where he was committed as a 10 year old) and he immediately returns to Haddonfield, where he wants to find his baby sister, Laurie. Anyone who crosses his path is in mortal danger.

Plot Keywords:

Boyfriend | Suicide | Dysfunctional Family | Teenager | Stripper

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Malcolm McDowell	...	Dr. Samuel Loomis
Scout Taylor-Compton	...	Laurie Strode
Tyler Mane	...	Michael Myers
Daeg Faerch	...	Michael Myers, age 10
Sheri Moon Zombie	...	Deborah Myers
William Forsythe	...	Ronnie White
Danielle Harris	...	Annie Brackett
Kristina Klebe	...	Lynda
Skyler Gisondo	...	Tommy Doyle
Danny Trejo	...	Ismael Cruz
Hanna Hall	...	Judith Myers
Tom Towles	...	Larry Redgrave
Bill Moseley	...	Zach 'Z-Man' Garrett
Leslie Easterbrook	...	Patty Frost
Steve Boyles	...	Stan Payne

Also Known As:

Hall9ween (USA) (working title)
Halloween 9 (USA) (working title)
Halloween: Retribution (USA) (working title)
Rob Zombie's Halloween (USA) (complete title)
Untitled Rob Zombie Halloween Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

Runtime:

109 min | USA:121 min (unrated version) | Brazil:83 min (cut version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Ireland:18 | UK:18 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | Netherlands:16 | France:-16 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:R | Norway:18 | Hong Kong:III | Taiwan:R-18 | Finland:K-18 | Germany:18 (cut) | Philippines:R-13 (cut) | Argentina:16 | Italy:VM14 | USA:R (certificate #43755) | Portugal:M/18 | Germany:18 (SPIO/JK) (uncut) | New Zealand:R18 | Japan:R-15 | South Korea:18 | Australia:MA (cable rating) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:R21 (director's cut) (cut) | Brazil:14 (heavily cut)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

The movie was not released in the U.S. on Halloween weekend, as was the original, for fear of going head to head with Saw IV (2007). It was instead released two months earlier on the last weekend in August 2007.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael and Big Joe Grizzly fight in the bathroom stall, Michael slams him into the stall wall which collapses into the other stall. In the next scene, before Myers takes the overalls, you can see that the stall wall is back up and only slightly dented.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Michael Myers - Child: Come on, sweetie pie. Morning, Elvis. You're a pretty Elvis, aren't you? Yes, you are.

Movie Connections:

Features Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)

Soundtrack:

Let It Ride

When you want the heroine to die, the director has failed!

What a travesty! Not so much that Halloween has been remade, but that Zombie's take on Michael Myers begins so well only to end up being a turd.I resisted seeing this upon release, but finally gave in when it available to me for free. The idea of one of my favorite films of all time being messed with just didn't sit right with me.

I must admit that for the first 50 minutes I was genuinely captivated. Originally I was appalled by the prospect of fleshing out Michael Myer's childhood. What made it work was that this was clearly Zombie's vision. I could accept it because I didn't feel that this had anything to do with Carpenter's Michael Myers. It felt more like Zombie's fantasy of what Michael Myers childhood had been like in a white trash family and how it led to his murderous spree. Of course the scariest thing about the original Myers is that there is no apparent reason for his evil. He's a blank slate which all sorts of fears can be projected on. For Zombie that projection is having a stripper mom who has a boyfriend who threatens to "skull f*&k" her. This all works because it is clearly Zombie's universe.

The film goes down hill and I mean tumbling down when Zombie enters Carpenter's territory. The film becomes all to familiar in that its plot begins to mirror Carpenter's original. By no means is Zombie able to pay homage or even copy Carpenter in a compelling manner. What has to be the worst aspect of this is the actresses who play the three teenage girls. All of them are horrible, and what's most unforgivable is how awful the girl is who play Laurie Strode. This is the character who was played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who gave an iconic performance in the original. All this girl does is shriek and talk like some valley girl. Imagine this line, "so like was that the boogie man". Now I'm not sure if these were her exact words, but that's what her character is like. The biggest abomination of this fiasco is that it's not even scary. The set pieces just make you wish you were watching the original. Zombie only comes close only once to an effectively scary scene when Laurie is trapped in a drained pool. She can't get out and Myers is in hot pursuit. What kills this creative sequence is that you really could care less if the girl lives or dies. More will actually probably wish her to die. When you want the heroine to die in a horror film the director has failed.