Halloween (2007)

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 | Stripper | Dysfunctional Family | Teenager | Suicide

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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 hoodie Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) wears is from 'Sheri Moon''s personal clothing line, Total Skull.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: During the winter visit to the jail by Dr Loomis; you can see a deciduous tree in the upper left that has leaves that are as green as they are in the summer, yet there is six inches of snow on the ground.

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:

References "Hawaii Five-O" (1968)

Soundtrack:

Halloween

A Disgrace to Carpenter's original

I read articles about the remake of Halloween. When I heard that Rob Zombie was going to direct, I decided to go see it even though many critics trashed it. That was a big mistake on my part because it's one of the worst horror movies I have ever seen, and a disgrace to the original.

Everybody knows the story of Halloween. Zombie follows the original story pretty much, but adds in a lot of unnecessary gore and harsh language that just didn't work. Harsh language and gore do not bother me if they are used in an appropriate way to move the story along and keep my interest. This remake does neither.

On top of all this, Zombie adds in an unnecessary back-story explaining why Michael Myers became what he did. This also was a big mistake because it humanizes Michael Myers and takes away much of what made Myers so menacing all those years ago. The feeling that Michael Myers was simply the embodiment of evil is not there anymore, and I found myself shaking my head in disgust instead of feeling uneasy. It doesn't help that the dialog during these scenes is some of the most atrocious I've ever heard. The actors are just as horrible, and there characters are never developed even slightly. Sure, Rob Zombie makes an effort to try and make them sympathetic, but falls flat. He really pushes to make us feel sympathy for Michael Myers, but I only found the kid who played him in his younger years to be aggravating. Even the presence of Malcolm McDowell as Sam Loomis is a total failure. I won't even talk about the girl who played Laurie Strode or her friends.

This remake is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. Yes there were a couple shocks (maybe two or so) but there was never any suspense or twists that grabbed me. I knew everything that was going to happen before it did. The gore was excessive, but as I've said so many times before, gore alone in a horror movie does not work. You need suspense and good characterizations as well. Rob Zombie's Halloween has none of this, and so it fails miserably. Is it the worse film I've ever seen? Not quite, but it is not too far off.