Movie 13- Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007)
Another one I haven't seen in many years. This is a tough one to really parse out my thoughts on. I can see why it's pretty polarizing. From what I recall regarding many fans of the franchise who dislike this film, they really lacked any affinity for Zombie and co.'s attempts to go into Myers' backstory. For these critics, trying to give some plot exposition to Myers' childhood is missing the whole point of the character. That said, I didn't have a problem with that first forty minutes or so of the film, then and I don't now, either. The way I see it, Zombie was sort of damned if he did, damned if he didn't. If he had just made a straight up Carpenter adaptation with just more brutality, people would say what the hell is the point, a la Gus Van Sant's adaptation of Psycho. But when he tries to put his own spin on it, people also found it to be an unnecessary or unwanted addition to a story that was good in its simplicity.
As far as I'm concerned, if you find the opening portion of the film to be substandard, the part that sticks to the Carpenter narrative is probably not going to be enough to win you back over. That said, if you find the opening scenes interesting or, at least, tolerable, then this movie very well might strike you as, surprisingly, one of the better entries in the franchise overall. I say that because I, weirdly, believe it. This is no horror classic but I think it has enough going for it to put it over about half the other Halloween films in my rankings.
I've always felt that Zombie is a good visual filmmaker who, if paired with the right screenwriter, could probably deliver some really good horror film material. Some of the shots and aesthetics of this film are impressive. I do appreciate, also, that as familiar as the Carpenter narrative portion of the film is, it isn't a Van Sant Psycho situation where Zombie is actively trying to recreate what Carpenter already did so effectively. He sticks to the familiar story beats but he puts his own spin on things. The result is something that can't compare to the classic but feels like a pretty decent iteration of a Myers movie.
Pleasance and Jamie Lee of course leave big shoes to fill but I liked most of the casting decisions in this film. Scout Taylor-Compton was quite good, in my opinion. It's a different interpretation of Laurie. While Jamie Lee had sort of a quietly intense, introspective, maturity that set her apart from the two friend characters, Scout's Laurie is a bit lighter and more silly in her early scenes in the film. I liked that element because, once again, no point in trying to do the exact same thing. Malcom McDowell is a really solid actor who is almost always entertaining and I thought he did well in this. I particularly enjoyed the rare moments of levity since Pleasance, great as he always was, conveyed pure intensity at all times in those films. For instance, I chuckled when the cemetery caretaker is leading Loomis to the Myers mother headstone, not knowing he is the doctor who wrote the bestselling book on Michael. He derides the book, calling the book sales blood money and McDowell quickly says something to the effect of "I read the book. It's a masterpiece." lol.
Taylor Mane was good. I was a bit thrown by him in the scene when he escapes the institution, resembling and no-selling like a prime Kane
But when he was actually wearing the iconic mask, I thought he had some good, menacing movements, particularly in that scene where he is pursuing Laurie, Tommy, and Lindsay.
Props on the casting of the great Brad Dourif and for casting Halloween alumnus Danielle Harris as Laurie's friend, Annie.
Also, I thoroughly enjoyed how they kept the gimmick of Lynda saying "totally" a la the '78 classic. That could have easily been excised, since that term was far bigger in the late 70s, 80s, and early 90s than circa 2007. But I thought that was a nice touch.
Ultimately, the film wears out its welcome during the final stretch but, overall, I thought it was a pretty good Halloween film. I feel like this held up better for me than any of the recent trilogy. Better than Halloween: Resurrection? Goes without saying.
6.6/10
