Halloween - More (and probably contrasting) Commentary

Note - these are my thoughts on the Halloween remake I watched with Marvel Man - his commentary is below. This is in no way a counterpoint review of the film; however, I did think I should share my thoughts as after some consideration I've had some surprising concerns about Rob Zombie's Halloween.

I would like to agree up to a point with what's below regarding the review. I did have much chagrin, as Marvel Man points out, as he repeatedly complained throughout the opener of how unneccessary it was and why were we sympathising with the murderer/psychopath?

For me, it almost seemed as though Mr Zombie was trying to turn Myers into a human being - far removed from the near-faceless masked creation (creature? caricature? monster?) in the original. Here, we saw a young, scared boy beaten, bullied and in a very broken family. We also see though the start of his serial killer tendencies. This is shown in the animal mutliations he enacts and the complete disregard for human life when he gets his revenge on a bully, which actually made me quote "that's a bit extreme". Whilst it's good to see a bully get what he has coming to him, the revenge Myers takes shows what's coming up very soon.

Whilst there was a bit of a relationship with Dr Loomis, it wasn't one that lasted. Myers quickly becomes introverted behind the mask and his eyes, which hide only 'blackness'. Ultimately, what was this meant to serve or show? Humanising the monster only to say, "no wait, he wasn't a vigilante or out to merely hurt those who he despised, he was just a monster". Why bother then in the first place with the exposition?

Pacing was certainly a problem in the film, with some things happening very quickly, whilst scenes seemed to add little and yet took a long time.

I'm still no fan at all of Rob Zombie I'm afraid (I'm no fan of his music either) - with the best example I can give are the 'torture-porn' sequences like the rape in the hospital. Overly graphic, a waste and shot in such a way that doesn't highlight rape for what it is. Similarly, he must have a female ass fixation, as this is how most of Myers' female victims ended up - turned away from him but with a naked backside on show.

I'm with MM that horror is best enjoyed in the dark - but this American schlocky-slasher at it's best - or worst. It's definitely popcorn horror. I'm baffled by the fact that there's a sequel (Myers gets shot five times in total I think it was, once definitely to the head) and frankly I'm baffled as to why this film was remade - money anyone?

Now that I've had more time to digest the film, I really do have quite mixed thoughts about it. As we don't do halves round here, I'm finding it hard to pin down between a 2 or a 3. It's a piece that has (and I rarely say this) troubled me a little. I'm still not sure who this is meant to be aimed at. I can only assume that there'll be plenty of American guys taking a date to the cinema, expecting something in the back row as said date looks away at the misogyny on display? Too strong? Not sure, but this film definitely, definitely left a bad taste in my mouth.

News

Hey guys, just chiming in with a little snippet of news I came across in my regular surfing. User Quint over on Harry Knowles's popular aintitcool.com has revealed that the poster is officially out there for Rob Zombie's sequel to his remake of Halloween, imaginatively titled Halloween 2. Credit, as uaual, to the film company that owns this here glorious one sheet and the nice folks at AICN. Image follows...

Still a bit unsure about this franchise, I was and remain curious but never saw the original (by which I mean the first in the remake series, bah Zombie) but I don't believe you could better John Carpenters "original" original or the overlooked original sequel and I don't really particularly rate Zombie as a filmmaker, though I reserve judgement til I see anything he's done. In any case the trailer makes this movie look at the very least intriguing. search it out, and go have a gander at quints article too. Nice image? too visceral? too TAME? let me know what y'all think.