Halloween (2007) (www.the-usher.com)

"Michael what have you done!"

Ten-year-old Michael Myers (Faerch) is ignored at home, picked on at school and constantly barracked by his mother's abusive boyfriend but all the while a rage has been building inside him. On Halloween, that rage comes to a boiling point and Michael brutally murders his school bully, his mother's boyfriend and his older sister and her lover. Committed to a mental asylum, Dr. Samuel Loomis tries to help the psychotic young boy but he only discovers pure evil, a fact that drives Michael's mother (Moon Zombie) to suicide. Seventeen years later, Michael Myers escapes from the asylum and heads back to the scene of his crime to find the only member of his family left alive, his baby sister Laurie (Taylor-Crompton).

With ideas for new horror movies at an all time low in Hollywood, in their infinite wisdom they have decided to remake a perfect classic, 'Halloween' but can a heavy metal star turned filmmaker improve on the original.

When it was announced Rob Zombie would be remaking John Carpenter's original 'Halloween' inside of making the ninth movie of the series, horror fans were shocked and dismayed. The question on everyone's lips was if the director of 'House of a 1000 Corpses' and 'The Devil's Rejects' was good enough to tackle a project of this horror magnitude and the answer is no.

For a filmmaker who became famed for making blood filled, horror fests his reimagination of 'Halloween' seams a little tame in comparison. Exploring more motivation and psychosis of Michael Myers, this new version of the film takes a while to really get going. The original threw you into Michael murderous spree, as he carved up his family at the tender age of ten. Rob Zombie's version tries to explain his motivations for killing instead of saying he was pure evil. Again we meet Dr. Samuel Loomis, the man who examines and studies Michael and in this version we get to see much more than of this, but again this slows the film down and makes more of the child than the masked murderer we really want to see.

When Michael finally escapes from the asylum, we get the film we have been waiting for but the problem is that it is no different to the original or any of the sequels. The huge Tyler Mane is a menacing figure of a man and dons the costume and mask with great gusto but there is nothing to differentiate between him and anyone else that has played the knife-welding killer. Of course he goes in pursuit of his baby sister Laurie, immortalised by the original scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis and Rob Zombie again goes for a relative unknown to bring her to life but while Scout Taylor-Compton is very pretty she doesn't have the presence of Curtis. The best thing about the movie however is the casting of Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Samuel Loomis. With Donald Pleasance having to very big shoes to fill, even a very dodgy wig can't disguise that McDowell throws himself into the role of the doctor who knows what Michael is capable of.

'Halloween' is a movie that simply didn't need to be remade. While you have to applaud Rob Zombie for trying to explore the motivations of the character and trying to explain why he became like he did but this expansion of the Michael Myers' background tries to motivate you into feeling some sympathy or even understanding of someone that is pure evil and for this reason the film just doesn't work. While it is good to see Michael Myers back on the screen again and sequel would have been far better than a remake.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Disc 1

Commentary by writer/director Rob Zombie
The metal star turned director talks frankly and passionately about his reimagining of 'Halloween'. He talks about not remaking it but taking the original premise and bringing his own vision to the Michael Myers mythos. The approach, casting, locations and showing more of Michael's childhood as the director talks about his new cut of the movie.

Deleted Scenes (21.58 mins)
Entitled 'Rabbit in Red', 'Quick draw', 'End of a long night', 'Rainy evening', 'Not a Monster', 'You seem sad today', 'The media', 'Xmas gift', 'Parole hearing', 'Night shift', 'Very young', 'He's out', 'Tombstone', 'Aftermath', 'Adoption agency', 'Missing stone' and 'Van kill', these deleted or extended scenes have optional commentary from writer/director Rob Zombie.

Alternate Ending (3.47 mins)
Watch the original theatrical ending with commentary by writer/director Rob Zombie

Bloopers (10.17 mins)
Watch the high jinks and mishaps on the set of 'Rob Zombie'

The Many Masks of Michael Myers (6.27 mins)
Writer/director Rob Zombie, production designer Anthony Tremblay, editor Glen Garland, FX makeup Wayne Toth, costume designer Mary McLeod and stars Tyler Mane and Daeg Faerch talk about updating the look and the masks of Michael Myers.

Re-imagining Halloween (19.04 mins)
Writer/director Rob Zombie, director of photography Phil Parnet, editor Glen Garland, production designer Anthony Tremblay and FX makeup Wayne Toth talk about why they remade the movie, the look and feel of the movie and the influences behind it.

Meet the Cast (18.16 mins)
Writer/director Rob Zombie, producer Andy Gould and stars Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch, Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Scout Tyler Compton, Danielle Harris, Brad Dourif, Kristina Klebe, Dee Wallace, Danny Trejo, Sid Haig and Lew Temple talk about their characters in the movie.

Casting Sessions (29.52 mins)
Watch the casting videos for Daeg Faerch, Scout Tyler Compton, Danielle Harris, Kristina Klebe, Hannah Hall, Adam Weisman, Skyler Gisondo, Jenny Gregg Stewart, Daryl Sabara, Pat Skipper, Nick Mennell, Max Van Ville, Mel Fair and Courtney Gains.

Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie Strobe) screen test (7.48 mins)
Watch the first screen test of Scout Taylor-Compton for the movie

Sneak Peeks
Watch previews of 'Death Proof', 'Planet Terror', '1408' and 'The Furnace'

Theatrical Trailer
Watch the full trailer for the reimagining of 'Halloween'

OVERALL

The DVD treatment for the reimagining of 'Halloween' is very good, as you'd come to expect from Rob Zombie. With an excellent commentary and some good featurettes and deleted scenes, this is a DVD that fans of the movie will enjoy.

DVD

Halloween Franchise

The Usher Home | Hush, Hush... | The Big Story | The Usher Speaks

Stuck @ Home | Coming Soon | Links | Contact the Usher

2007