Halloween (2007) Review

It's about a monstrous killer kid who gets locked up for killing, escapes, and keeps on killing.

Halloween was directed by Rob Zombie (who also directed 31 and Rob Zombie: The Zombie Horror Picture Show) and stars Malcolm Mcdowell (from Corbin Nash and Sanitarium), Brad Dourif (from Herbert West: Reanimato and Wildling) and Tyler Mane (from 247°F and Halloween II).

Evil. Unmasked.

I just want to say one thing before getting into this. Rob Zombie's Halloween remake is bad-fucking-ass. I know it gets a ton of hate, but all of the haters are dead wrong. In preparing for this review I read through countless reviews on IMDb and the 99% of them hated on the movie for not being as good as the original.

WTF?

Who goes into a remake of a cult classic thinking it's going to be better, or even as good, as something you saw for the first time back when you were a young impressionable kid? Sometimes we luck out with remakes like Evil Dead or The Fly, but that's rare and you know it. So here's the deal, listen up. 

Carpenter made Halloween to get a rise out of people back in 1978. He used methods that worked on people at that time. If you saw it when you were young that shit imprinted on you. Nothing will ever top the terror you probably felt. Every remake is made to cater to a new younger audience and Rob Zombie did exactly this. He made Halloween to get a rise out of people in 2007. Wouldn't it be bizarre if he made another Halloween where Myers just did more slow walking around town? That would have been boring as shit to teens in '07. The style of the original Halloween was amazing back then, but it's become a cliche now. So why all the hate with Zombie making a movie that's actually entertaining to a new audience?

Nobody seems to like remakes of cult classics, but classics always have and always will be remade. Halloween fans should be thankful their remake wasn't as bad as the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street that had a completely different Freddy and that literally changed the entire story. What about Child's Play? Chucky went from being a supernatural serial killer to a weird empathetic robot. You guys got backstory into what made Myers into a maniac, the story didn't change and Myers did more than just stand in corners and stare. I know, I know. The staring is what made it so great, it was minimal and subtle and paired with that synth score it sent chills down your 9 year old spine. I get it. But nobody's afraid of that anymore.

I hated the Child's Play remake. But you know who loved it? Like practically every single millennial ever. It was made to appeal to them and it worked. Teens bought tickets. That's the name of the horror movie game.

Another common gripe about this Halloween was that it's too grungy. "Too vulgar". Are you kidding me right now? How old are you all. All you haters sound like those old farts who tried to ban The Exorcist, which is also being remade btw. Bet your ass Reagan is going to do more than just sit in her bed and spit green slime. Horror movies back in the 70's were seen as beyond violent. They stepped all over the fabric of decency or whatever. People actually tried to get them pulled from theaters and banned! You know who loved them? Teens.

Alright, I feel better getting that out of my system. 

So right off the bat what I loved about this Halloween was that it gave us a look into young Michael Myers' life. We saw the forces that made him into a psychopath. It's no wonder he didn't possess an ounce of empathy. Part of the lure of the original Halloween was the mystery surrounding him, the lack of an explanation as to why a kid could kill with no emotion. But we're already familiar with that storyline and people these days have already become desensitized to the reality of kids who kill. So this time around we get our answers through gritty backstory. 

Another cool thing about this remake was the casting of Malcolm McDowell as Loomis. I know Malcolm is in every Rob Zombie movie, but his role really nailed Loomis well. Plus, the extra backstory helped to reinforce why Loomis was willing to devote his life to first helping, then capturing Myers. 

And then there's everything else that makes Rob Zombie movies kick ass. The soundtrack was great and I love how there's always old classic horror movies running in the background. I also thought it was cool how he gave so many nods to the original, I thought he actually went out of his way to give hardcore fans a little of what they liked. 

Downsides? Maybe the ending dragged on for a little too long. The sex scenes were also uncomfortable in how awkwardly realistic they were. I've never been a huge fan of realistic sex scenes in general. Real sex 'aint always pretty and Rob Zombie made sure we were all very aware of this. 

Oh, and there wasn't nearly enough of Brad Douriff! That dude is cool as hell and should have had a bigger role. And in case you didn't know, he's the voice of the original Chucky. The REAL Chucky, the one possessed by the soul of a wise cracking serial killer. Not a soft AI doll with feelings. 

Worth Watching?

I know I might be in the minority here, but this Halloween is bad ass and I do think it's worth watching, even as a standalone movie. 

Halloween Review (2007) Worth Watching? - ALL HORROR Tweet it