Film & TV Rob Zombie's Halloween

[Chronic]

Okay I saw the original Halloween last night (the non-Spanish version).

I agree that Rob Zombie left out the suspense. OG Halloween wasn't exciting for me at all but that's because it was made in 1978. I can see how the movie was scary for people back then. The fact that he downplayed the whole 'boogeyman' thing doesn't bother me since I think it isn't necessary for the story, it just adds to the suspense somewhat. But again I'm not a fan of horror flicks to begin with and I can see how it might bother fans of the original. One particular quote that should've been left in was Dr. Loomis saying Michael was inhumanely patient.

With that said I still prefer Rob Zombie's version. If you left out the suspense in the original there really wouldn't be anything left. The only person with a real personality was Laurie and even then her character didn't really add to the story. Rob managed to do a lot more with the movie by focusing on Michael (which of course is easier because of all the sequels), otherwise it's just 3 teenagers smoking dope, having sex and babysitting + suspense. Every scene that didn't include Laurie could've been altered and it wouldn't change the movie at all. Showing the killer like Rob did was pretty original. And even though Michael was somewhat humanized (the only thing that really stands out to me is the ending ... I still haven't come to a conclusion on whether it's a good ending or not. Although it did make Michael seem more intelligent and therefore scarier than for example Jason, who comes off as a complete idiot) I thought the overall result of Rob's Michael was far more menacing (the scene in the public restroom was more menacing that anything in the original imo). He was still pure evil but instead of a soulless 'monster' he was really a soulless human. I think that concept is a lot more messed up but maybe that's because a lot of horror movies borrowed from Halloween and Friday the 13th making the whole style a cliche. Also leaving out the fact that Michael drove the car makes him seem less humanized actually, I thought that whole part was very weird in the original.

The change with Dr. Loomis was interesting. Both are realistic characters. The original Dr. Loomis eventually saw Michael for what he was and felt absolutely no sympathy. Rob's Dr. Loomis was perhaps more 'human' (as in weak), he saw Michael for what he was but still couldn't help but care for him. Both versions worked but again I think Loomis' new character added more to the movie.

The original Halloween is a classic in horror movies but outside of that it has absolutely no merit. Rob's Halloween perhaps wasn't very good in the scary type of way but I think overall it was a better movie.

And Michael in the remake is the best he's ever looked.

EDIT: Just watched it again and I have to say the killings were well done as well. Especially the way he kills Laurie's adoptive father.

 

[Chronic]

Just read something about the development on wikipedia. It explains a lot about the changes and I definitely agree with them. It also explains the ending (I didn't know if it was a bad ending because I didn't really understand it)


Before Dimension went public with the news, Zombie felt obligated to inform John Carpenter, out of respect, of the plans to remake his film. Carpenter's request was for Zombie to "make it his own". During a June 16, 2006 interview, Rob Zombie announced that his film would combine the elements of prequel and remake with the original concept. Zombie insisted that there would be considerable original content in the new film, as opposed to mere rehashed material.

His intention is to reinvent Michael Myers, because, in his opinion, the character, along with Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Pinhead, has become more familiar to audiences, and as a result, less scary. The idea behind the new film was to delve deeper into Michael Myers' back story. A deeper back story would add "new life" to the character, as Zombie put it. Michael's mask will be given its own story, to provide an explanation as to why he wears it, instead of having the character simply steal a random mask from a hardware store, as in the original film. Zombie explained that he wanted Michael to be truer to what a psychopath really is, and wanted the mask to be a way for Michael to hide. He wants the young Michael to have charisma, which would be projected onto the adult Michael. Zombie has decided that Michael's motives for returning to Haddonfield should be more ambiguous, i.e., "was he trying to kill Laurie, or just find her because he loves her?"

Moreover, Michael would not be able to drive in the new film, unlike his 1978 counterpart who stole Loomis' car so that he could drive back to Haddonfield. Zombie also wants the Dr. Loomis character to be more intertwined with that of Michael Myers, as opposed to what Zombie saw, in the original film, as showing up merely to say something dramatic. On December 22, 2006, Malcolm McDowell was announced to be playing Dr. Loomis McDowell stated that he wants a tremendous ego in Loomis, who is out to get a new book from the ordeal. Although Zombie has added more history to the Michael Myers character, hence creating more original content for the film, he chose to keep the character's trademark mask and Carpenter's theme song intact for his version (despite an apparent misinterpretation in an interview suggesting the theme would be ditched). Production officially began on January 29, 2007. Shortly before production began, Zombie reported that he had seen the first production of Michael's signature mask. Zombie commented, "It looks perfect, exactly like the original. Not since 1978 has The Shape looked so good".