Rob Zombie's recent remake (or reimagining) of John Carpenters classic 1978 slasher, Halloween, has been derided with criticism, both from journalists and the internet community. On the other hand, the film smashed Labour Day box office records, making it a financial sucess. There are two ways of looking at this film, the first is to view it as a Rob Zombie film, following the likes of “House of a 1000 Corpses” and “The Devil’s Rejects”, and the second view, the way most people are looking at it, is as a Halloween film. Indeed the film is both of these things, but when considering them separately, you get a very different view of the film.
Halloween 2007 is instantly recognisable as a Rob Zombie picture. The way the Myers family is set up is reminicsent of the Firefly family from Zombie’s previous films, there appears to be very little love between them, and their derogatory conversations could easily of been lifted straight from a scene with the Firefly’s. The film has a distinctly gritty feel to it, helped in part by the way it was shot. The movie appears to have a subtle sepia effect, especially earlier on, similar to The Devil’s Rejects. “House of a 1000 Corpses” featured fast paced, music video style editing, with brief scene’s of murder and scantily clad women being interwoven with the movie itself, distorting the narrative and slowing down a story that otherwise would feel rushed. The editing in “The Devil’s Reject’s” was certainly a step in a more conventional direction, but had less quick cuts, and Halloween follows this, and is in fact shot in a very similar style, which instantly places the movie in Zombie territory, showing signs that he is on his way towards auteurism.
On the other hand, as a Halloween movie this film is almost certainly going to be seen as a let down, that is not to say Zombie hasn’t done some things right though.
The casting has certainly been hit and miss. Fan’s have applauded casting Danielle Harris in the series again, albeit as a different character, and similarly, when Malcolm McDowell was announced as Donald Pleasence’s successor the feedback was largely positive, but we will come back to that later. A somewhat debated casting was that of Tyler Mane in the role of Michael Myers himself. As an ex-professional wrestler, Tyler Mane certainly has an impressive physique, and was a step in the right direction following the last few Myer’s seeming small and defeatable. However Zombie pushed it too far, and as a result we have a Myers who towers over everyone else, and just isn’t believable after earlier seeing him as a small kid..
The main let down though has to be the character of Dr. Sam Loomis. McDowell does not deliver as one would expect in the film itself, partly due to the script, which see’s him regurgitate a lot of Pleasence’s speech from the original, but at inappropriate times. Part of the blame however, does have to fall on the shoulders of McDowell, who at certain points in the second third of the movie does not seem to understand the role of Loomis. This only seem’s to prove that something iconic cannot be replicated.
Something that has been met with a mixed reaction in the film is the death of Dr. Loomis. Personally, I think it was an act of pure brilliance. Zombie has said from the start that this movie would be his only entry in the Halloween series, and he has also said that it was more of a reimagining, and this is where it comes to fruition. Such a bold step on Zombie’s part certainly created controversy and added to the film. For the last period of the movie you are really left unsure as to whether anyone will survive, something that a horror movie hasn’t made me feel in the last five years.
Criticism’s such as the decision to make Myers run in the film and make him seem more human do not deserve to be addressed. Zombie has said from the word go that he would be showing a more natural side to Myers, and he is certainly a different beast from the one seen in previous entries. “Rob Zombie’s Halloween” certainly brought a grittier, raw edge to the series, and surpassed many of it’s other sequels, but people interested in Halloween and not Rob Zombie are almost certain to come away dissapointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment