Cool News
A reader attended the HALLOWEEN 2 premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theater... and....
SPOILER ALERT !!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. HALLOWEEN 2 has begun screening and I've seen tidbits of reactions from horror fans and even cast members (Danielle Harris on Twitter said: "omfg. h2 was amazing. you guys are gonn shit"). The non-cast reaction seems to be mixed, some saying it's better than the first (god, I hope so) and others just upset at Rob Zombie.
A reader attended the premiere and has some thoughts on the movie. Double Down falls on the negative side of the mixed coin, but honestly... reading his review it's pretty clear that Zombie has separated himself from the previous franchise in all but name and characters, which isn't ideal but a rather large step towards the light from the abysmal first movie.
I'm curious and look forward to seeing the flick, whatever it turns out to be. Now here's Double Down! Enjoy, but be warned of some plot spoilerage!
Hi guys!
I was at the Halloween 2 premiere at Grauman's Chinese last night. Here's what's left of the film's body -
Oh Rob Zombie. What are we going to do with you? I’ll start with this – I like Zombie - personally. I think he comes off as a nice, humble guy in interviews and a real film buff who obviously adores his horror and genre movies. He’s a fanboy, just like the rest of us. But what I think Zombie has proven over 4 films, with Halloween 2 being that final ugly nail in the coffin, is that fanboys don’t necessarily make good directors.
Zombie was quoted in an AICN interview as saying this film is a different animal and really breaks from the Halloween franchise we’ve come to know in the last 25+ years. Well he’s spot on about that. The only thing that reminded me of Halloween in his sequel was the mask and the character names like Laurie and Loomis. What this boils down to for me is a standard modern slasher film. It is brutal and ugly and obnoxious.
The first ten minutes are undoubtedly the best and most promising. It begins at the sanitarium in which young Michael Myers is housed. His mother comes to visit and he tells her of a dream he had of her in a white dress standing next to a white horse. This motif plays out through the rest of the film – as you can tell from the trailers Mommy Myers and her trusty steed along with a young Michael in the clown costume visit him in dreams throughout the plot, acting as his motivation and his guide on his mass murdering rampage to find his sister. I’ll admit the appearance of Sheri Moon as the white apparition doesn’t come off nearly as corny in the film as it does in the trailer, but it does come off as a pointless exercise in an attempt to be more cerebral and artistic. It seems as though Zombie tried to balance between surreal/artful horror and slasher-esque brutality but failed in both capacities as neither attempt is fresh or impacting.
After visiting mini-Michael in the nut house we cut to where we left off from the first film - Laurie, bloody and beat, limping down the street. She’s discovered by Sheriff Lee Brackett (played pitch-perfectly by Brad Dourif as the only likeable character in the film). She’s taken to the hospital along with the other victims from the house finale of Halloween. This is arguably the goriest section of the film as we see doctors operating on Laurie and her friend Annie Brackett. Rotting finger nails are removed, lacerations are prodded and dressed, and blood is everywhere. It’s uncomfortable and elicited the largest, most honest reaction from the crowd for the entirety of the film. We inter-cut to the house where investigators are cleaning up the scene where it takes 6 men to lift Michael’s body onto the stretcher, he is presumed dead (if only they knew the rules of horror!).
As a pair of EMT’s drive Myers’ body down a dark country road the typical Zombie hillbilly dialogue comes roaring through (just a few minutes in, I guess I couldn’t have asked for anything less) as one of the men starts babbling about having sex with a corpse because “one of those girls looked hot” while the other scoffs at him and tells him to “shut the fuck up”. Something very sudden happens during this conversation which I won’t spoil (and may I say it’s one of the few well done scenes in the film) but it results in Michael waking up and revealing our first kill which sets the precedent for most of the kills in this sequel. It is brutal and unf orgiving and excessive; as if Michael is possessed by rage.
In a small nod to the original 1981 sequel there is a bloody hospital sequence in which Michael wreaks a predictable amount of havoc. I’d say the film i s most effective and terrifying at this point. Zombie comes in guns a blazin’ in these first 10-15 minutes and as a viewer I’m wondering where he’ll go from here? How can it get more intense or gory than this opening? Well...it doesn’t. A cliché which I’ve grown to hate in my movie-going years occurs directly after the hospital scene and it continues a good handful of times afterward. Let the obnoxious begin.
We’re then taken to Laurie almost one year after the incident. She’s having horrible nightmares about Michael and she’s in therapy (with a nice cameo from our favorite Lois Lane – Margot Kidder). We see the obligatory shot of her staring into her medicine cabinet mirror to tell us that she has issues - why does Hollywood always push this shot on us?&nbs p; I don’t do this when I’m depressed. It bugs me almost as much as people pep-talking themselves up in front of a bathroom mirror. No one does that! The bathroom is decorated like the grungy bathroom of a rock n roll club. Oh and Laurie looks like a Hot Topic employee now. Why does everything in Zombie’s films always have to look dirty and unappealing? It’s either filthy bathrooms or cluttered bedrooms to public places looking like a sideshow act. In a strip club segment the club is lit like a funhouse, red and green lights illuminating the grimy walls. In a later Halloween party scene everything looks like a gothic rave. It’s an aesthetic which equals his sense of violence, it’s off-putting. I’m not sure what Zombie’s bathrooms at home look like, but if they look like these Whiskey-a-Go-Go replicas he seems to put in his films remind me never to accept an invitation to his dinner parties.
That takes us to the equally ugly camera work. Zombie uses a slew of modern kill-me-now cam tricks such as shaky cam, out of focus shots, rain on the lens, or filters and grain at the moments in which most of us would like to see clearly like, you know….the kills. They all suffer from the same problem. Aside from a lack of creativity, they are shot close up on faces while the stabbings are out of frame and, as is custom with modern horror directors, shaking the camera and half-second edits equals intensity instead of just capturing that mood on camera. There was one decent kill for me in the whole film, and Myers ranks up a body count of at least 10. The rest are stabbings with a knife or axe. He also seems quite fond of throwing people around and knocking them against things until they’re faces are unrecognizable, which gets old fast.
I like Tyler Mane as Myers. He’s a gigantic statue with a pulse and homicidal tendencies. He’s definitely foreboding but he hasn’t been given anything great to work with in these new chapters. There’s no nuance or creativity there for him to play with. We learn that Michael has been hiding out in the forest for a year, living in a shack and growing his mountain man beard out. Yes, when we meet Michael again they show his face, and he looks EXACTLY like Rob Zombie with long hair and a big beard. It’s distracting and silly. Once he kills he puts the mask back on as to remind us that we’re watching a Halloween movie and not a roided-out Rob Zombie look-a-like slasher flick.
Well you may say, ok, doesn’t Malcom McDowell save this production?! He brings credibility to the fold right? Normally speaking, yes, yes he would. Here I really see no reason why he’s in the sequel. For me he has no impact on the plot and for 90% of his role he’s off on a tangential story. Of course his story is a comment on those who make profit from tragedies, but do we care? It’s an amusing break from the deadly serious main plot yet that’s all Loomis’ story offers this time around. Poor, poor Malcom. Hey at least you’re utilized on Entourage buddy!
Loomis comes off as an asshole in this chapter and frankly, so does most of the cast. The three main girls especially come off as the most annoying, loud, obnoxious college “alternative” girls and I honestly couldn’t wait for Michael to slash them to bits. Again, it’s poor horror film tradition when you’re rooting for your main character to get killed if only to stop her from incessantly whining, crying and screaming, which is all Laurie, played by Scott Taylor-Compton, does in H2.
If you’re wondering about John Carpenter’s original score then just show up for the end credits, because that’s the only time you’ll hear it. Tyler Bates’ score for H2 is the same droning drivel we’ve been served with every other horror movie of the week. Predictable orchestra hits are turned up to 11 upon knifings and trembling strings cue the audience that something scary is about to occur and it is indeed your turn to scream or jump.
With all the horror flicks Zombie has consumed over the years you’d think he would learn about atmosphere, suspense, and making the most out of a kill. This sequel and Carpenter’s vision of Halloween are opposite in everything from tone, to acting, to cinematography. In other words, everything I loved about the franchise, the tone Carpenter set, is absent in Zombie’s world. If he does make another sequel I implore him to stop using the Halloween name and ditch the mask altogether. Just make your own brand of throwaway slasher flicks. In fact, please just stop making horror movies. This is your 4th try and you still can’t give us anything memorable or of impact. Isn’t it time for a White Zombie reunion?
Please check out more at soundwavescinema.com
Thanks!
Double Down
I was at the Halloween 2 premiere at Grauman's Chinese last night. Here's what's left of the film's body -
Oh Rob Zombie. What are we going to do with you? I’ll start with this – I like Zombie - personally. I think he comes off as a nice, humble guy in interviews and a real film buff who obviously adores his horror and genre movies. He’s a fanboy, just like the rest of us. But what I think Zombie has proven over 4 films, with Halloween 2 being that final ugly nail in the coffin, is that fanboys don’t necessarily make good directors.
Zombie was quoted in an AICN interview as saying this film is a different animal and really breaks from the Halloween franchise we’ve come to know in the last 25+ years. Well he’s spot on about that. The only thing that reminded me of Halloween in his sequel was the mask and the character names like Laurie and Loomis. What this boils down to for me is a standard modern slasher film. It is brutal and ugly and obnoxious.
The first ten minutes are undoubtedly the best and most promising. It begins at the sanitarium in which young Michael Myers is housed. His mother comes to visit and he tells her of a dream he had of her in a white dress standing next to a white horse. This motif plays out through the rest of the film – as you can tell from the trailers Mommy Myers and her trusty steed along with a young Michael in the clown costume visit him in dreams throughout the plot, acting as his motivation and his guide on his mass murdering rampage to find his sister. I’ll admit the appearance of Sheri Moon as the white apparition doesn’t come off nearly as corny in the film as it does in the trailer, but it does come off as a pointless exercise in an attempt to be more cerebral and artistic. It seems as though Zombie tried to balance between surreal/artful horror and slasher-esque brutality but failed in both capacities as neither attempt is fresh or impacting.
After visiting mini-Michael in the nut house we cut to where we left off from the first film - Laurie, bloody and beat, limping down the street. She’s discovered by Sheriff Lee Brackett (played pitch-perfectly by Brad Dourif as the only likeable character in the film). She’s taken to the hospital along with the other victims from the house finale of Halloween. This is arguably the goriest section of the film as we see doctors operating on Laurie and her friend Annie Brackett. Rotting finger nails are removed, lacerations are prodded and dressed, and blood is everywhere. It’s uncomfortable and elicited the largest, most honest reaction from the crowd for the entirety of the film. We inter-cut to the house where investigators are cleaning up the scene where it takes 6 men to lift Michael’s body onto the stretcher, he is presumed dead (if only they knew the rules of horror!).
As a pair of EMT’s drive Myers’ body down a dark country road the typical Zombie hillbilly dialogue comes roaring through (just a few minutes in, I guess I couldn’t have asked for anything less) as one of the men starts babbling about having sex with a corpse because “one of those girls looked hot” while the other scoffs at him and tells him to “shut the fuck up”. Something very sudden happens during this conversation which I won’t spoil (and may I say it’s one of the few well done scenes in the film) but it results in Michael waking up and revealing our first kill which sets the precedent for most of the kills in this sequel. It is brutal and unf orgiving and excessive; as if Michael is possessed by rage.
In a small nod to the original 1981 sequel there is a bloody hospital sequence in which Michael wreaks a predictable amount of havoc. I’d say the film i s most effective and terrifying at this point. Zombie comes in guns a blazin’ in these first 10-15 minutes and as a viewer I’m wondering where he’ll go from here? How can it get more intense or gory than this opening? Well...it doesn’t. A cliché which I’ve grown to hate in my movie-going years occurs directly after the hospital scene and it continues a good handful of times afterward. Let the obnoxious begin.
We’re then taken to Laurie almost one year after the incident. She’s having horrible nightmares about Michael and she’s in therapy (with a nice cameo from our favorite Lois Lane – Margot Kidder). We see the obligatory shot of her staring into her medicine cabinet mirror to tell us that she has issues - why does Hollywood always push this shot on us?&nbs p; I don’t do this when I’m depressed. It bugs me almost as much as people pep-talking themselves up in front of a bathroom mirror. No one does that! The bathroom is decorated like the grungy bathroom of a rock n roll club. Oh and Laurie looks like a Hot Topic employee now. Why does everything in Zombie’s films always have to look dirty and unappealing? It’s either filthy bathrooms or cluttered bedrooms to public places looking like a sideshow act. In a strip club segment the club is lit like a funhouse, red and green lights illuminating the grimy walls. In a later Halloween party scene everything looks like a gothic rave. It’s an aesthetic which equals his sense of violence, it’s off-putting. I’m not sure what Zombie’s bathrooms at home look like, but if they look like these Whiskey-a-Go-Go replicas he seems to put in his films remind me never to accept an invitation to his dinner parties.
That takes us to the equally ugly camera work. Zombie uses a slew of modern kill-me-now cam tricks such as shaky cam, out of focus shots, rain on the lens, or filters and grain at the moments in which most of us would like to see clearly like, you know….the kills. They all suffer from the same problem. Aside from a lack of creativity, they are shot close up on faces while the stabbings are out of frame and, as is custom with modern horror directors, shaking the camera and half-second edits equals intensity instead of just capturing that mood on camera. There was one decent kill for me in the whole film, and Myers ranks up a body count of at least 10. The rest are stabbings with a knife or axe. He also seems quite fond of throwing people around and knocking them against things until they’re faces are unrecognizable, which gets old fast.
I like Tyler Mane as Myers. He’s a gigantic statue with a pulse and homicidal tendencies. He’s definitely foreboding but he hasn’t been given anything great to work with in these new chapters. There’s no nuance or creativity there for him to play with. We learn that Michael has been hiding out in the forest for a year, living in a shack and growing his mountain man beard out. Yes, when we meet Michael again they show his face, and he looks EXACTLY like Rob Zombie with long hair and a big beard. It’s distracting and silly. Once he kills he puts the mask back on as to remind us that we’re watching a Halloween movie and not a roided-out Rob Zombie look-a-like slasher flick.
Well you may say, ok, doesn’t Malcom McDowell save this production?! He brings credibility to the fold right? Normally speaking, yes, yes he would. Here I really see no reason why he’s in the sequel. For me he has no impact on the plot and for 90% of his role he’s off on a tangential story. Of course his story is a comment on those who make profit from tragedies, but do we care? It’s an amusing break from the deadly serious main plot yet that’s all Loomis’ story offers this time around. Poor, poor Malcom. Hey at least you’re utilized on Entourage buddy!
Loomis comes off as an asshole in this chapter and frankly, so does most of the cast. The three main girls especially come off as the most annoying, loud, obnoxious college “alternative” girls and I honestly couldn’t wait for Michael to slash them to bits. Again, it’s poor horror film tradition when you’re rooting for your main character to get killed if only to stop her from incessantly whining, crying and screaming, which is all Laurie, played by Scott Taylor-Compton, does in H2.
If you’re wondering about John Carpenter’s original score then just show up for the end credits, because that’s the only time you’ll hear it. Tyler Bates’ score for H2 is the same droning drivel we’ve been served with every other horror movie of the week. Predictable orchestra hits are turned up to 11 upon knifings and trembling strings cue the audience that something scary is about to occur and it is indeed your turn to scream or jump.
With all the horror flicks Zombie has consumed over the years you’d think he would learn about atmosphere, suspense, and making the most out of a kill. This sequel and Carpenter’s vision of Halloween are opposite in everything from tone, to acting, to cinematography. In other words, everything I loved about the franchise, the tone Carpenter set, is absent in Zombie’s world. If he does make another sequel I implore him to stop using the Halloween name and ditch the mask altogether. Just make your own brand of throwaway slasher flicks. In fact, please just stop making horror movies. This is your 4th try and you still can’t give us anything memorable or of impact. Isn’t it time for a White Zombie reunion?
Please check out more at soundwavescinema.com
Thanks!
Double Down
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Damn, this movie looks shitty.
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This movie sounds awesome!
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i used to pull my pud on P.J. Soles from the original..thats all..
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third
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In thr last H2 thread I mentioned that the disappointing part of these remakes is almost always the movie kills. They are usually uncreative. I am still hoping these ones will be good and will watch the movie before deciding.
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And here I was thinking it was going to be a fucking masterpiece and save the modern horror movie.
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Get with the times! Not everyone would be helpless. Not everyone doesn't know how to fight, especially these days.
What would Mike Myers and all these "wooooooaoh scaree!" boogeyman do if they knocked down the door and it was Brock Lesnar or Fedor on the other side??
Get with the times. Mike Myers might get his ass kicked! He'd get put in a flying leg scissor sweep and taken down!
I wonder if he knows how to tap out? -
That's what pissed me off about the Strangers (2008). These losers in a truck stop and scare the shit out of a young, capable couple by wearing masks and carrying knives. WTF????
Why is it always an assumption that the good guys dont know how to fight? What would happen if these loser bad guys walked into a house of UFC fighters? The movie would last 10 mins!
People should be able to kick some of these boogeymen's asses! -
fuckin' decapitate him. Always back for more.
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Are you saying that just because he's tall and carrying a knife, he can't be taken down? I think the average boxer would knock him on his ass.
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Anyone who saw the first one could see this one being a steaming pile from a mile away.
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Oh wait, wrong Mike Myers...
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...and have it basically be a remake of the first one, except this time as Michael Myers, cast Liev Schrieber.
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Say, "Yes." She still looks damn good.
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Remaking Halloween 3 Season of the Witch. That would be awesome if they derailed the series like that again with a Mikey-less 3rd installment.
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I never saw Rob's first Halloween but want to see the new one. Will I be missing anything by just going straight to the new one or do I really need to see the first one beforehand? Or is it just a literal translation (or attempt rather) of Carpenter's original?
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I'm iff on 1000 Corpses, but I agree that Devil's Rejects is very awesome. Haven't seen Halloween yet, I thought about seeing this one but then Final Destination comes out and I just wanna see that cause it's in 3D. Zombie's "Nazi Wolf Women of the SS" trailer kicked ass. Make that.
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If you get the first spot why not actually have something to say. You know, get the ball rolling with a real opinion. I know you're probably angry and cynical from the fact that your mother tried to abort you with a bottle of drano, a clothes hanger and a swift kick to the mid-section. Only to fail miserably in her endeavor and curse upon us the bane of your exsistence. You're a little upset, understandable but none of that excuses your pouncing on every talk back simply to let everyone know that you were the first to be "first". Grow up. As for you even more annoying turds who claim second well, I can't even begin to describe how retarded you are. Talking to you nolan. Fucking dunce claims he's second but WRONG ANSWER Einstein. Nobody would've cared though if you were. Anyways on to my opinion(novel idea) of Rob Zombie. Mean spirited hack. Here's a thought Mr. Zombie, do you honestly expect an audience to root for characters that spend the entire film Raping, torturing, maiming, murdering and generally brutalizing every person they come in contact with? Honestly? Please stop making movies. You're wasting everyones time and money. You attach the name of one of the most Iconic-to-its-genre films in history, a film with some real heart might i add, and dirty its name with your cruelty. Thats the best way to describe his work. Its just cruel and there's not a single godamn redeeming thing about anyf them. So convince your friends to save their money and go rent the original to see how it's really done. How a little coherent story can go along way. How REAL characters who the audience can REALLY root for goes even further. Rob my friend, you suck. It's a real shame to say that. I've seen interviews with the guy and he seems to genuinely love the genre but in four films has failed to contribute anything worthwhile to it. A real shame.
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Was that the odds of the person being chased getting away were pretty good. When you have an unstoppable killer killing everyone in brute crazy ways, it get's boring and stupid. At least in movies like "Scream" the people being chased were able to fight back in realistic ways. When Rose McGowan was in the garage, she threw bottles at Ghostface and would have gotten away if it weren't for that garage door. In Halloween, Myers is nearly 7 feet tall. So when a 5'2 Daniel Harris is trying to run from him, you know she has no chance in hell. Also, why is Michael so in shape? Where did he have access to Deca, Test, and a gym while he was in the crazy house? At least Jason Voorhees is a man of the woods, so it can be explained why he is the way he is. But Michael? In what possible world would Zombie think a 7 foot tall stalker in a suburban setting would be believable? How does that mutherfucker hide in town when he is so fucking big? Anyhow, this movie is the final nail in the Myers coffin. There is no retcon that can be done here like "H20". Myers is done. Zombie fucked with it do much that they are going to have to put him to rest for good. Had he wanted to go so extreme and stray from the source material, he really should have just made his own slasher film. Oh and "Sorority Row" is a total 90's throwback. But I have to say, that clip online with the chick and the wine bottle was actually kind of fucked up. I may go see it now.
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Can't we all just agree that Rob Zombie makes shitty movies?
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And we can agree that no one cares about who's first.
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Is his best film. BUT, all the goodwill he gained with me with that film was destroyed when I saw "Halloween". Seriously, that film was so cliche. But oddly, the best aspects of it were in fact the backstory. As soon as Myers escaped the sanitarium and the film shifted to be a diabolically retarded remake of the original crammed into a 30 minute running time, I was done. Oh and Laurie Strode is an annoying unlikeable bitch. And I agree with the reviewer about the dirty bathrooms...
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...but how or why the powers that be thought that Zombie would be able to improve upon the original Carpenters escapes me. Remake Resurrection, for fuck's sake.
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Aug 25, 2009 11:48:46 PM CDT
ROB ZOMBIE is ready to eff with our heads once more!
by dannyglovers_dickblo0d
I enjoyed the first (as I do with everything Rob Zombie does), but felt let down when the very entertaining new material led into a rehash of Carpenter's film. It sounds like this one will be the no holds barred Rob Zombie spooktacular I've been waiting for! Danielle Harris and Scott Taylor-Compton can make any movie enjoyable. Add Malcom McDowell and Brad Dourif for the added credibility they bring and you've got another movie I'm dying to see on opening day. Bring it on, Rob!
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Especially after Watchmen. What the fuck.
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Can both GTFO... Jablonsky gets paid to bang garbage cans together to sound "Scary". And Tyler Bates just plain sucks. I remember when even shitty B level horror films had a good original score. Now? All shit.
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i have to ask why are you making movies? is it just a "job" for you? because you aren't even trying anymore and everyone knows it. use you fucking talent or do something else, just quit being so god damned lazy and uncreative.
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Please, like anyone was expecting anything different.
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Dude stayed on topic (no personal reveries...THANK GAWD) and not only listed in detail why the movie didn't work, but what did. Also, avoided jerkass hyperbole.
AICN, hire this guy. Or learn to write like him. -
I have nothing against you man. I wish you luck. I'm looking forward to Halloween II and I hope it's a good rebound for you from the first one, which apparently (and I think even by your own admission), was a disappointment. It's hard to remake or "reimagine" classics. Best to stick to one's own original stuff and own it. Peace.
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Zombie's films are just plain nasty, sort of like where the Saw franchise has ended up, except with vulgar dialog. From what I hear he is a nice guy and touchy over how people receive his films but fuck, there is constructive criticism mixed in with the bashing. In summary, fuck this piece of shit off.
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He is spastic as fuck with the camera and relies too much on plain gore to shock. Not a creative director at all. He was much better off directing his own music videos, because then they were at least only a few minutes long. He keeps getting work because of his name which draws in the fucktarded fanboys who lap up anything he shits out. Sad that he'll keep making these shit films.
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Aug 26, 2009 12:37:22 AM CDT
Was Mike lifting fire trucks? Cause I hate to bitch
by hollywoodhellraiser
but that teaser of Mike Myers being that strong was a WTF moment! I know he strong but damn he seems like he ready to kick Jason ass!
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I personally like Rob. If you read an interview with him. He knows what's right and wrong with horror films.
That's why I'm completely perplexed why he makes such BAD films.
I walked out of Halloween - his version. -
When they were in the asylum and huge Michael was sitting at the table there...I thought that was real nice.
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40 years too late for poor old Mary Jo...
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Aug 26, 2009 1:08:25 AM CDT
Herc has been taken over by a robot in the Entertainment Weekly
by badmrwonka
Spread the word and see for yourself...
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Aug 26, 2009 1:33:13 AM CDT
FUCK YOU ZOMBIE. ALL YOUR MOVIES ARE SHIT.
by christian_bale_trashed_my_lights
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Danger Danger!! there be spoilers ahead
not all of the scenes where michael is with his ghost mom and faithful horse are dream sequences if that were case, it wouldnt have been so bad.
there is only one of those that is a dream sequence and thats the one where everyone is wearing masks made out of pumpkins.
what is so horrible about this film is you have Michael talking (through a ghost version of his kid self, that stands infront of him or to the side of him) to his ghost mom
who walks around with her White Ghost Horse
I mean the kid michael myers litterally stand infront of adult michael and talks to his ghost mom.
And it gets even better towards the end of the film Laurie is held down by the ghost of young Michael and talks with Ghost mom.
oh and dont forget yet another scene of Michael Carrying Laurie back the Myers home,
and a really cheesy that Laurie says to Michael as well.
oh and i forgot Michael is F#$King makeing PURRING noises durring one of the killing scenes (the one depicted on the poster)
I really hope if Zombie has not totally put a nail in the coffin of this film series that he doesnt come back for Halloween III cause they just need to forget this crap ever happened.
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should have said
And a really cheesy "I love you brother " Line that Laurie says to Adult michael at one point.
You have to see this movie to understand how bad it is, heck watching Michael go up against Busta Rhymes was better than this Crap Fest. -
Ignore all the bad reviews and go into the flick with an open mind based on re-imagining the original concept. Quite simply there is no point remaking a classic unless you're going to do something different with it that's either more intelligent or a variation on the same theme. Anyone who's seen the Psycho remake will know about pointless remakes done shot-for-shot with nothing new added! Rob Zombie's Halloween approaches the subject on a reality slant, no unexplained supernatural elements like the original, and that's where most either decide to appreciate this film or not. His version has a lot more depth than the original movie and unlike the tacked on explanation to the killings in Halloween 2 by simply doing a Star Wars and revealing that Laurie is his sister that he's come back to kill; in this film the motivation to both his killing spree and his fascination with death is delivered very much like the origins of many real life serial killers. His need to be with the only person he ever really cared for is his motivation to inevitably stalk Laurie, not to wait 15 years to kill her like in the original. The movie is an excellent re-imagining of the classic John Carpenter film and unlike the idiotic "rape-my-childhood" style reviews that simply wanted the same movie remade again (why?) it succeeds exactly where it aimed to, by making the concept based in reality to a point you can believe this could actually happen! I'm looking forward to the second movies re-imagining with the open mind that it'll deal with the same reality of what happens to a serial killer when he has to deal with both rejection and physical trauma. Again, minus the unexplained supernatural element of the original and focusing on the mentality of the subject and what drives his rage. If Rob Zombie is pissing off fanboys then he's got to be doing something right in my book. You never get more narrow-minded and narrow-vision than a fanboy. The original movie was what it was, but the make-it-up-as-you-go aspect of the sequel and subsequent sequels all exposed the lack of structure and exposition that the subject had. Rob Zombies version is honestly quite excellent to the point I prefer it to the original even though I appreciate both films for what they are. It most definitely isn't the pile of crap that most on these fan sites will be quick to label it for simply not being another shot-for-shot remake of their childhood fave flicks!
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When this animated movie first started, it felt so refreshing to see beautifully moving hand drawn artwork. Perhaps my mind had been conditioned towards CG so much, such that classic old school artwork came across as gorgeous to me, and no longer taken for granted
The story itself was fairly simple. Fish meets boy. Fish wants to be with boy. Fish turns human and runs atop waves chasing boy's car.
But there is an innocence to such simplicity that draws you in. This movie is the opposite of GI Joe. This must be how our dreams were like when we were young.
The movie slows down for the pleasure of drinking tea with honey for the first time, and the patience of waiting for the instant noodles to be ready. People cheering the young boy along as he moves his boat towards his family. Yes, these were our daydreams as kids.
Now, back to H2. So how much guts do you think Mike Myers will put out of the characters? -
Fuck this shit.
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FU Zombie...you've lost your way.
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Agreed, he's made me chuckle twice now, pretty hard thing to do first thing in the morning.
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I was also saw H2 on Monday night and can say with out any hesitation- Halloween 2 is fucking retarded. The movie is neither scary nor shocking (unless you count shockingly bad).
There's a complete lack of tension and the kind of dumb logic and story mistakes that consistently take you out of the movie. It's filled with pointless dream sequences (like the entire opening 10 minutes including the hospital scene the guy above describes), cameos from people you would have sworn were dead, amateurish acting, dialogue and direction, and worst of all endlessly repetitive kills.
Rob Zombie at times finds interesting or intense images but they last for seconds and are immediately destroyed by cliches or Sherri Moon Zombie. The acting is porno bad and I half expected people to actually start fucking one more than one occasion.
Characters float in and out with no purpose. Meyers spends a year hunting for his sister in a town with a population of about 100 people. And it's not like she's hiding.
Rob Zombie please stop.
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Are there subliminal messages in Miyazaki movies that make people get all fruity and childish? 'Cause they sure as shit don't work on me. Fucking hate his shit.
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I hate All of Zombies moviews with the exception of , yes I will say it, Halloween.
I watched the trailer for 1000 corpses for almost 2 years before it came out; only to be served the biggest fucking turd ever. I walked out of the movie when Dr. Death showed up. This truly is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. -
...devils rejects was awesome!!!
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Yes. Ponyo was a more mature film than Halloween 2 is, I'd argue.
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I mean seriously people. Just because anyone CAN make a movie these days, doesn't mean they should.
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I agree with everything you said.
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He makes movies because they are relatively cheap and therefore are churning out profit by the first weekend. In his place, I'd probably whore out my name for the payday too. Devil's Rejects was pointless crap but better than 1000 corpses. It's like everything he does is formulaic but "cranked up to 11" and therefore "original." The whole boogeyman vibe is what delivered for the original Halloween. Not the kills or the boobs, though I enjoyed both. Trying for hyper-realism means you immediately abandon that so you aren't left with anything that made the original so special.
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HE CANNOT DIRECT. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MUCH OF A GENRE FAN HE IS. IT DOES NOT MATTER HOW MANY OLD GENRE FAVES HE CASTS OR NAMES HE DROPS. HE CANNOT WRITE, DIRECT, OR PROBABLY ACT.
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Let the Japanese take a whack at reviving the Shape - his sleek, quiet, elemental aesthetic as Carpenter envisioned it is in line with their genre work. Give him to someone crazy, Takashi Shimizu (who probably wouldn't do it), or Koji Shiraishi who did "Noroi: The Curse"
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Aug 26, 2009 5:05:42 AM CDT
ROB ZOMBIE MADE A SHITTY MOVIE? NO FUCKING WAY?!?! :/
by carlthormark1978
I don't doubt his love for the genre but the guy is a fucking terrible moviemaker.
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since Zom is a fellow Fanboy/Closet Geek one would think that he would either reinvent or revitilize the mythos with more innovative concepts.Instead we get a Masked Anti hero whose Mom was a hick stripper.The only redeeming part of the first movie would be the bond between young Michael and Loomis other than that it's a waste of Rob's effort.At this stage, I would rather have Glen Danzig redo Halloween, atleast there would be a more valid explanation of why Myers is evil and the fact that he could withstand bullets. (i.e. one of Satan's minions or some kid that was offered as a sacrifice/ritual to become an invincible unholy killing machine....OK, the orgins are a bit too comic booky, but it's better than what Zombie had to offer.)
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Aug 26, 2009 5:24:41 AM CDT
PEOPLE LIKE ZOMBIE ARE THE PROBLEM WITH HORROR TODAY.....
by carlthormark1978
On YouTube I posted the video Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors which was taped in 86 and is my most beloved video of all time. It shows you the convention and all the people who went there and, if you watch it, you’ll notice how most of the people back then who attended, not to mention the guys who made Horror movies like Craven etc…, were all very clean cut, very average people who just happened to love the Horror genre. Sure, there was one or two proto-Goths and weirdo’s, but for the most part it was people who were there to have fun and loved Horror. Go to a Weekend of Horror today and it’s filled with nothing but these Heavy Metal/Punk/Goth/Emo assholes with their hair dyed twelve different colors (if they have hair) and tattoos/piercings all over their fucking bodies. Rob Zombie is one of these people and, like the rest of them, they think that Horror exists on a superficial level of existence and should be treated like any other accessory which is why they oh so desperately go out of their way to show how “hardcore” they are by wearing grubby second hand clothes and the latest gear from Hot Topic. Zombie’s movies perfectly reflect this mentality as he is incapable of understanding Horror beyond his shallow obsessions with grime and brutality. He’s also completely incompetent when it comes to mood or atmosphere and that’s because he’s also a music video hack who’s training as a Director consists of half second smash cuts and rapid fire editing. He’s just another sad member of GENERATION ADD and is unfortunately considered to be at the forefront of the Horror genre today along with that retarded fratboy Eli Roth. The best Horror movies were usually made by intelligent people with a brain while today’s “auteur’s” are nothing more then children trying to copy the Sistine Chapel with crayons.
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Aug 26, 2009 5:31:53 AM CDT
9 PART MAKING OF CREEPSHOW DOC "Just Desserts" ON YOUTUBE!!!
by carlthormark1978
This is from the special edition that you can only get overseas. I can't fucking believe that we still haven't got a special edition over here yet for that masterpiece. Here's the link to part 1.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTHondHauE
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I would love to see get made.
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And get Danielle Harris to spend the whole movie naked.
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Aug 26, 2009 5:44:05 AM CDT
I ACTUALLY SAW TURNER AND HOOCH AT THE THEATRE IN 89.....
by carlthormark1978
I was 11 so STOP STARING AT ME!!!
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Wait, why the fuck is this called Halloween again? Why not just make you're own goddamn slasher flick?! I liked 1,000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects, but his Halloween remake was a STEAMING PILE OF SHIT. Odds are, so is the sequel. I'll be watching Thirst instead this weekend.
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If you look at all his films,it`s all basicly the same shit over and over. The original movies were made for next to nothing compared to what zombie is working with,and still he can`t make it work. And the scripts are all fuck this,and suck that ,goddamn,fuck fuck suck cunt fuck.Great stuff indeed.
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....obsession with nerocphillia in his movies. There is is a thin line between shit and shite. You just crossed that line Zombie. Crud , crass, crappy blah blah
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I guess this just goes to show you how with money, connections and yet minimal talent, you can still mske bad film after bad film. I've never liked a Zombie movie yet, and haven't liked his tunes since Super Sexy Swingin Sounds. Maybe it's time he just opens up a travelling Cirque du Macabre, and leaves these other entertainment mediums alone
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Rob's made one good (but somewhat overrated) film: The Devil's Rejects. Everything else has been, at minimum, hard to watch (his Halloween remake) our downright god-awful (House of 1,000 Corpses). His remake of Halloween pissed a lot of folks off...I didn't have the same reaction - it wasn't great but I didn't see it as the 'worst movie ever'..it just didn't come close to being as good as the beloved original. The decision to have his wife in this one (and to introduce 'ghostly' hallucinations) is so abysmal that Rob should have his man card revoked. Unfortunately, that plot device looks merely like a ham-fisted attempt to keep his wife doing something other than stripping.
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Like anyone, I was extremely skeptical when Rob Zombie started making films and House of 1000 Corpses is pretty generic with a few flashes of wit. However, starting with The Devil's Rejects, and hopefully continuing through H2, Zombie has become one of the most provocative and singular American director's working. His fascination with the dark underbelly of American culture is like Lynch without the surreality or disregard of traditional narrative structure. His relationship to violence is bizarre and effective. Zombie is not out to please horror/genre fans...he's out to make movies about how fucked up America is, and along the way you're going to get a very entertaining horror flick. I am not a horror fan per se, I can take it or leave it, and I know a lot of Zombie fans are the same way. They haven't seen every obscure Dario Argento or Mario Bava flick ever made, they don't go around dissecting the "kills" in every movie, but they recognize that a new Zombie film is a cultural event. How you can accuse a director who made a 109 minute horror flick two years ago - which included a lengthy, interminable interlude in a mental hospital - of ADD is beyond me. Horror fanboys may like to sit around on internet boards and hate on someone just because it's the cool thing to do, but Zombie is gaining a following among serious film fans for a very good reason: he is perhaps now America's premiere chronicler of the marginalized, the criminal, the discarded. Can't wait for Friday!
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Aug 26, 2009 7:22:29 AM CDT
"a ham-fisted attempt to keep his wife doing something other tha
by laserpants
Pretty much! The funny thing being that she's not all that hot. I mean, she's hot enough, but I've seen, and have been with, WAY hotter girls than her. She's average hot. Warm? Warm. She's warm. Will do for poke.
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it appears Zombie is a bigger villain than Myers. They should give Myers a camera and let him make a movie about Zombie and the crimes he's committing.
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Aug 26, 2009 7:47:26 AM CDT
A white zombie reunion would be a better use of Zombie's time.
by juansanchez
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Aug 26, 2009 7:56:58 AM CDT
To the guy that said Michael Myers never missed a Halloween...
by brocknroll
To a talkbacker that said, "Michael Myers never missed a Halloween" movie, you're so totally wrong on that. Get your facts straight first before posting things please.
Michael Myers was NOT in "Halloween III: Season of the Witch". That movie had nothing to do with Michael Myers at all. -
..great horror film that deserves more talk.
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Aug 26, 2009 8:17:24 AM CDT
Hopefully now he can make that rom com he's been wanting to make
by series7
That or by the time he makes his next movie technology has caught up to his ideas for a sci fi action movie set in a whole different world.
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The original poster never said he that Michael never missed a Halloween movie. He said the character never missed the holiday. I think by now it's common knowledge that Michael sat out part 3.
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Make it so!
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...on HALLOWEEN. And nobody is as big a fan of Carpenter's classic original as I am. I thought Rob Zombie did a wonderful job of re-introducing the character and the iconography of HALLOWEEN, while suffusing it all with his own wicked, brutal brand of horror. He definitely gave us HIS version, and I think there's room for both. I spent a lot of time defending Zombie's film in Talkback two years ago, but I probably won't work so hard to do that this time around. It's tiring. So many people just dismiss his work.Looking forward to HALLOWEEN II.
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Rob Zombie is really good. House of 1000 corpses was the most psychedelic , vibrant horror movie I have seen in a while, if not ever. It is relentless, hilarious, and escalates steadily to a fever pitch of horror, and its a great film.
The devil's rejects was a more artistic exploration and in many ways, superior. Its also an amazing film, taking absurd characters from the first, and implanting them in a much more realistic, visceral world.
Halloween, for all the hate it gets, is also great. The original is my favorite horror movie, next to NOES, yet I could still see this movie for what it was: a new interpretation. Unlike many fanboys, I thought it rocked, and maybe the 3rd act was a bit rushed, but the movie itself was exceptional. We see the evolution of a masked killer in full detail. Most people complain it takes away the mystery of MM. No, assclowns, it doesn't. 20 some years of Halloween sequels takes the mystery away, Rob Zombie's Halloween restored it.
I am not so wrapped up in sanctimonious reverance for the original that I can't say 'wtf Halloween II looks awesome!' Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but you fan boys are WAAAAY off the mark. I am sure in 10 years, one of these movies will come on cable, and you will shit yourself.
This is the deal if you choose to accept it. -
take. Zombie has too much potential as a filmmaker to be bogged down making useless and pointless remakes.
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FUCK ANYONE who hates on his movies. No, seriously FUCK FUCKING YOU.
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If i had seen your post, i wouldnt have needed to post at all. well said
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You, my friend, are the true fanboy!
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That rarity alone may be worth the price of admission.
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You have no talent whatsoever in the long format movie but you make killer music and great videos. That's better than most. Not everyone is cut out to be a film director, just ask Ratner, McG, Roth, etc. Now, I could see you doing a great horror tv show. How about rebooting Friday the 13th- The Series? That had a great premise that could still be cool today.
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they will be remaking Rob Zombie's Halloween.
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It's called Warehouse 13.
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yawn
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I went into Rob Zombie's Halloween with an open mind and I don't feel he raped my childhood (although I love the original, I am desentistized to crappy remakes of originals because that is all Hollywood makes anymore) and I still think Zombie's first movie was crap. He didn't understand what Carpenter was trying to accomplish with the original and him trying to stick to cannon of the original movie rather than making his own original story made the movie unwatchable in the last act. Zombie had a pretty good idea for a slasher flick, but it isn't a Halloween movie. By trying to make it a Halloween movie, he limited his creativity and made a bad movie all together. I think the first movie would have been worlds better if he didn't make it a Halloween movie. The only part of the movie that remote worked was the part when Michael is locked up in the asylum. Not coincidently, it is the only part of the movie where he wasn't constrained by following Carpenter's original storyline.
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You can come over to my house and fuck my sister. Thanks for posting the old Weekend of Horrors vid. I have a VHS of it myself but I am sure there are cats out there who remember it but can't find a copy who will sing your praises for posting it. And thanks for the Creepshow love as well. It's sad that unless someone like Anchor Bay gets ahold of a horror release you're destined to wait forever for a decent Special Edition DVD. (I'm looking at you, Poltergeist!)
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Aug 26, 2009 9:01:25 AM CDT
Oh, and fuck this film right up it's silly droopy pucker...
by jacklucas
Zombie had me with Devil's Rejects. Had me pretty hard in fact. But from the announcement that he was going to remake Halloween up to the failed execution of that endeavor and since, Rob hasn't done a goddamn thing worthwhile. I'll eventually probably catch this thing on Netflix or cable, but I'll be raped in the face if I'll drop any coin on it at the box office.
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You bash Carpenter for making it up as he went with the Laurie as the sister element and give credit for Zombie to address that issue in his back story right off the bat, but fail to acknowledge that Zombie had the benefit of watching Halloween and Halloween 2 which allowed him to not have to fall into the trap of coming up with an idea why Michael would be chasing after Laurie again in another movie. The original Halloween was a super low budget movie in an era where slasher movies didn't get sequels (granted I don't really consider the original a slasher movies and the slasher movie genre was in its real infancy state at that time). I am sure Carpenter was more concerned that someone would buy the movie and it would actually be shown somewhere rather than figuring out how to set up a sequel to the most profitable independent film of all time. Carpenter didn't realize the success Halloween was going to have and probably never even considered that someone would pay him to do a sequel.
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Seriously, fuck that. Zombie portrays violence the way it really is: brutal and uncomfortable, not a fetish for horror geeks to jerk off over. There are plenty of paint-by-numbers slasher films where the killer finds innovative (read: gimmicky) ways to kill someone with a rake/washing machine/port-o-potty for you clowns to drool over.
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"House of 1000 corpses was the most psychedelic , vibrant horror movie I have seen in a while, if not ever." Sounds like you need a netflix account my friend. Best psychedelic, vibrant horror movies ever? Awww. Poor you. Seriously. Poor you :(
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This was the most effective scene in the first 15 minutes... no wait, this one was... but then we get to this scene and it's more effective then the other ones. But you know what's really effective? The scence after that. I give the film 1 star.
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where's that cartoon he made, doesn't that come out next month? Probably comes out on Halloween. Why is Halloween such a hard date to release movies?
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Yes, the crappy sequels to Halloween bastardized the mysteriousness behind Michael Myers (especially the BS Druid stuff and the raincoat wearing, machine gun touting, mysterious figure who busts Michael out of jail), but Zombie definitely didn't restore it. There is no mystery to Zombie's Michael Myers. Zombie's Michael Myers isn't Carpenter's Michael Myers at all. It wasn't what Carpenter was trying to achieve.
Personally, I could get over that if he made a good movie, but he didn't. I still maintain the reasons he didn't wasn't because what he did different from the original, but what he did that was the same. Zombie was constrained by Halloween cannon and it made it a crappy movie.
BTW, fan boys can accept changes to remakes if done right. I remember fan boys crying when they heard the Battlestar Galattica remake would feature a female Starbuck and human looking Cylons, but all fell in line when the remake ended up being superior to the original that so many held dear in their hearts. Contrary to popular belief, fan boys can accept change if it is done well. Personally, I think that is where Zombie fell short. -
Sid Haug isn't even in this.
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Aug 26, 2009 9:19:11 AM CDT
Would you guys preferred another Halloween Resurrection?
by theycallmemrtibbs
Really?
Or how about Halloween Water...I'm sorry H20. After Season of the Witch, the Halloween Franchise went to shit, especially when they became vehicles to feature the latest "hot" rapper.
Whether you like Rob Zombie's vision of Micheal Myers or hate him, (look at the talk-back responses this thing generates) at least the guy tried to do something different.
"Trailer Park Micheal" was more entertaining than the run of the mill crap we have been fed with these reboots.
I know...Let's all watch Superman Returns! -
Helped write Rob Zombies new cartoon movie. Is it really getting a theatrical release.
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Halloween isn't a hard date to release a movie. The last five Saw movies prove that. The last five Saw movies is the reason why Halloween 2 is getting released during the summer. The Saw franchise owns the Halloween release date and has for a number of years. Saw 6 opens October 23rd and no way would another studio open another horror movie to compete with it.
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I am of the same total opinion that Quint says in the first paragraph here...I too really like ROb Zombie, Love his music, think he comes off as a really cool guy in all the Interviews I have seen/read and dig that he is a total Fanboy of the Horror genre too! I also 100% agree that although he is a fanboy and a cool kinda guy? His Movies leave MUCH to be desired!
Sorry, but I have not enjoyed any of the movies that he has made so far...this coming from a total Sci-Fi and Horror Fanboy like myself.
Much respect to Mr. Zombies efforts (Hell, I have NEVER made a movie or been a successful muscian like he has..so much props here!)...but...I just didn't especially like his re-imagining/re-booting of the classic Halloween storyline.
I forced myself to watch a copy of the Remake of "Halloween" and was hugely disappointed...so I don't think I will see this one.
Just my $1.25 worth here -
Personally, I liked several of the sequels to the original than I liked Zombie's flick. I would take Halloween 2 (original), Halloween 4, and even H2O over the Zombie's Halloween. I just didn't like the movie and it had nothing to do with his changes from the original.
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Yeah I know about Saw, but its been a problem since before Saw. Like when the Frighteners was moved up to be released during the summer when Daylight wasn't ready. That movie this site always talks about Trick 'r Treat can't seem to be released on Halloween. I mean why do studios think that only 1 scary movie will work during October. I know October is a shitty Box office month, but I think if they released scary movies around that time I think more people would go. I guess there just isn't enough money or time off in October.
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I liked Halloween 4 and 5. when Micheal started pursuing his niece, I thought it was interesting enough to see how it ended.
H20 and Resurrection had they're moments. But if Zombie would've done anything similar to those movies, Let's face it, he would've caught shit for that as well. -
For me the original, II, and the horribly titled H20 make a functional trilogy. After that, I'd much rather watch Zombie's iteration than the other sequels.
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Obviously went into it with a chip on his shoulder. And Rob 0 for 4? Hardly. REJECTS is a great ride.
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I totally agree.
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But first I have to admit, I have NOT see Zombie's Halloween. I'm too much of a fan of Carpenter's original that I never mustered enough interest to see Zombie's take on it (that has changed now- I do want to see it and soon). But I completely disagree with the way DoubleDown has reviewed this film. I'll go point by point: 1. Its the second movie in Zombie's (yes, Zombie's) franchise, and yet you are STILL comparing it to Carpenter's? Why? He says this " In other words, everything I loved about the franchise, the tone Carpenter set, is absent in Zombie’s world." Wasn't that the case with the first film? Honestly, I think you do a real disservice to this movie, and to us reading your review, when you STILL have to compare it to the original, especially when its obvious this is a whole new animal this time around. 2. You compare it to Carpenter's films, and yet at the end you say you want something different? "Just make your own brand of throwaway slasher flicks." Earlier you were criticizing him FOR his style, which IS comprised of making everything grimy and dirty, or using weird colors for a strip club scene. That's Zombie. That's how his films look. And yet, you're comparing it to Carpenter, saying its NOTHING like Carpenter's films, but then you're complaining about how he should make his "own" film? Come on, Double Down, you're just contradicting yourself all over the place on these points. You can't have it both ways, which is what you seem to want. You want it to be more like Carpenter, but then you want it to be more of Zombie's own thing. I'm having a hard time grasping your opinion here, other than you didn't like it.
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Well done.
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By you I guess I mean AICN in general. Honestly, I can't stand Zombie's Halloween. I think it's a crappy take of a genre classic. I've never been a fan of Zombie as a director. He has some decent ideas at times but he can never seem to put them together just right. He might be better off as a producer. I think he gets fixated on things. As a producer, this would be less of a problem. In any event, I grew up with the Halloween franchise. I've seen them all at the theatre. I have no desire to see this in the theatres. Will probably eventually see it on DVD. But 12 bucks is a bit much for a knockoff. The thing that cracks me up about the AICN community is all the grief you all give Zombie about his crappy redeux when it's actually better than the Friday the 13th retread. It seems that most of you have more of a connection to this the Halloween franchise than the other. I have a connection to both. I can honestly tell you that the Friday the 13th remake was absolute crap compared to the original at the time of its release. Even today the original holds up for what it is. The remake has more in common with the Jason in space and Jason possessed than it does with the original. To hear Harry talk about the remake, you'd think the remake is a masterpiece. Friday the 13th 2008 was crap the same as Halloween 2007 and My Bloody Valentine 2008. What Zombie is doing here is no worst than what was done to those other franchises. It's all crap. You can't give this attempt hell for trying while giving those others a free pass. It's either all okay or none of it's okay. Much like Van Zant's Psycho. Why try to fix what ain't broke? If you have ideas take a shot at something original? The rewards of a hit would be 10 fold.
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Good points but I'll disagree on one - Halloween 3: Season of the Witch (the one without Michael) is the one horror movie I'd kill to see done right. The main plot is so wickedly bizarre and vicious, that it could be an absolutely ugly and epic scare film. The problem was they made it ridiculous and didn't milk it for its eerie potential. (Spoilers for those who haven't seen it: A multinational corporation that sells Halloween masks and paraphernalia is secretly run by a society of druids who want to destroy the world in a plague of violence starting with its children. After being nearly exterminated throughout the ages, they finally position themselves...and create a series of masks with a computer chip in them that is supposed to make them light up, make spooky sounds etc. but actually trigger an ancient pagan ritual which spawns insects, snakes, rats and what not within the skull of the mask wearer. So, literally millions of children around the country are planning on watching a tv special on Halloween night that triggers the digital chip spell resulting in snakes spewing out of their eye sockets and biting the parents). This was the most bizarre and fucked premise ever - but could actually be interesting if done right. (Plus the idea of some ancient clan of druids killing children is a lot more fun than some relentless faceless killer with a knife.
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This review was contradictory, unconvincing and very, very snooty. ("Oh Rob Zombie. What are we going to do with you?"/"Remind me never to accept an invitation to his dinner parties.") The impression I get of this reviewer is someone who had made up his/her mind to hate this film before ever walking in to see it.
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Yeah I agree with you about the difference between Halloween and Friday the 13th. At least Rob tried to do something different with Halloween, not just redoing it and not as good. While I haven't seen My Bloody Valentine, I think no one said anything about it because no one even know what the original was. You know, I bet if they just called this Friday the 13th people wouldn't be so mad.
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The fact that the few defenders in here actually have the audacity to slander genre fans proves just how bad the remake actually was because even when examined on its own merits, isolated from Carpenter’s film, Zombie’s Halloween was a flaccid, irrelevant horror film. However, once you actually get around to comparing the two, Zombie’s film comes off as the worst type of superficial swill made by somebody who obviously didn’t understand or appreciate the original in any way. At just about every turn he completely loses the feel of Carpenter’s original while inserting his own one-note white trash tone into the mythos despite the reality that it doesn’t really fit. Michael Myers as trailer trash might sound like a good idea on paper but the end result was ridiculous and actually implies that Zombie is incapable of rising above the whole redneck aesthetic. Then we have the characters, who possess zero depth in Zombie’s version. Laurie is nothing more than a pretty face and her friends are so shallow and shrill that their respective deaths are actually a relief to the viewer. The real transgression however is what Zombie does to the Loomis character, effectively neutering him and taking away his Ahab level of obsession with Myers. For me, Halloween is very much about Loomis and his relationship with Myers, first as a caregiver and doctor and later as a man hell-bent on hunting him down and killing him. That’s an interesting dichotomy and Carpenter does a great job exploring that obsessive compulsion while by contrast Zombie’s Loomis is ancillary, disposable and exists only to occasionally deliver a bit of dramatic exposition. The irony is that Zombie claimed he wanted to flesh out the Loomis character in his film but in truth he marginalized the most important conflict in the story and made Loomis practically throwaway. I would also argue that the film goes from bad to worse when the second half turns into a literal scene for scene remake similar to Gus Van Sant’s disastrous Psycho “experiment.” Had Zombie maintained the integrity of his supposedly divergent vision of the Halloween mythos throughout the film, he would at least have accomplished something that could be judged on its own merits rather than forcing viewers to compare it to the original by aping so many of Carpenter’s scenes and foisting his own artless spin upon them. I like Zombie and think he is a talented guy and I loved Devil’s Rejects but Halloween was a pointless remake in every aspect of its execution. Zombie saw fit merely to ramp up the volume with a louder, larger version that has none of the ambiance, tone or subtleties of the original. If recognizing that makes me some sort of sheltered fanboy then so be it because I would argue that anybody who argues that Zombie’s Halloween was anything more than a colossal failure doesn’t have an opinion about the genre worth printing on a sheet of toilet paper.
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Zombies Halloween was laffable man...ha
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Let us hope this will be the end of his run behind the camera. Or he can just start directing DTV fair with nicole eggert and corey haim.. Go fist yourself rob zombie.
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I actually read a script a couple of years ago that tackled that very premise. It was set up like the usual "teens pick up mysterious hitchhiker and end up stranded in creepy mansion populated by crazy killer family. The first half was the usual slasher film of the teens getting killed in various ways. Near the middle, the stranger and main heroine are tied up. The stranger reveals that he is an ex special forces soldier that became a little unhinged after Bosnia, and had been wandering the country trying to get himself back together. When one of the freaks is comes in to torture him, it leans in a little to close and the military bad ass rips out its throat with his teeth. Rather than flee, he proceeds to go room to room and starts whacking all of the freaks professional soldier style. The remainder of the movie is a 180, and it is the freaky killers who are running and trying to escape. The final chase is actually the soldier chasing down the main baddie through the woods. After dispatching him, the soldier cleans himself up in a stream and then calmly resumes hitchhiking.
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What about Hills have Eyes and Hills Have Eyes 2..........both movies had the victims fighting back....and doing a good job of it. Granted they weren't fighting Jason or Michael Meyers.....but they fought back pretty successfully.
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Congratulations, man. Ignore the haters and enjoy what's sure to be a huge opening weekend. Can't wait to see what you've got for us next.
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That alone is enough for me to offer some good praise for Rob Zombie.
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I feel the original Halloween was far superior to the original Friday the 13th. Friday the 13th was never a good movie and was always about the kills and the surprise ending. The acting was horrible. The plot was so-so. The camera work was horrible. Halloween on the other hand was a great movie in my eyes and was sucessful because it was suspenseful (at least at the time, but not as much now since it has been copied a billion times) and even though it is devoid of blood made the audience believe they saw far more blood and gore than they did much like the show scene in Psycho did (granted, over time this has faded because of all the copycat movies).
I am not so upset about a remake of Halloween because if it wasn't Zombie it would be someone. I am upset that it failed as a movie. I am disapointed that Zombie claims to be a huge fan of the original, but doesn't seem to get what the themes of story that Carpenter was getting at. But if Zombie made a good movie, I could get beyond that. -
To me, the Friday the 13th reboot was more of a sequel than a remake. It definitely wasn't a remake of the original since the only part of the reboot that had anything to do with the original Friday the 13th was the death of Mrs. Vorhees.
To me, I hold a lower bar for a sequel than a remake. I expect a sequel to be a watered down version of the original. I would expect a remake to set the bar higher than a sequel, but that is just me.
I thought the new Friday the 13th sucked. But is is closer to the quality of any of the other Friday the 13th's (including the original) than Zombie's reboot of Halloween came to the original. Friday the 13th started out as a watered down product that focused more on the deaths than the plot or acting. -
Big opening weekends do not equate to quality of the movie. See Transformers 2.
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No, but big opening weekends do a lot to help one tune-out haters.
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I agree with you about Dr. Loomis. What would have been a far better movie would have been to allow the viewers to see everything through Loomis' eyes. I wanted to see him go from an idealist doctor trying to rehabilitate Michael into an obsessed and slightly crazed man who has become obsessed in keeping Michael locked up forever. Loomis was the most interesting character in the original and could have been flushed out far more in a reboot especially where Zombie did focus on the 11 years between Michael killing his sister and escaping which Carpenter overlooks except in the TV version of the original. Zombie chose to see the world through Michael's eyes which is probably the least interesting. Even if he kept in the fact that Michael wasn't some mysterious embodiment of pure evil and kept him as real life serial killer, it would have been far more interesting through Dr. Loomis' eyes.
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I guess it is a business and it is better to make a crappy movie that makes $300 million than a masterpiece that makes $50 million. If that makes Zombie happy so be it. It obviously makes directors like Michael Bay and Brett Ratner extremely happy.
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Seriously. Does every Rob Zombie movie have to have some poor slob getting his face cut off so it can be worn as a mask?
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... Cause you're not good at this movie making stuff.
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The sequel no one asked for to the remake nobody wanted is bad? I am shocked.
Wait, did he cast his wife in the movie AGAIN?
Double shock.
Mr. Zombie, please stick to making music for strippers. -
Get out of the business you suck in, Rob. You're wasting peoples time and money.
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I was gonna put my thoughts on Zombie's Halloween out there, but I read your post, and you pretty much said it all. I could not agree more. Kudos.
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the best part of the original was the spirit and the daytime scene of the three girls walking home through suburbia from school girltalking the way its shot the shadows of the trees the houses then the scary car michael myers drives> i love those scenes they get me in the halloween mood. and when the homage finally takes ride in zombie's remake his direction was good. but it felt too rushed because of all his goofy rob zobieage he had to put at the beginning of his take the unneccesary backstory of michael myers the mystery of michael myers really is wahat makes the original work so well and all of the sequels including the remake sucked halloween h2o is the only one i felt was decent to the original.
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He's trailer trash and his mom beat him and he likes heavy metal and WHO GIVES A SHIT. Let Rob Zombie work out his childhood issues on his own time.
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I haven't seen a Zombie "film" since House of 1000 Cofpses and vowed to never watch a Zombie film again. The previews for this film look absolutely dreadful. Why rip half of his mask off? It's such an important piece of horror/franchise iconography it should never be so much as sratched.
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"a rather large step towards the light from the abysmal first movie"
Why the fuck would you even consider seeing Halloween II and then write a review about it, when we all know you already hate that flick. Fuckin' retard... -
Jesus Christ, why do we want someone dying on film to be fun? Why do we want it to be entertaining? Can't we just be shocked and frightened? Isn't that enough? What a world. Blame Sean Cunningham, IMO.
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Was the fact that we never knew what was happening and why this man who escaped from an institution was after this young girl. The movie is a slow burn to a boiling finish. And that is suspenseful. Myers escapes and shows up to this town and quietly stalks his potential victims, studies their habits, figures out the connections to other people that they have. And then when we least expected it, he struck. I think it's scarier to see someone who watched and plotted on a person before he killed them. Another reason why the original was great, Laurie was a good character. Laurie was the girl we all know. The nice girl who would rather make money babysitting than being out with her friends. The responsible girl who was popular in school for being nice, but never won Prom Queen. A girl you root for because all she really wanted was really was the attention of a nice boy who understands her. And then this girl's life is forever ruined because this man seemingly out of nowhere is relentlessly after her and kills all her friends. That's scary. It's watching someone with a bright future get robbed of it. Zombie doesn't understand that, and instead he dirtied everything up with a layer of grunge that was unnecessary. It is just really lazy writing to make a killer's motivation be that he had a horrible childhood and his stepdad called him a "Faggot" and his mom was a washed up stripper. I know people who grew up in fucked up situations and went on to make good for themselves in life. So if you are driven to kill because life is unfair. Tough shit and you are a pussy. Zombie just made a film that is relatable to the "Woe is me!" generation of outcasts who get upset by anything popular and want to go on selfish crybaby killing sprees because people are mean. Give me a fucking break. We didn't need another killer with "Mommy Issues" like Jason. Zombie should have just taken his idea for his epic trash fest of a slasher film and made his own movie that wouldn't suffer the ridicule of being compared to the movie that had a hand in creating the entire Slasher Film genre. But instead he over-explained Michael Myers upbringing to the point where it was overkill. We don't need to know our villains. Then they become Anti-Heroes, and what the fuck is the point of making a movie when you are rooting for everyone to die? It's foolish. Then he shoehorned the ENTIRE ORIGINAL FILM into a hyper 30 minute span which had no suspense or buildup, with an outcome that leaves you shrugging your shoulders because you aren't given the proper time to care about anyone's fate. His original film should have ended with Michael escaping, and his remake should have been this film now. Say what you will about Platinum Dunes films, but they know how to cast effective "Final Girl's" for their films. None have of course lived up to their best casting in Jessica Biel in TCM, but for the most part they are not annoying like Scout Taylor Compton. She was whiny, unrelatable, an asshole to the kids she was babysitting, the whole finger fucking a bagel to her Mom was lame, and the rest of the time she spoke like a 15 year old idiot writing on a friend's Myspace wall. This film will effectively kill the Halloween series, and I am glad since we will be all better for it. Had this film been a genuinely solid movie, The Weinstein Company would have put the fucker head up against "Saw" in October.
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Death in a car wash... I have to see how it happens.
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C'mon, given the trailer, the overhead brush will surely de-skin the face of the girl with her sticking out of the sunroof. But given the choice of 3D deaths comin atcha or Zombie's grungy attempt at horror, I'll take the 3D...
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Hit the nail on the head. Rob Zombie, if you're reading this, please...FUCKING STOP IT. I can't take any more of this crap. This is just embarrassing.
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dont really give away too much which is good for me .
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Sat around explaining Mike Myers, but doesn't give any reason for the characters to kill in 1,000 and Rejects.
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Aug 26, 2009 4:19:17 PM CDT
I'm strangely looking forward to this, though I hated the first
by soylentmean
I really, really wanted to like Zombie's first run at Halloween, but it just turned into a Devil's Rejects reunion. It was like he looked at all the atmospheric buildup of Carpenter's original and said "Fuck that, let's get some dialogue about skull fuckin' in here" and went on his merry way. Oddly enough, it's his riffs on the original toward the end of the film that stood out for me, as the violence was somewhat unsettling. The first half of Zombie's Halloween remake didn't need to exist and man, I wish it didn't. However, it will be kinda cool to do a double feature of Halloween 2 and Final Destination 4. It would have been nice to be able to do that in October, but Saw 5 times too many has to ruin it for any other Horror film in October. I can't wait until that franchise dies.
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1000 Corpses sucked but Devils Rejects was great, hell I even brought the soundtrack. Every artist has his ups and downs but you've obviously got a lot of talent.
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To dissect is to destroy. What made the original so good is that we don't need to know the killing machines motives. He just is. In fact the original Carpenter script refers to him only as "The Shape". To give him any more backstory than that lessens his impact. If zombie re-made "Jaws" would the first hour of the flick just be Jaws at Sea World getting picked on by the Killer Whales and their trainers. We don't need this info, it ruins it.
The Force: Mystical, not fully understood, energy source. Cool.
The Force: Just bacteria in your bloodstream called Midiclorians. Not Cool. -
...mark of shame that Halloween is the worst of the horror remakes we've had to suffer through. I really wish Zombie's career was deader than Ted Kennedy's fat bloated murderer ass. He's a hack. All of his films are terrible. Just excuses for him to relive his white trash upbringing and incest with mommy. Haven't seen the new H2 but I'm sure it's another abysmal shit stain.
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Aug 26, 2009 5:05:53 PM CDT
It's fucking laughable, that he can't even remake Halloween!
by lockesbrokenleg
But, it's not like Halloween was fucking masterpiece, either.
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He doesn't wear the mask for a good chunk of time... it's absurd, why have it be Michael Myers if he's just gonna be dressed like a hobo?
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Sorry, but it's true.
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and that was almost 15 years ago.
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He should remake Season of the Witch. A long haired, bearded redneck family lures children to thier decrepit mask factory, Sherri Moon can play their robot henchmen and it can be shot to look like it's the 70s except it's set in present day and have a bunch of classic rock songs.
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the original Halloween which I just saw recently bored the hell out of me. I wasn't scared at all, and produced no emotional reaction from me. I guess I'm just too sensitized by video game violence and modern movies.
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"But, it's not like Halloween was fucking masterpiece, either."
You just say stupid shit to get a reaction out of people, don't you?
Mission accomplished, you fucking pus-secretion. -
i don't know what you cunts are complaining about
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Indeed, you are. I'm guessing you're too young to have seen the first run of Halloween. I remember watching it as a kid and thinking, "Sweet, she stabbed him, he's dea-WTF HE JUST GOT BACK UP AGAIN, THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE"
The realization that he wasn't human, but just some unstoppable, supernatural killing machine was a revelation at the time. Of course, it's been done a million times now, so that movie will have very little impact on today's jaded market. -
...Zombie's Halloween was shit and I expect this to be even more shit.
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He couldn't stop scratching his red nose. It's the most obvious heroin user giveaway.
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he forever receives a free pass from me
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Audiences loved Halloween, but critics did not. Sounds familiar doesn't it?
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Excellent analysis. The mystery of Myers' psychosis and obsession was what made the Carpenter original so effective. Similar to the Japanese horror movies of late, he represented a frighteningly random marauding force working according to his own unbalanced rules.
Rob Zombie is the "Masked Magician" of horror film directors, sweeping the curtain aside and wrecking the act, to no one's benefit. -
Uh, what the fuck are you talking about? The original gets a 93-fucking-percent on RT and was the most successful independent movie ever made until just recently.
Any horror movie fan worth a shit understand the contributions it made to the genre.
RZ's piece of shit remake garned a whopping 26% on RT, opened to $30 million(on a dead-as-fuck movie weekend) and couldn't quite get back to that level in subsequent weeks(holy dropoff, batman!). -
Look, I fucking hate Rob Zombie as much as the next guy. But you're just another dude that runs to RT everytime when someone talks bad about his favorite movie.
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Rob shoehorned the entire classic original film into the last 30-40 minutes of his remake because he didn't give a shit about it or that film. His only real interest, in either of his Halloween films, was rehashing the same old redneck/grindhouse cliches he loves so much and applying them to Michael Myers. His focus is and always has been on his Michael's skull-fuckin', strip club-hoppin', Foghat-lovin' family. If he can't recreate and recreate and recreate the same tired sub-Tobe Hooper ripoff bullshit of TCM through House Of 1000 Corpses, Devil's Rejects, and now his Halloween, Rob just isn't into it. He has nothing to say, and he never, ever has. Name-drop "Busta Rhymes" all you like, but at least that piece of shit sequel dealt with Michael Myers as Michael Myers, and not another way for Rob Zombie to run his juvenile obsessions into the ground and expect us to lick his boots for 'revamping Halloween.'
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box office facts. But the fact is, anytime a genre flick garners near 100% critical acclaim, that means it's something more than some run-of-the-mill slasher flick.
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Lockes hates whatever the person he wants to start an argument with likes, I don't think he has an actual opinion on film rather a compulsion to argue the toss with people.
Also, this movie sounds pretty terrible. The first was garbage too, for a Halloween remake. If it was his own creation, he'd have gotten a much easier time from the fanboys. Fact is, he tried to do the original at double the speed with worse acting, terrible dialogue and awful casting choices, that's what turns that movie into a steaming beacon of shit rather than a passable slasher flick. -
Yeah, I'm familiar with that tool's methods, just wasn't going to let that pass.
And for the record, I really dug "Devil's Rejects" and could see some growth in RZ from 1K Corpses. Sadly, his Halloween was garbage. -
I remember when Rob Zombie was only bad at music. Then he talked a lot of shit about other people, his wife took her clothes off and he drove the fucking Munsters car to the VMAs. He's an un-artist. He might as well be Spencer Pratt.
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...have had a fucking lobotomy. Or never had enough brain-matter to qualify for one in the first place. Wipe up your drool and fuck off back to Idiot Town, you fucking trogs.
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Was Rob Zombie's Halloween a masterpiece? Far from it. But you cunts are so far around the bend if you believe even half the vitriol you've spewed against it. In a day and age of such abominable bullshit as "The Final Destination", the idea that you fucking fanboy asswipes are so incensed is pathetic and laughable. You twats are exactly the sort of people no filmmaker should even consider when making a movie. Go piss and moan about how George Lucas raped your childhoods some more. God, but film geeks are the foulest of all humans on this planet.
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The very Ending of The 2009 Verison of Halloween 2. is a Near-Rip Off of The CLIMAX of The Respectable Sequel From 1988.
Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers(If You have Seen both Films You know What I am Taking About!) -
from watching Rob Zombie in "dinner for 5" with Jon fucking favreau stuffing his fat face than I have ever got from a Rob Zombie movie. The Devils Rejects disgusted me- I cheered at the end when the sick fucks were blown out of their socks, and the rape scene from the first Halloween movie remake made me feel sick. Decent horror movies are a work of art; this bollocks is the farthest thing from that.
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"...are so incensed is pathetic and laughable"
I love it when fanboys of one thing attack fanboys of another, all the while attempting to distance themselves from any kind of fandom whatsoever, but betraying their true position by getting incensed at the very idea that something they're a fan of is being attacked. All this while being too blind to see how pathetic and laughable their ersatz "I'm above it all" actions are, for added lolz.
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