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Halloween - 30/9/2007 2:35:19 AM

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Post #: 1

Avoid - 30/9/2007 2:35:19 AM

NunianVonFuch

Posts: 23
Joined: 1/10/2005

Empire's review is late! Was looking forward to this as I thought Rob Zombie's 2nd movie was showing signs of improvement but this was just awful. Whilst not entirely a write off as the first half hour shows a bit of promise and Michael as a kid was interesting, once he's let loose in the closing half its increasingly clear why Zombie wanted to remake the film - He thinks Michael Myers should be the star. He's present in almost every scene and is completely glorified and centralized to such an extent that whenever he kills anyone you feel no emotion or compassion for them as they had only been on screen a maximum of 2 minutes! Also much in the same way that Quentin Tarantino is renowned for his foot fetish, after this film Rob must become renowned for his "ladies crawling" fetish - every female victim in the movie is made to crawl at some point (with the exception of the nurse) usually desperately away from him as they bleed to death.
It's a pathetic movie which makes Kane's "See No Evil" look good and is quite similar in the gore and plot stakes. Don't even bother comparing it to the original Halloween, its even worse than 4 & 5!

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Post #: 2

RE: Avoid - 30/9/2007 11:28:01 AM

Porrohman

Posts: 627
Joined: 3/10/2005
From: Nottingham

I can`t see the review,its not showing up for me.
Anyone else having problems?

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Post #: 3

Rob Zombies Halloween - 30/9/2007 12:48:45 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6560
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From: mordor/ uk

Well i watched Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN last night,and it's actually pretty good,3/5 a lot more violent than John Carpenter's classic.But not as Gorey as i'd expected from Rob,he seems to be moving in a new direction,more story less gore.Making Micheal more human is my only sore point with his version,as this makes our favorite killer less chilling.Overall well directed and acted,and i'm glad he didn't go for a shot for shot remake,not that there isn't a lot of nod's at the original and best.John's version is still a 5/5 classic and this is a decent remake that is better than some of the poor sequels.As remake's go it's not anywhere near as good as The Hill's Have Eyes or Dawn Of The Dead remakes,but for having the gut's to take on a Classic like Halloween,i tip my hat to Rob.His version is different enough as to be judged on it's own,and not compared to the true Classic that is John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN.

< Message edited by evil bill -- 30/9/2007 12:49:35 PM >

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RE: Avoid - 30/9/2007 1:27:59 PM

/Clarence\

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Porrohman

I can`t see the review,its not showing up for me.
Anyone else having problems?

Yeah same here, anyone tell us what it had?

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RE: Avoid - 30/9/2007 7:24:27 PM

Sutty

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From: the front row

Maybe that is it. Empire are being smart and have literally nothing to say about this pointless remake!

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Post #: 6

wtf - 30/9/2007 10:22:37 PM

Troopeford

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Joined: 16/8/2007

What the gay! I cant the review! God ive waited ages for this, and now I cant bloody see it, sort it out empire

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Post #: 7

RE: wtf - 30/9/2007 11:37:00 PM

Dave B

Posts: 2761
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Southampton

If you type 'Halloween' in the search engine, it says they gave it 1 star.

Edit: No it doesn't, thats Resurrection. I do apologise.

< Message edited by Dave B -- 30/9/2007 11:39:47 PM >

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RE: wtf - 1/10/2007 10:19:52 AM

jimbojofre

Posts: 238
Joined: 6/10/2005
From: Scotland

Halloween remake is utter BAWS! Save your money and go watch something better like Superbad or your 4th viewing of Transformers.
Michael Myers was very badass but he just smashed about like he was a giant wrestler. Myers was in almost every scene so how were we supposed to be scared when he appeared?? What a shite film!

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RE: wtf - 1/10/2007 2:13:51 PM

Porrohman

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From: Nottingham

Come on somebody sort it oot.

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Post #: 10

Halloween - Highly Recommended! - 2/10/2007 12:11:16 AM

losthighway

Posts: 3166
Joined: 25/1/2006
From: Manchesterford

***SPOILERS!!!***

Went to see it this afternoon and I was very impressed by it. In fact, I'd say it deserves a solid 4* rating. It's not a remake in the strictest sense, but instead opts for taking themes and ideas discussed in the original and elaborating upon them, thereby making a different film for the first 3/4 of the film. The final 1/4 with Laurie doesn't feel like a rehash either and instead Zombie has again taken elements of the original but given them a twist, e.g. instead of Laurie falling over the bannister and hurting herself, there's now a very effective scene where's she ends up falling through the ceiling. I also liked how he wrapped up the film and presented it as a stand-alone story.

Zombie's take on Myers and Halloween in general reminded me a lot of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 'remake', which I also thought was excellent and took us to places the original only mentioned, e.g. the slaughterhouse scenes. I really do recommend people see this film, because apart from Zombie maturing as a director, he's also one of the few remaining horror makers who actually has an interest in old-fashioned horror (check out the cameos from various horror veterans and the old films played on the TV).

This will definately be gracing my DVD collection in the future!

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Post #: 11

RE: Halloween - Highly Recommended! - 2/10/2007 1:09:29 AM

badassmofo

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From: Russian Literature

quote:

ORIGINAL: losthighway

***SPOILERS!!!***

Went to see it this afternoon and I was very impressed by it. In fact, I'd say it deserves a solid 4* rating. It's not a remake in the strictest sense, but instead opts for taking themes and ideas discussed in the original and elaborating upon them, thereby making a different film for the first 3/4 of the film. The final 1/4 with Laurie doesn't feel like a rehash either and instead Zombie has again taken elements of the original but given them a twist, e.g. instead of Laurie falling over the bannister and hurting herself, there's now a very effective scene where's she ends up falling through the ceiling. I also liked how he wrapped up the film and presented it as a stand-alone story.

This will definately be gracing my DVD collection in the future!

Pretty much the only good thing about this film. A fucking atrocity.

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Post #: 12

Waste of Time! - 2/10/2007 10:34:59 AM

dja_list

Posts: 20
Joined: 2/10/2007

This has to be the worst Halloween yet! The flim is not worth spending your time or money on! Very boring and I am still trying to work out the reason why they made this flim!

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Post #: 13

Shame! - 2/10/2007 11:10:48 AM

losthighway

Posts: 3166
Joined: 25/1/2006
From: Manchesterford

"Pretty much the only good thing about this film. A fucking atrocity."

It's a shame that people are being blinkered by the original's iconic status. Yes it's a good film but it's not that great IMO and I'm certainly not that precious about it, that I'm not willing to try another interpretation of the story. Admittedly the sequels are dire, with the exception of Halloween H20... I would argue this is just as good as H20.

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Post #: 14

RE: Halloween - Highly Recommended! - 2/10/2007 11:36:42 AM

smithee

Posts: 60
Joined: 21/9/2007

quote:

ORIGINAL: losthighway

***SPOILERS!!!***

Went to see it this afternoon and I was very impressed by it. In fact, I'd say it deserves a solid 4* rating. It's not a remake in the strictest sense, but instead opts for taking themes and ideas discussed in the original and elaborating upon them, thereby making a different film for the first 3/4 of the film. The final 1/4 with Laurie doesn't feel like a rehash either and instead Zombie has again taken elements of the original but given them a twist, e.g. instead of Laurie falling over the bannister and hurting herself, there's now a very effective scene where's she ends up falling through the ceiling. I also liked how he wrapped up the film and presented it as a stand-alone story.

Zombie's take on Myers and Halloween in general reminded me a lot of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 'remake', which I also thought was excellent and took us to places the original only mentioned, e.g. the slaughterhouse scenes. I really do recommend people see this film, because apart from Zombie maturing as a director, he's also one of the few remaining horror makers who actually has an interest in old-fashioned horror (check out the cameos from various horror veterans and the old films played on the TV).

This will definately be gracing my DVD collection in the future!

That pretty much says it all, really.

Thought I'd just move my review over here from the other thread....

I watched the work cut of this last night an can safely say it is one of the most unpleasant, inept and pointless films I have ever seen. A massive factor in the original being so effective was the premise that this seemingly normal, middle-class boy snaps for no paticular reason and butchers his whole family (the way it is shot in Carpenter's film, the tracking shot behind the mask until the final, shocking reveal, is a masterstroke). This boy is pure evil, for no rhyme nor reason. Zombie has inexplicably deemed it a better idea to have about half an hour of filthy exposition, totally de-mystifying the character whilst making any gown-up in the audience feel dirty. He has, as one poster succinctly suggested, created a red-kneck's wet dream of a horror film. The opening scenes add nothing at all, they are simply uncomfortable to watch. Not in a good way, either - at no point are you scared, you simply want respite from the banal and course script produced by this utter hack.

In these sort of films I feel it unfair to criticise performances too much, so Malky gets off the hook on this one. Suffice it to say, however, he will not be bothering any judging panels come the spring. My main problem with the film would appear to have been altered in the final cut: Myers' escape. This scene is nothing short of nauseating and makes absolutely no sense - why would these two idiots feel the need to invlove an 8' lunatic in their sickening "entertainment"? Zombie should not only be ashamed of himself on a moral standpoint, but also on any level of basic storytelling.

In summation, I thought The Devil's Rejects was the most infantile, purile trash I was ever likely to see - completely devoid of any flair, wit or talent in every frame - but this toxic waste of celluloid outdoes it everywhere in the awfulness stakes. This film isn't infantile, it's positively embryonic. No one should ever see it.

< Message edited by smithee -- 2/10/2007 11:37:42 AM >

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Post #: 15

disgusting - 2/10/2007 12:01:39 PM

maggot

Posts: 6
Joined: 29/1/2007
From: milton keynes

it is the most horrinle film ever

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Post #: 16

RE: Avoid - 2/10/2007 12:53:15 PM

kenada_woo

Posts: 1669
Joined: 30/9/2005

Saw it saturday and here's my two pence.

I was personally looking forward to this being that I'm a big fan of Rob Zombies previous films. Being that Zombie grew leeps and bounds as a filmmaker from House Of 100 Corpses to The Devils Rejects and that he had a bit of an edge to him that other remake fodder directors dont have, if there was anyone to put faith in remaking a classic horror it was him.

What I got with the film was something hit and miss. A film that had some good ideas but are brushed aside quickly, an able cast, great style, but, minus some brutal gore, chose some bad creative decisions along the way.

Everything opens well - White trash kitchen sink thrown at you setting up likeable and disgusting characters in the space of 5 minutes. This is something I thought Zombie did well throughout the film. From Joe Grizzley (Ken Foree) right down the Sheriff Brackett (Brad Douriff), Zombie has a talant to create instant memorable characters very quickly. This works in the latter half of the film regarding the teens and victims (Laurie etc) who are instantly likeable and well written IMO.

The problem lies in that Zombie doesnt spend anytime with these characters for us to be drawn in with. What Zombie wanted you to be engrossed with is young Michael Myers' lost years. There is interest in these scenes between young Michael and Loomis (Malcom McDowell) but the whole thing is never given enough time you surprisingly want. There's a sense of father/son thread in there but again its never brought out being that Zombie, for some reason, wants to get to the old Michael Myers killing spree quickly.

Here again lies the biggest killer of the film - pacing. The pace of the film 100MPH. The quieter slowly scenes (Young Myers left alone on halloween night) are great, but scene that really should be slower and built up are not, leaving you uninvolved with the whole thing. EG The scene when Myers runs out of the school and beats the bully with a stick. A huge Halloween theme music cue kicks in from out of the blue and really takes you out of the scene that would've worked well as a slow build up. The whole pacing of the film turns the film into a kind of exteneded trailer almost, hitting you with fast cuts, set ups and music without really satifying you as a whole.

Suddenly the whole thrust of the film relys on Myers wanting to get back to see his younger sister. Again, an interesting idea with great moments (killing Lauires foster parents, showing Laurie the picture etc) but being that there isnt really something to build on or brought to our attention that Myers has always wanted to see his younger sister early on, the idea is again wasted.

The introduction of the older sister and her friends again has some great acting and characters but none of which are fleshed out or set up properly for us to engage with. I'm not saying the second half of the film comes out of the blue beacuse it doesnt, but there's no set up for us to become involved with when Myers goes on his rampage, which is a tad disappointing and could've added some tension and scares.

Plus sides though are all aesthetics. It looks great, the deaths are brutal, the soundtrack cool, and tyler Mane as older Myers is probably the best Myers in the entire series.

Overall, it seems like Zombie wanted to throw in everything but the kitchen sink and forgot what made his version of a classic film interesting. Poor pacing and lack of focus kills the film making it a bit of a "meh" overall which is a shame from a fan of the directors previous films.

***/*****

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Post #: 17

RE: Avoid - 2/10/2007 1:02:23 PM

Porrohman

Posts: 627
Joined: 3/10/2005
From: Nottingham

I`ve been thinking about it a lot since saturday and the scene that sticks most in my mind is when Loomis tells myers that he won`t be coming to see him anymore.
The look they share after that is chilling.

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Post #: 18

- 2/10/2007 1:13:54 PM

paul.mccluskey

Posts: 4945
Joined: 15/4/2007
From: Port Glasgow, Scotland, UK

We live in an age where there are no original horror films, minus the introduction of "tourture-porn" gore-fests Saw and Hostel. However, it was with great surprise that Halloween, one of the greatest slasher films of all time which introduced the character of Michael Myers, was to be remade, with Rob Zombie, former frontman of Metal band White Zombie, and director of the bizarre House of 1000 Corpses and its awesome sequel, The Devil's Rejects, behind the camera.

The film isn't a complete disaster, but it is a major disappointment. It is however interesting to see that Zombie tells his own version of John Carpenter's famous story, making the film a prequel and a remake at the same time, as he focuses on the reasons why Michael evolved into a murderous madman (bullied at school, has a pole-dancer for a mother and an abusive drunk as a stepfather), which, although brilliantly done, is a complete waste of time.

When we reach the third act, which follows Michael as he stalks the streets of Haddonfield, the plot suddenly becomes rushed. Zombie instantly throws in Laurie Strode and her friends Lynda and Annie, who have no character development, and only exist to get slaughtered.

Malcolm McDowell, who gives a decent performance as Dr. Loomis, is given very little to do, except look very determined, and delivers no lines that made the late, great Donald Pleasence legendary. He is not alone, as Brad Dourif appears briefly as Sheriff Brackett, and both versatile actors share no chemistry together. Other actors from famous B-movies such as Udo Kier and Sid Haig pop up in blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos when they could have had more expanded roles. It feels as though they are just there to fill up the screentime.

Rob Zombie does ensure that the confrontation between Michael and Laurie remains tense and exciting, and delivers some genuine shocks, but the end result is a bore, and leaves you feeling let down. A worthy attempt which shows promise but falls apart before the film is even over.

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Post #: 19

Michael McDowell, Empire? - 2/10/2007 1:33:09 PM

the ageless stranger

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Haven't seen the film, have no intention to, but does it really star a former Irish TD and Minister for Justice?

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Post #: 20

RE: Michael McDowell, Empire? - 2/10/2007 2:02:42 PM

nicholsonsmhead

Posts: 1458
Joined: 4/5/2006
From: Fiddler's Green

Maybe with McDowell sporting the grey hair and beard, Kim Newman has mistaken him for Michael MacDonald. It's an easy mistake to make. I sat through most of it thinking 'I just know he's going to burst into 'Yamo Be There' any second. However much to my disappointment, blah, blah, blah....

As for the film. The first half was great, really solid build-up and a patience absent from most horror these days, especially remakes. The little kid playing Myers was class, Ken Foree and Sid Haig's cameos were as foul-mouthedly cool as ever and the thing kept going at a nice pace, with none of that flashy MTV editing and death metal drowning out the scenes. It might not have been as visually and stylistically interesting as 'Rejects' but Zombie has come a long way from the flashy over-editing (probably budget-enforced) of 'Corpses'.

However, the end was just too long, at least 10 minutes over, but the bleak Texas Chainsaw Massacre-type hysterical heroine ending lent it a really grim reality and a sense of hopelessness that elevated it above so much remake shit these days.

< Message edited by nicholsonsmhead -- 2/10/2007 2:11:17 PM >

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Post #: 21

RE: Michael McDowell, Empire? - 2/10/2007 2:26:00 PM

Helen OHara

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Doh! My bad - I corrected that on the copy for the magazine but forgot to double-check that I'd corrected it for the website. It should now show the correct name.

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Post #: 22

RE: Michael McDowell, Empire? - 2/10/2007 3:17:34 PM

the ageless stranger

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Helen OHara

Doh! My bad - I corrected that on the copy for the magazine but forgot to double-check that I'd corrected it for the website. It should now show the correct name.

Not yet, but where's the fun in being correct all the time? If this film did indeed star our most demented lawmaker, I'd probably go and see it......

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Post #: 23

RE: Michael McDowell, Empire? - 2/10/2007 4:57:10 PM

Joe

Posts: 2548
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Cork, Ireland

There already was a film about McDowell

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Post #: 24

Rob's Halloween - 2/10/2007 6:38:41 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6560
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

Well i watched Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN last night,and it's actually pretty good,3/5 a lot more violent than John Carpenter's classic.But not as Gorey as i'd expected from Rob,he seems to be moving in a new direction,more story less gore.Making Micheal more human is my only sore point with his version,as this makes our favorite killer less chilling.Overall well directed and acted,and i'm glad he didn't go for a shot for shot remake,not that there isn't a lot of nod's at the original and best.John's version is still a 5/5 classic and this is a decent remake that is better than some of the poor sequels.As remake's go it's not anywhere near as good as The Hill's Have Eyes or Dawn Of The Dead remakes,but for having the gut's to take on a Classic like Halloween,i tip my hat to Rob.His version is different enough as to be judged on it's own,and not compared to the true Classic that is John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN.

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Post #: 25

Rob's Halloween - 2/10/2007 6:38:41 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6560
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From: mordor/ uk

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Post #: 26

Crap-oween - 3/10/2007 11:41:44 AM

flumpman

Posts: 6
Joined: 7/10/2005

Halloween by John Carpenter from 1978 = one of the best movies ever made and probably the best horror movie ever made

Halloween by Rob Zombie from 2007 = big pile of skanky trash with pathetic character portrayals, a stupid back story and is just the most random piece of shit i have ever seen - given a choice between watching this or poking my eyes out with a rusty fork i would choose the latter!

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Post #: 27

New Horror Masterpiece - 4/10/2007 10:35:37 AM

therev

Posts: 4
Joined: 4/10/2007
From: Marden, Kent

I'm really baffled by the reception to Rob Zombie's Halloween and I feel the need to redress the balance somewhat. It's been sneaked out in the UK with no notice (a week and a half before it was eventually released it still didn't have a confirmed release date that I could find), minimal publicity and no reviews. It's got an exceptionally poor rating of 25% on rottentomatoes.com and as I type the IMDb score is a reasonably-okay-but-not-great 6.1.

The reason I'm baffled is that it's clearly a nine out of ten movie. (And it's not that I can see any reason to mark it down from a ten, a nine just feels better.) The only way I can see people not liking the movie is if they were never going to like the movie.

Okay, if you don't like boobies and/or blood, then you won't like the movie. But then your criticisms are of horror movies, not of this movie.

If you don't think movies should ever be remade then, well, maybe this will change your mind. The remake of The Wicker Man wasn't a bad movie because it was a remake of a classic movie, it was because it was a quite incredibly awful remake of a classic movie.

I'm sure I'll be pulled over by the movie thought police for saying this, but the original Halloween, though incredibly influential and important, isn't without its problems. The main one being that, despite it's reputation as a lean, taut masterpiece, it drags. Zombie's version never does. He's made the story from the original movie the second half of his version and filled the first half with more back story for lil' Michael and family. It's a decision that works well. Michael Myers was never a character whose mystique came from his history. We knew a lot about him in the original movie and now we know more. As well as being interesting in its own right, this allows the second half of the movie to move along at a cracking pace. It's not all super-fast quick cuts, though. Rob Zombie is a talented director, who's as adept at using stillness and easy listening as fast motion and loud rock.

It's interesting, it's tense, it's scary and it walks the fine line between horror and comedy that Zombie seems to have chosen as his own particular path. A lot of people seem to have missed that in quite spectacular fashion. You may be able to get through without laughing out loud if you're particularly stone-faced, but I don't see how you'd get through without cracking a smile. It does, I'll admit, settle down on the horror side of the divide for the majority of the second half, but until then it's one funny film and isn't without amusing moments even near the end.

In a sense, I feel that Zombie's movies are for healthy people. They may sound odd to some, filled as they are with guts, screaming and death, but my theory is that you need to have a well-balanced mind to be able to appreciate all the dark shades he uses. The comedy in his movies is often very, very black, but it should be easily discernible if you're open to it. Halloween is on another level to his earlier movies, though, I think. He seems to have toned down the scatter-shot approach of House of a Thousand Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Enjoyable as they both were, they didn't hang together nearly as well as this movie.

And to top everything off Halloween's sprinkled with appearances by Zombie regulars, Brad Dourif and the mighty Malcolm McDowell in a big, crunchy role.

As I said earlier, if you don't like modern horror then, no, you probably won't like this, but Halloween is on another level other recent remakes, like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes, and there's more story and life to it than the likes of Saw and other gorno features.

It's the masterpiece of the current wave of post-post-modern, seventies-influenced horror movies, it's actually better than Carpenter's original and it sure as hell deserves far better than it's got.

< Message edited by therev -- 4/10/2007 10:44:21 AM >

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Post #: 28

Awful - 4/10/2007 12:52:14 PM

Davechoc

Posts: 75
Joined: 18/4/2006

What an unutterably terrible film. I haven't seen the original, though I can't imagine it would put this in a better light, even if it fills in some 'origin' scenes. It just goes on and on and on, Myers as a kid killing his family, then killing a nurse, then breaking out, killing lots of cops, then killing a few nubile young ladies, etc. etc. All the time nothing really actually happens, it's just dull and plodding, with terrible acting, lots of gratuitous tits (not that I've anything against gratuitous nudity, and I realise it has a hallowed place in a certain sort of horror, but why not have a nice man's bottom every so often too hmmm?) and awful lines: 'Was it the boogeyman?'. There are no shocks or genuinely scary moments, and seemingly no attempt to built up any suspense. Couple this with Malcolm MacDowell hamming it up as a psychologist and extraordinarily inept cops and you have one of the worst films I've seen so far this year. Perhaps not as bad as The Wicker Man remake but that was at least almost laughably bad: this is just shit.

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Post #: 29

RE: Awful - 4/10/2007 1:17:03 PM

MartinBlank76

Posts: 1303
Joined: 7/10/2005

i wasted an hour and a half (or thereabouts) of my life watching this rubbish so i am going to keep this short and sweet as i have no intention of wasting anymore of my life on it. Terrible in all ways it could be. I love horror films and I love the original and at the same time i have nothing against remakes of classics as long as they are done well (dawn of the dead for example) but this was just pure trash, not remotely scary and it wasnt as gory as i thought it would be to make up for the lack of scares. The script was just plain dumb...

SPOILER(highlight or lowlight would be the nurse stabbing scene, yes lets give the psycho kid metal cutlery to eat his dinner with and make sure you turn your back on him after you insult him. Oh and the breakout scene. Oh and the...I could go on and on)

...and the direction was the most inept I've seen in a long time. Now, wheres the 'no stars' option?!!

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I'm just a fella. I think beer should be cold and boots should be dusty. I think 911 was bad. And freedom? Well, I think thats just a little bit better.

(in reply to Davechoc)

Post #: 30