Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We arrived at the theater early to get good seats. Rob Zombie's new rendition of the classic "Halloween" had been hyped for weeks on the Internet, television, and in magazines so it was all we could think about. My wife and I (being devoted fans of the 1978 classic) wanted to be first in line to see just how close the publicity was to the actual delivery. Is "re-imaging" the perfect modern horror film a good idea? We had mixed feelings on that but nonetheless remained unbiased and anxious to see what Rob Zombie had in store for us. Sure, his past films didn't exactly amount to anything worthwhile but maybe he worked that out of his system, and this was Halloween. He at least had a good storyline to draw from. We sat discussing the many avenues the film could take, watching the small group of other moviegoers take their seat for the matinee showing. The glow from the projection booth kicked on, the crowd fell silent, the lights dimmed. Expecting something intriguing for the opening credits and remembering how stylistic John Carpenter had been with his slow tracking shot of the flickering jack-o`-lantern with credits rolling to the right, I couldn't wait to see how this new remake started. Excitement quickly gave way to disappointment. The film simply kicks off with a simple shot of the Myers house being thrown in the audience face complete with the onset of Rob Zombie's blaring, classic rock soundtrack. I couldn't help but sigh out loud with a sense of pessimistic foreshadowing ...would this opening scene set the pace for the rest of the film? I sincerely hoped not. Next, and in typical Rob Zombie fashion, we are introduced to the loud, obnoxious, vulgar, screaming, white-trash characters in the film. It was about this point I abandoned all hope of this even coming close to the original and realized this was going to be just another typical Rob Zombie shoutfest, complete with excessive gore, shock value gimmicks, unsteady camera movements, endless close-ups and stereotypical characters including another shameless plug for his wife. The only difference is this time he had the Halloween name to deceive and lure an audience with. Lacking any subtle sickness of the original film the movie chugs along as scattered as a shotgun blast. Rob Zombie attempts to add some backstory to the Michael Myers character but in doing so eliminates any mystery surrounding his presence, making him just another knife-wielding killer who pops up to slash and kill...slash and kill...slash and kill... Even the veteran actor Malcolm McDowell, in his role of Dr. Loomis, can't save this run-of-the-mill Zombie zero. The character who was so powerfully played by Donald Pleasance in 1978 is now lacking in recklessness determination and intensity. He is reduced to a soft spoken, school psychiatrist who actually befriends Michael as a child and then just gets lost in the mix as another faceless character/victim. Although this movie doesn't follow the same predictable suit as its countless sequels, it seems Mr. Zombie is almost incapable of creating suspense. Genuinely frightening moments are substituted for unnecessary (and comedic) amounts of carnage, blood, and gore. The movie feels rushed, paying no attention to mood or atmosphere. The camera continues to erratically bounce around as Michael Myers keeps popping up so fast I lost track of certain scene settings. Asking myself, "Wait...what house are we in now...wasn't he just down the street two seconds ago?" Characters continue to talk but speak their lines on top of each other and with such speed I actually started laughing at one point. As the film concluded and the credits began to roll people began to exit the theatre. I couldn't help but notice the looks of disappointment on the audience faces as they were leaving. In a nation of full of trendy PG-13 rated horror films I can respect what Rob Zombie is doing to make a no-I-won't-tone-it-down statement but his in-your-face style of directing doesn't (to say the least) transfer over to this genre very well. It seems he is just more interested in getting a reaction out of people then creating a good film, which is very sad considering the potential this project had. Bottom line: If you are a fan of the original "Halloween" you will be insulted by this remake. Rob Zombie's self-important vision of a classic might play well with today's younger and more gullible teenage audience but for longtime Halloween addicts (and everyone else for that matter) this film is sure to disappoint.