Halloween '07
Review by Peter Syslo

I’ll begin by saying that I liked parts of Halloween (2007) – I didn’t love the movie, but I didn’t think that it was totally bad either. I actually think of this film as two separate, smaller films because that is the way it actually felt to me - and I am going to speak about it that way. Now, I am not going to be bashing Rob Zombie and I am not going to address his whole attitude regarding the movie – I could care less about that. However, I am going to be very detailed about my opinion of it, because the original is my favorite horror movie of all time - maybe even my favorite movie, overall.

First off, I’m going to speak about the first half, or the “young Myers” section. I actually liked this portion and I felt that it was worth the price of admission. Yeah, it changes the back story of Myers, a bit, but I actually liked what Zombie did with it. I think that Zombie does extremely well with the “dysfunctional family” type of material (as in The Devil’s Rejects and House of 1000 Corpses) and he really gave you an idea of the various elements that brought out the violence in young Michael. I think that it was an interesting twist on the legendary story and the true essence of the original movie was almost present here. Also, the best acting, in the overall film, was in this section: Daeg Faerch as young Michael was great – this kid is genuinely scary and I think that he really brought forth that “inner torme nt” that Myers has always seemed to possess. Sheri Moon Zombie was also excellent (perhaps the best in the film), as Deborah Myers – Michael’s mother; you really got the sense that she loved Michael, even though he was a ruthless murderer. William Forsythe was also great, as Ronnie White - Michael’s abusive stepfather; he played this deadbeat so well that you were glad to see him killed. The other actors in this portion of the film were also good, but the above mentioned were the definite standouts. Actually, I thought that Malcolm McDowell’s performance in the “young Myers” section was better than in the second half of the film. He played Dr. Loomis and he did a fine job (considering the shoes he had to fill), bringing forth a true (or you think true) sense of caring for Michael.

I also thought that the “young Myers” section contained the most scares – honestly, the second half of the film was not scary. First off, you have young Michael’s obsession with masks, propensity for animal torture, and uncontrollable rage that motivated him to kill – I think that Faerch pulled off all of this and made it reasonably scary. The violence that he brought forth was sort of “jarring” – when he killed the bully in the park, he was just brutally slamming away at him until he was dead and then he coldly “admired” his work, like the original Myers; I think that Faerch really nailed a lot of the Myers mannerisms. But, the “Halloween night” killings were really something to see - Faerch played a patient, psychotic, sadistic young Myers and his killing style is what I had wished to s ee more of in the second half of the movie. Actually, the scariest scene, with the Myers mask, was when he killed Judith – she stumbles down the hallway and he is pursuing her with this large, ill-fitting Myers mask on – I thought that it was the most chilling use of Myers persona. Actually, the kills in this section were all pretty violent and bloody – I saw some people leaving with their kids after the bully killing and rightly so – it is not a movie for young kids!

After young Myers is incarcerated, in the psychiatric hospital, there are some nice exchanges between Faerch, MacDowell, and Moon Zombie – the tension was upheld and you have the true beginnings of Michael’s silence and psychotic behavior. The “young Myers” section ends with adult Myers (Tyler Mane) continuing to work on his masks in the psychiatric hospital, and this is where things change – and go “south”, as far as I’m concerned.

The “adult Myers” section begins as he escapes during a late-night transfer and this is where the film just started to fall apart, for me. This half of the movie really didn’t seem to solidify - I thought that it was okay, but the killing and pursuing got old very quickly and it started to lose me. This section was pretty much a different play on certain shots and elements from the original, but I just think that it didn’t work that well. I liked some new elements such as Tyler Mane – I thought that his size made him a really intimidating Myers and you could feel the raw power of his hyper-violent behavior. I also liked the look of the new mask – it was nicely crafted although it’s a shame that it wasn’t put to scarier use (the scene where the 3 girls are walking along and see him – they just show Myers’ left hand from behind –what was that?!?). I also liked some new material such as Myers walking right into the Strode house and killing Mr. and Mrs. Strode – that was a neat twist. However, I thought that this whole section lacked something – the action was a little tedious, kind of like the action in the later sequels (like in part 5 or part 7 and 8) and I didn’t think that it “came together” to form a suspenseful climax. That’s it exactly – I thought that it lacked the suspense and element of surprise that made the original and a few of the sequels great. Again, I liked Mane as Myers, and I thought that he did capture some of the Myers mannerisms, but the patience and stalking were sort of lost in this section – and that is Myers’ modus operandi – quite frankly, that is why I watch these movies, for Michael Myers! Young Myers had those elements, but it seemed that adult Myers just totally lost control and killed everything in his path, which is not true to the Myers character – he stalks and selects his vict ims, he toys with them – he doesn’t just burst through walls and doors and throw people around!

I’ll briefly mention the other things about the “adult Myers” section that I questioned. I really didn’t like much of the acting in this section, except for a few good cameos by Sid Haig and Ken Foree. Another thing that I didn’t like was that this movie was billed with an ensemble cast – as almost a “who’s who” of horror movies. But then, Udo Kier was only in it for about 2 seconds, as were Bill Moseley and Lew Temple – it kind of reminded me of the way that Kenner used to come out with Star Wars figures that were only in the movie for a split second – this was the same feeling, like I was being “sold” on the idea by slick marketing. Also, Scout Taylor-Compton (Laurie) and basically all of the teens actors in this section were forgettable; with the exception being Danielle Harris – and not because of the 15 minute topless scene, guys (c’mon we watched her grow up, it’s a little weird – Zombie must have promised her fame and fortune to get her to agree to that). Even though I didn’t like the Annie role in this film, she seemed the most comfortable with the material and was the most likeable of these actors (in general, it’s the pure banality of dialogue and just pure stupidity of the characters – didn’t Linda notice that Bob was a foot taller when he came back, with the sheet on? – give me a break!).

It just seemed that everybody in the second half were just rehearsing their lines (it was like a high school/college production); with few exceptions, nobody seemed really convincing or invested in it (Dourif really seemed “out of it” – his daughter Annie was killed and he seemed so matter-of-fact about it). Even MacDowell seemed like he had “checked out” of the movie, at this point (some of the “catch” lines of Loomis just sounded “forced”). Another thing, I felt that Carpenter’s music was misused in this section – it really was not necessary, it was out of place, and it wasn’t effective for building tension – I actually liked more of the minimalist noises that Zombie used, like a kind of low “howl” when Myers appeared. If Carpenter’s score was reserved for one key moment, maybe it would have been more effective (it’s such a shame - Carpenter’s music is one of my favorite scores).

To make a long story short (believe me I could go on and on), I think that Halloween (2007) rates between parts 4 and 5 – mainly because of the first half (I thought that portion was good). I think that Zombie made a worthy effort, with the first half, and let’s face it - it was a Herculean task, like asking someone to remake the original Star Wars. But in the end, I think that he is most comfortable with his own material; I really do enjoy his movies, but the second half just needed more – it really wasn’t that good. The overall movie turned out to be better than I thought it would be, but it still could’ve and should’ve, been better. As for all of the hype and fanfare – it was “much ado about nothing” – and that’s all I have to say.