Rob Zombies Halloween 2... :(

[tay666]

Well here's my opinion. I like horror films but I will tell you this - I nearly got up and walked out of Zombie's remake of Halloween. That remake is the very antithesis of what the original was about (and why it worked).

I will agree it was something of an antithesis of the original.
Which I think is one of the reasons I enjoyed it.

I also agree with your opinions and points as to why the original worked so well.

But once it was done (the original) there was no way to top that.
It worked because it was shocking, surprising, and totally unexpected. But now we have seen it and the surprise is gone.
Amping things up wouldn't improve on the original. All the sequels that followed proved that.
I like the fact that Zombie went a different way with it.
A different perspective. Almost putting us into Micheal's head.

[MIB41]

I certainly understand where your coming from and sometimes being different can be better, if for no reason other than to give a familiar theme a different slant. I can appreciate that. My problem here is the rationale for the violence. With the original Myers (even in the sequels) the "kills" have always taken more of a back seat to the mystery of Myer's himself. And often times the violence you see borders on being comic-bookish in terms of believability. So there's never an issue watching these films and seeing the underlying intent which truly is to make girls scream while the males exclaim "Cool!" Discounting the original and to some degree H2 (a selfish preference I share with Vortigern99) the other films are really just formulated horror/date flicks with just enough story to keep nerds like us saying, "Hey, there's kind of a story here too." Don't ask me to find continuity because the writers didn't believe that was an expectation for the ticket buyer.

Zombie's remake of Halloween really treads on significantly darker material that a traditional Halloween audience (full of kids, young adults, and those young at heart like myself) would not find appropriate. Myers is a fantasy figure and not one in need of a true pyschological study (because what he does is ultimately unreal). So the idea of trying to ground him in domestic violence and issues that DO happen to kids in real life are, in my opinion, wreckless. You lose sight of the character and the violence becomes the study (a terrible message for the core audience it attracts). This is where the film loses it's artistic license and starts exploiting violence for it's own sake which, for me, is not a reason to go see a film. Acts of rape, child abuse, and even things I won't repeat on this forum are not matters to be taken lightly and certainly not ones that should be woven into the mythos of a popular hollywood monster. Zombie didn't give due consideration to the character, his history, and certainly not the audience it has attracted for decades. So in this case, different does not qualify as better.

[Galen]

I saw the remake of Halloween for my 11th birthday....When the swearfest started my Dad turned to be and said,"If this is like this any longer, we're leaving" But it kept going the whole movie, it was uncalled for...I loved Danielle Harris in H4 and H5, but I feel she is just a tool in this movie, Malcom Mcdowell was a terrible choice for Dr.Loomis, he brought no suspense to the Myers character, which is what made the original so successful..."I met him 15 years ago, I was told there was nothing left...No reason...No concious...No understanding...Not even the most rudamentery sense of life or death....Good or evil...Right or wrong....I met this....6 year old child with this....Blank, pale emotionless face and...The blackest eyes...The Devils' eyes....I spent...8 years trying to reach him....And then another 7 trying to keep him locked up because I realized that what was living behind that boys eyes was purely and simply....Evil"


That gave me the creeps, everytime I see it...It sets the mood for the whole film...Rob Zombie did a terrible job at writing the film...His vision was horrible...But the Friday the 13 Remake was good...If only Rob Zombie can make Halloween 2, like the Friday the 13 remake...

[LadyZod]

My issue, besides the fact that everything in every Rob Zombie movies LOOKS dirty (I mean, really, after watching one of his films I feel like I need to take a shower) is the fact that I honestly didn't give a crap about his Laurie.

Seriously, how good is a thriller if the "heroic" lead is someone who you don't care about. I was honestly hoping she'd die and was disappointed when she didn't.

The original Laurie (the original scream queen, Curtis) was a good kid. She was a good student, inspired respect from her charges babysitting, and was a kid her parents could trust to borrow the car. And even if she does something wrong, it's ok, cause deep down she seems like she's a good kid. She was better than her friends. That's why she lives.

Zombie's Laurie (a run of the mill actress who's name I forgot the moment I learned it) is cruel. She's conniving. There's no good kid in her, she's just a brat. She's no better than her useless friends who become fodder for Michael. She deserved the same fate as her friends, and we as the audience were cheated out of it.

Plus, I swear she looks like she could use a 3 wk shower.

Everyone in the movie looks like they could use a 3 wk shower. It looks hot and sweaty and dirty.

Saw-like grime does not equal scary. It equals smell.

[unataper]

What a waste of celluoid!!

[MIB41]

I also wanted to add that the language borders on making the film X-rated. A reflection on it's director and his inability to stretch his characters beyond stereotype performances. It's truly crude and never let's up. The first 15 minutes makes Pulp Fiction read like a Walt Disney film and I LOVE Pulp Fiction. So if your curling my hair with dialogue your accomplishing something. Essentially Zombie just wanted to shock the viewer with his crudeness from every conceivable angle. And I don't endorse that as an artistic stroke so much as the limitations of an overrated director.

[weshightower21]

I do like the scene where michael flips the car over. I't reminds me of the 1st episode of the hulk when he does the same thing after having trouble with the lug nuts.

[YoungOnce]

I also wanted to add that the language borders on making the film X-rated. A reflection on it's director and his inability to stretch his characters beyond stereotype performances. It's truly crude and never let's up. The first 15 minutes makes Pulp Fiction read like a Walt Disney film and I LOVE Pulp Fiction. So if your curling my hair with dialogue your accomplishing something. Essentially Zombie just wanted to shock the viewer with his crudeness from every conceivable angle. And I don't endorse that as an artistic stroke so much as the limitations of an overrated director.

Agreed. RZ's Halloween is no different than all these recent horror-movie-of-the-week clones that pop up full of every excess they can dream up to shock the audience. Saw it. He had nothing to offer that a kid in high school couldn't have dreamed up in study hall.

Forgettable, but not any different than the Saw movies and the like. Just give me something scary with a story and save the torture porn. Not my cup of tea.