Scan and Pan
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Halloween
After ten tear old Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) kills most of his family on Halloween, he's institutionalized under the care of Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). Fifteen years later, the adult Michael (Tyler Mane) escapes and returns to his hometown on another Halloween to find his only surviving relative, his now teenaged sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton).
Writer/director Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) doesn't simply take the original film written by Carpenter and Debra Hill and remake it, he expands on it while undeniably making his own film (which was exactly what Carpenter advised him to do after Zombie sought his blessing). It's full of his characteristic dark humor and colorful dialogue, but it also takes the central figure of Michael Myers and provides him with a stronger backstory that makes him seem more frightening than ever. Zombie imbues his version with a manic intensity that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Some have raised the question of whether a remake was necessary. Well, this isn't a pointless remake like Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho or an inferior piece of work like so many other remakes. It stands alongside the original Halloween as an equal. If there can be numerous reinterpretations of Hamlet, is it any less legitimate to reinterpret Halloween? I would argue that a remake should be judged on its own merits and not condemned simply for being a remake.
This is Zombie's first feature film to be shot with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (the same as the old CinemaScope or Panavision processes), which is also how the original was filmed, yet his framing feels as tight and in-your-face as in his previous efforts. Cinematographer Phil Parmet (The Devil's Rejects) creates a textured visual look with low-key, harder lighting sources, while also subtly distinguishing between the different time periods of the story. Tyler Bates (The Devil's Rejects) contributes an archetypal horror score, and finds several ways to fit Carpenter's famous theme from the original film into it. Zombie also serves as music supervisor, and the on-screen mayhem is set to a soundtrack which includes KISS, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, Peter Frampton, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, and most appropriately, the Misfits (with the Danzig era song, "Halloween II").
The role of Michael Myers isn't one that requires a great actor inside the mask. Like David Prowse as Darth Vader, it requires a menacing physical presence, and the six-foot-eight former wrestler Mane provides exactly that. Faerch is truly disturbing as a child psychopath on the rampage, and that also bleeds through to how one perceives Michael as an adult. McDowell's steady acting aptly portrays Loomis as a lonely man whose closest human relationship over the years may just be with a monster while also using that relationship to become a successful author. Taylor-Compton is likable as Laurie and believably transitions to terrified prey later in the film.
Zombie fills the screen with familiar faces in smaller roles, including Sheri Moon Zombie as Michael's mother, William Forsythe as her abusive boyfriend, Sid Haig as a cemetery caretaker, Sybil Danning as a nurse, Udo Kier as the head of the asylum, Brad Dourif as the sheriff, Dee Wallace-Stone as Laurie's adoptive mother, Clint Howard as a doctor at the asylum, Ken Foree as a truck driver, Bill Moseley as a security guard, and Danny Trejo as another guard who tries to befriend Michael.
The reimagined Halloween takes the tired slasher genre and reinvigorates it. Rob Zombie is a craftsman who brings his own unique vision of horror to the story of Michael Myers, and it's easily the best American horror film I've seen since Zombie's 2005 endeavor, The Devil's Rejects. This is a must-see for all horror fans.
[4.5 out of 5 stars]
It's not often that one can say that a remake is not only good in its own right, but also strikingly successful. This reimagining of director John Carpenter's 1978 horror classic is one of those rare times where it's true.
After ten tear old Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) kills most of his family on Halloween, he's institutionalized under the care of Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). Fifteen years later, the adult Michael (Tyler Mane) escapes and returns to his hometown on another Halloween to find his only surviving relative, his now teenaged sister Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton).
Writer/director Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects) doesn't simply take the original film written by Carpenter and Debra Hill and remake it, he expands on it while undeniably making his own film (which was exactly what Carpenter advised him to do after Zombie sought his blessing). It's full of his characteristic dark humor and colorful dialogue, but it also takes the central figure of Michael Myers and provides him with a stronger backstory that makes him seem more frightening than ever. Zombie imbues his version with a manic intensity that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
Some have raised the question of whether a remake was necessary. Well, this isn't a pointless remake like Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho or an inferior piece of work like so many other remakes. It stands alongside the original Halloween as an equal. If there can be numerous reinterpretations of Hamlet, is it any less legitimate to reinterpret Halloween? I would argue that a remake should be judged on its own merits and not condemned simply for being a remake.
This is Zombie's first feature film to be shot with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (the same as the old CinemaScope or Panavision processes), which is also how the original was filmed, yet his framing feels as tight and in-your-face as in his previous efforts. Cinematographer Phil Parmet (The Devil's Rejects) creates a textured visual look with low-key, harder lighting sources, while also subtly distinguishing between the different time periods of the story. Tyler Bates (The Devil's Rejects) contributes an archetypal horror score, and finds several ways to fit Carpenter's famous theme from the original film into it. Zombie also serves as music supervisor, and the on-screen mayhem is set to a soundtrack which includes KISS, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, Peter Frampton, Bachman Turner Overdrive, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, and most appropriately, the Misfits (with the Danzig era song, "Halloween II").
The role of Michael Myers isn't one that requires a great actor inside the mask. Like David Prowse as Darth Vader, it requires a menacing physical presence, and the six-foot-eight former wrestler Mane provides exactly that. Faerch is truly disturbing as a child psychopath on the rampage, and that also bleeds through to how one perceives Michael as an adult. McDowell's steady acting aptly portrays Loomis as a lonely man whose closest human relationship over the years may just be with a monster while also using that relationship to become a successful author. Taylor-Compton is likable as Laurie and believably transitions to terrified prey later in the film.
Zombie fills the screen with familiar faces in smaller roles, including Sheri Moon Zombie as Michael's mother, William Forsythe as her abusive boyfriend, Sid Haig as a cemetery caretaker, Sybil Danning as a nurse, Udo Kier as the head of the asylum, Brad Dourif as the sheriff, Dee Wallace-Stone as Laurie's adoptive mother, Clint Howard as a doctor at the asylum, Ken Foree as a truck driver, Bill Moseley as a security guard, and Danny Trejo as another guard who tries to befriend Michael.
The reimagined Halloween takes the tired slasher genre and reinvigorates it. Rob Zombie is a craftsman who brings his own unique vision of horror to the story of Michael Myers, and it's easily the best American horror film I've seen since Zombie's 2005 endeavor, The Devil's Rejects. This is a must-see for all horror fans.
[4.5 out of 5 stars]
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