First of all let me say that I am an idiot for having just realized that Malcolm McDowell was the dude who played Alex in A Clockwork Orange. 22 years on this earth and only tonight did I make that connection.

There were some cool "horror" cameos in this flick. Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man) plays the mayor of Haddonfield. Ken Foree (black dude from the original Dawn Of The Dead) plays some trucker who gets murdered by Michael when he's an adult.

Let me say that the first time I saw the "Rob Zombie cast" I thought it was cool. But he should stop making films if he's only going to cast Sheri Moon Zombie, Danny Trejo and William Forsythe. It was a little annoying seeing all of them in this film. I was waiting for Sid Haig and Bill Mosley to show up.

PROS

- Sheri Moon Zombie did an awesome job as Michael's mother. Very compassionate.
- the in-depth look at Michael's youth was pretty cool. Zombie almost justifies why he became the psychopath that he did.
- The shooting of the film was very similar stylistically to the way Moustappha Akkad made it.
- the usage of the original Halloween score was great. Placed in perfect sequences.

CONS

- I couldn't tell if when Michael was an adult if it was supposed to be set in modern time.
- Malcolm Macdonald couldn't hold a candle to Donald Pleasance as Dr.Loomis. One part of the film that pissed me off was when they found out adult Michael escaped, Loomis gets a call on his cell phone! I thought Zombie was going to base the film in the 70s. It looked like only Michael's childhood was in the 70s.
- If you've never seen the original movie, you'd be kind of lost towards the end. Laurie Strode has no idea in this film that Michael is her brother. There's no lead-up information (dialogue from Loomis) which explains to the audience as to why Michael is going after his baby sister.
- The last 45 minutes of the movie seemed so damn rushed. It was like "BOOM! Here's your ending!".

Does it do the original justice? IMO...no. I appreciate all the extras into Michael's younger life, but it wasn't worthy of an entire remake of the original.

I know I've already forgotten some. But I'll try and jog the memory to remember more and post in the morning.

hmm, i got to see this friday.. but in the original, she didn't know either...i thought they were gonna explain how michael was hearing voices in this one(as was explained in part 6)... can't wait to peep...

Why wasn't this movie released in October?

They should've opened it on Christmas Day. Because it love it when holiday-titled movies open on different holidays.

Strangely enough, though, I hate irony.

They thought that the next installment of "Saw" would hurt it's revenue (Saw has performed strong every October for the last three years).

Really? I could've sworn in the original she at least knew it was "Michael". Laurie Strode in this one just refers to him as the Boogieman. I'll have to re-watch the original now.

She didn't know anything about him being Michael Myers or her brother until Halloween II. The only people who know he's Michael Myers are Loomis, the nurse and the authorities.

The only time she referred to him as the bogeyman was at the end when Loomis shot him, and Laurie said something like "that really was the bogeyman, wasn't it?"

Ok well....just so you know becuase you hinted on it twic

The whole plot involving laurie being michaels sister dosent show up untill the second movie....this was revealed in the first movie either

Laurie still didn't even know by the end of part II!

And Loomis didn't even know about Michael and Laurie being siblings until towards the end of the second movie after Marian Chambers (the nurse) in the back of the cop car told him. Remember she was telling him about the "hidden file" that had all that information that Loomis had never been privy to. It was only after finding this out that he demanded the Sheriff turn the car around to go back to the hospital where the final confrontation happened.

"It's time, Michael." KABOOM!

I'm going to my friend's theater again tonight to see if he can sneak me in for another screening. I need to pass appropriate judgement on this movie. I like Zombie's style of directing. I might have not liked it yesterday because I was extremely pissed off due to registering for classes.

Tonight I'll have a clear head

Also, he chose some great music in this film...

bunch of 70's & 80's music (things that fit in like Don't Fear The Reaper)

Are you saying that Zombie used "Don't Fear The Reaper" in his movie just like from the original or that he used old 70's music like Carpenter did that was comparable to the original's use of BOC's Don't Fear The Reaper?

If Zombie used that song in his movie too, he loses cool points for not being a little more original. I'll wait to pass judgement until I get a chance to see the movie next week (after the weekend's crowd gets their fill) but it's going to be hard to go in without having my doubts. The original is too near and dear to me.

It's during the sex scene, where the boyfriend runs out to the car to get beers. I don't remember where Carpenter used it (again, I have to watch the original since it's been forever).

The song was on the car radio when Laurie and Annie are driving in the station wagon through town and smoking a joint before they run into Nancy's dad (Sheriff Brackett) in front of the store where Michael has broken in and stolen the rope and mask.

Totally forgot about the weed in the car scene, as it's not in this one

edit: I'm telling ya Glad, the second half of the movie seems rushed like crazy.

If it's better than Halloween II - VIII, then I'll be pleased.

Part 2, while not anywhere near as good as the first Halloween, I thought did a good job of keeping with the spirit from the first movie and is a good extension of the first one as far as sequels go.

Part III, which gets a lot of flack and understandably so from Myers' fans since it had nothing to do with him, if watched on its own merit, isn't a bad little horror movie when you get right down to it. I happen to like it when I don't think of it in terms of the Michael Myers franchise and look at it as a singular movie.

The other parts (4 thru 8,) at least for me, are utter crapolla.

I gotta Truewest this 100%. I've loved Part 3 since the first time I saw it. While having nothing to do with Myers, I thought it was a decent story.

I love those types of horrors where it revolves a small, warped town (just like I love the original Children of the Corn). Something about them spooks me the fuck out. Makes me feel like if I'm ever lost in a small town I'd better keep driving.

Which one was the one where he was like a wire-fu Ninja, pulling off crazy kung-fu moves and wild Ginsu work with his machete?

Oh shit, that's Jason I'm thinking of.

Nevermind!

Part 3 was bad. It was shot well, and had a somewhat interesting idea that was poorly executed. But it's unintentionally funny often enough to make it worth rewatching.

I think a lot to do with the reason I like it is because it was the only one (other than the original Halloween, of course) that did what Carpenter had intended to do with the whole Halloween franchise, which was to make an annual Halloween themed movie that was in and of itself, wholely singular and would have nothing to do with the other movies other than the fact that it revolved around the actual Halloween holiday itself. I think this really would have been a cool idea (for as long as they could keep the stories interesting) but the character, Michael Myers, was such a hit with the audience that nobody wanted to see anything else but Myers in a Halloween movie and this one got blasted by viewers.

I ashamedly must admit that the cheezy 80's synth soundtrack, fairly graphic gore (remember the two fingers through the bum's eyes in the hospital while pulling his sinus cavity up scene? ) and all around bizarre storyline made it a guilty pleasure of mine as well.

i liked part 6 just for the gore and body count and it explained a lot of shit noone ever knew.. parts 7 and 8 were beyond garbage.. who was that chick that was the main actress in part 8? here acting was just horrible...i hope to never see her in a movie again for as long as i live..

damn this shit has leaked online already... a dvd screener.. leaked last night....

Ok, so I was able to see the movie last night at midnight (perfect time for horrors IMO).

Going into the theater with a clear head, I was able to get an appropriate opinion of the film. I have to say that it is awesome. Better than any Michael Myers Halloween post-Part 2.

The first half of the movie is the favorite for me. Zombie does such a good job of portraying young Michael. You (or at least I) actually feel sympathetic for him (kid had a fucked up childhood). I also feel bad for the kid in real life who played him, because he's a naturally fugly kid too.

The death scenes were brutal. Every single one of his murders while a child are insane. The second one where he beats his older sister's boyfriend to death had me cringe both times I saw it.

Also, here's another spoiler...

I felt bad for Michael's mother, played by Sheri Moon Zombie. After she saw her son murder the nurse in the Psych Ward, she lost her will to live. It shocked me when she pulled the trigger. I was expecting her to be shown loading the gun at home, and then going to the Psych Ward to try and kill Michael (since he had killed her whole family, sans Laurie).

Again, in regards to the music. It's on point. He uses Love Hurts during this scene where young Michael is left sitting on his porch by his sister, rather than trick-or-treating. In that same scene, they show Michael's mother stripping at a local bar.

Zombie chooses Tom Sawyer (by Rush) in the sequence that shows Ken Foree's (Dawn of the Dead) death scene. It seemed like a good choice too. Also, Foree's dialogue is great in that scene LOL

Bump. I'm seeing this tonight. I wasn't for a remake, but I am looking forward to it now. And I'm gonna see Death Sentence tonight too.

Basically the first 70 or so minutes could've just been its own movie. It was absolutely brilliant. They should have gone on with the story as child Michael and ended with what he looked like 15yrs later. The second half was just re-make.

Zombie should've made this a straight up PREQUEL to the first.

yeah it's great.. some people are purists in thinking no movie can ever top an original.. i happen to like the remakes of this, BLACK CHRISTMAS, and DAWN OF THE DEAD better.. i like how this was made about michael myers unlike every other halloween in being about other characters.. made u look at him as being human and feel bad for him just a bit.. dude's mother was a stripper, step dad wasn't shit, sister teased him and the kids at school as well... that would make anyone go crazy...

I agree, the prequel part was much more interesting. Hands down the best scene was Ken Foree, aka Joe Grizzly's confrontation with Michael Myers in the shitter. The second half was like the original on steroids, but lacking suspense. Which is what I was hoping Zombie would avoid.

I also saw Death Sentence tonight, and that was one of the most violent movies I've seen. Pure insanity. It was over the top, but it sure wasn't boring.

oh yeah i forgot to mention him.. i see he's still appearing in horror movies.. this guy has been around for a long time... man they made michael big as hell.. mf had to be over 6'5"... i do think they could have made this a whole other movie with halloween being an influence... but i liked it..

I thought it was a load of bollocks.

I absolutly loved this flick. The first half is flat-out brilliant, and the second half is like in insane adrenaline rush. And I disagree with whoever said Malcom McDowell wasn't up to snuff with the original Dr. Loomis... I thought McDowell was BRILLIANT... hopefully this will resurrect his career to some degree (though I admit am I a nuthugger). The murder scenes were awesome, and the girls were georgeous. Zombie's direction was great as always... I think he's on track to becoming the best horror director in the world. I felt this was on par with the original, mainly because of the first half, which just blew me away. And the second half was very fun as well. It should also be noted that the entire theatre I was in erupted in cheers when the film came to an end. It's been a long time since that's happened in a film I went to. I plan on seeing this one again.

I liked it, but thought it was a bit too long. I probably would have enjoyed it more, if not for this bitch behind me who was talking for the entire two hours.

FYI, the guy who played Myers was Tyler Mane, the former wrestler who played Sabretooth in the first X-Men movie.

I just copied this from my write up over at Rue Morgue's site....and sorry to disagree with those on here that loved it.....BUT.....

Where do I begin? (Oh yeah....spoilers, I guess.)

I saw Zombie's Halloween last night and basically was bored to tears. Twenty minutes in and I was already wishing it was over. First off, we know Rob must love his wife and probably loves to get that extra paycheck aside from his director's pay in the family bank account by having a role for Sherri in his movies....but she can't act! And throw that girl a sammich....her ribs are showing. She's just not a convincing actor, no matter how much Rob wishes her to be. Saying that she's improved since her first two acting roles is like saying the fender bender you just got into wasn't as bad as having your wallet stolen or your house broken into the week before....maybe not, but all 3 still suck!

Secondly, while I'm no choir boy when it comes to my language (I cuss like a sailor with the best of em') the language, especially in the opening scenes around the kitchen table, were soooo outlandish and forceably striving to get that "white trash" aesthetic across that I felt bad for the parents that were dumb enough to bring their young children to this movie (and there were plenty.) Forsythe's character was an amalgam of his characters from Stone Cold, Out For Justice and Zombie's own Devil's Rejects with a little redneck thrown in....which is to say, "been there, done that...adnauseam." Nevermind all the gazzillion cameo's by genre actors that had less than 2 minutes apiece in the film that really added up to nothing. Hey, at least Zombie's loyal, I guess.

Now, on to young Michael who was a less than convincing actor who I thought looked like an ugly hippy cherub. The scene where he's wearing the Myers mask for the first time was pretty humorous. It made him look like a dwarf with a giant head, a bobble-head Michael if you will, and was countering the terror that I think Zombie was trying to convey to the audience as he's stalking his sister down the hallway. Instead it played out funny and lost any horrific momentum that scene could have had....not that this movie had any of that throughout anyways.

As far as adult Michael goes, I have just one word for him.....ugh! (OK, that's not really a word, but it sums it up fairly well.) Part of what made Michael Myers from the original film so haunting was that he wasn't some hulking giant of a killer of the WWE variety. He was a normal sized guy that didn't talk and stayed in the shadows (something Carpenter filmed brilliantly!) Zombie's version was an in your face, Hulk Smash!!! version and it had none of the subtle impact of the original character. This movie shows that the adage of "bigger is better" is not always right.

I could go on about the crappy pacing, the inappropriate music played (Love Hurts by Nazareth?!!!...geezus,) and the characters that have absolutely no redeeming qualities about them whatsoever (you just don't care when characters die in this movie....which goes against one of the unwritten rules to horror movies, create characters the audience will care about and the terror is magnified 10 fold when they're in jeopardy) but suffice it to say, I'll end by just saying that Carpenter's vision still reigns supreme (as if there was ever any doubt) and that this one is, at least IMHO, a poor attempt at taking a classic and doing something bold and new for today's audience with. Even if I didn't have my biases towards Carpenter's original, and even if the first movie had never existed and this was an original in and of itself....I would still consider it a terrible movie.

Amongst horror movie websites, it's getting panned fairly harshly. If you liked it, cool (different strokes for different folks)...at least you didn't feel your money was waisted. Personally, I'd love to have the $18 bux back that my wife and I spent on this fluff.

I agree with quite a bit of this. Overall I found this intersting only from the point of view of what Zombie would do with a classic. Some of background stuff was intersting. But scenes worked only sporadically. And I'd give the movie 2/4 stars. Also, was the movie supposed to be set in 1995? If so why was Don't Fear the Reaper always on the radio? Nitpicking I know. Zombie is good at making a certain type of movie and that type of movie doesn't fit into the Halloween mold IMO. I wouldn't call it terrible, but it was so/so.

Yeah I was only about half impressed with this and my GF (we both thing the original is the GOAT) totally hated it. I think I built it up to much in my mind because I thought the Devils Rejects was one of the best movies I have seen in the last 10 years. Sorry I am late and I'm sure someone else already said it but I am lazy to read both Sid Haig and Bill Mosley were in the movie.

I liked the back story and shit, but it just tried to be too OTT at the end and lost its creepinees. For some reason that worked in the HHE remake and DotD remake, but not here. Rob has good visions and I like how he shoots here, but no, sorry, he didn't make the cut.




Agree on Dawn of the Dead but no way on Halloween. Just too rushed, like someone said, they should have ended it when Micheal was reborn, after that it just lost it for me. I prob need to watch it again and it didn't help that I just watched the original on IFC 2 days before but still. I don't know....The kid stuff and where Micheal fucked up Laurie's parents though both freaked me out and where hard core, but I think I just numbed out. Like I said before my GF wasn't even that kind, she just said "I'm so disappointed in Rob" lol.




Devils Rejects, he needs to make a prequel to that, because that movie owned. Eli Roth should go back to what he did with Cabin Fever as well. Anyways, good to see horror alive and well in the 2000.

it's all about taste.. some people like horror films where u have to use ya mind a lot in which it's not real gory and all and a few frights here and there, i just like blood and guts... there's really no right or wrong answer... i love the original halloween too, but there was less action in that than this... i've always been into action more so than script.. so i can definately see how people can hate it..

That is cool, I'm really not one of those type of Horror fans, I think Suspira is a huge pile of shit. I didn't hate this move, I think I just built it up to much because I loved Devil's Rejects so much.

I loved devil's reject as well... i fuks with rob zombie movies...

Yeah, I can see why we differ on this film. I thought Suspiria was one of the best horror flicks ever. Just a matter of personal preferance, I suppose.

It's safe to say I hold Cabin Fever in the same esteem Inty holds The Descent.
One of those films that makes me want to sue the director for wasted time.

r/e the Halloween remake-
Zombie is a talentless hack, the few coherent scenes he's managed to producer were all lifted from better films.
He's one of those "directors" who learned their "craft" by watching movies and copying what they saw verbatim instead of thinking about why scenes were filmed the way they were.

I'm not going to see it, but the idiotic decision to focus on Micheal Myer's past tells me all I need to know.
The Boogeyman is a plot device, not anything that needs exploration. Spending half your film on the "character" of Michael Myers is like making a thriller where you spend an hour watching them make the bomb the hero defuses at the end. It's moronic.

There's a good William Goldman anecdote that applies here.
He's talking about trying to get Ghost and the Darkness made, which was one of those 'legendary' Hollywood scripts that everyone loved but nobody wanted to film.
He finally got some intrest from Michael Douglas, which was enough to move the project forward.
The problem was that Douglas eventually cast himself as the hunter.
And since Douglas is a movie star, he wanted a backstory for a character that Goldman wrote as an archetype- the "lone stranger", like Shane. A character that works as long as it remains an unknown outsider, but which falls apart when examined closely.

Ditto Michael Myers.
He's an archetype.
The Boogeyman doesn't need a backstory, he doesn't need character motivation.

Unless you get a chance to see Jamie Lee Curtis naked, in which case I'm hip to the back story. Ripper!

Ok well what do you like? Cabin Fever is great, Devils Rejects is awesome too and I dug the Descent. Both Roth and Zombie know how to make a good movie if you are into the type of movies they want to make, if you aren't, you are never going to like them and it is a waste of time to even try.




I liked the Soundtrack and the way it was shot. The entire movie makes zero sense and the dubbed acting is so atrocious. I own it, and watch from time to time but never like it. All of Argento's shit is like that for me.

I thought the Descent was great...I was just using Inty's legendary hate for it as shorthand for my feelings about Cabin Fever.

I agree with you that Roth knows how to make a good movie...but Cabin Fever wasn't.
It was (like Devil's Rejects) a poorly executed rip-off of a bunch of ideas from better genre movies.
I avoided seeing Hostel because I couldn't imagine anyone with an ounce of talent making a turd like Cabin Fever and was shocked when I finally saw it by how professional and assured it was...it had an original vision and (like the best horror movies always do) played off the insecurities of its time to heighten its impact. It was awful and nihilistic and I'll never watch it again, but it was extremely well planned, constructed and shot...in every way the polar opposite of Cabin Fever.

Zombie is a hack who just pukes up half digested good ideas he chewed off other films.
His only "talent" is being able to do it on cue.

I remember when Hostel first came out I posted a thread that I liked it and remember that you were very opposed to seeing it. Glad you saw it. For the most part it's nothing like Cabin Fever. I didn't really care for Hostel 2. It was a different approach, which I can appreciate, but it just wasn't that good.

I agree with your assessment of Zombie for the most part. But I did like Devil's Rejects, even though it wasn't anything original--it did have energy and some funny moments. The best parts of Halloween reminded me of Devil's Rejects.

We just have to disagree. If you can take somebody else ideas and make them a great film (Tarentino) you still have talent. I will take guys like Zombie and QT who take others ideas an remake them in their own vision over some true hack like Uwe Bowl who just does whatever and blows at it. Actually the true best Horror director going today is probably Aja who did HHE remake and Haute Tension.

I walked out of this movie after the first hour. I can't remember the last movie I walked out of.

Shitty ass movie. Should have walked across the hallway and caught the last few minutes of Superbad.

Tarantino is a talented cat...Zombie isn't fit to carry his jock.
Quentin is a good writer (although he shouldn't have fucked Roger Avery over Pulp Fiction, together they were dynamite) & he has much better taste in what movies to loot for ideas than Zombie.

But people like what they like, I'm not trying to convince you Zombie sucks.
I'm just explaining my thought process.

Nah I understand, that is cool, I just like some discussion at times. If you have never seen Lady Snowblood check it out sometime. You can see where the whole Chapters and Revenge list and other things QT used came from. Excellent movie as well.

I even like total crap like Wrong Turn and House of Wax so I'm liberal with horror films.

Lady Snowblood is badass.

As a friend of mine likes to say, if you're gonna steal steal from the best.

Cool, have you seen Female Prisoner #701 (same girl from Snowblood) and two more I really liked were Sex and Fury (with Christina Lindberg as an assassin!) and Sex and Fury 2 (Lady Yakuza boss). Great stuff. Graveyard of Honor is a great 70's gangster film from Japan as well.

I'm with Glock as far as Cabin Fever goes.....arguably one of my all-time least favorite mainstream horror movies. I thought it was just horrible and that's not a knock against you leee as I know tons of people on horror forums that love the movie. Movies, and particularly horror movies, are a subjective thing with no rights or wrongs in what one likes. It's definitely a "to each his/her own" sorta thing.

I remember watching it in the theatre when it came out and thinking to myself, "you gotta be shittin' me" when the blonde mullet kid at the country store starts dancing a jig at the end. I'm all for surrealism or things that aren't explained in movies, but this was just stupid to me. About the only other mainstream horror movie that I disliked more than Cabin Fever was House of the Dead by Uwe Toiletboll. Now THAT was horrendous....and I only have the first 40 minutes of the movie to base my critique on, because that's all I could stomach.

I miss the 70's and 80's when it comes to horror movies. We're lucky if one decent horror flick comes out a year nowadays and when I say one decent one, I'm talking one that will be talked about in the years to come in the same sentence as other classics such as The Exorcist and Halloween.

Take 1981 for instance, in that year alone the following came out:

-An American Werewolf In London
-The Burning (and underrated slasher classic with Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander and Fisher Stevens all making their first appearance in a Hollywood movie in this one.)
-Dead and Buried (another underrated classic.)
-The Beyond
-The Entity
-Escape From New York (while it's not exactly horror and more of an action film it's usually lumped into this genre due to Carpenter's part in it.)
-Friday the 13th part II
-The Funhouse
-Ghost Story
-Graduation Day (fun little slasher.)
-Halloween II
-Hell Night
-Prom Night
-Happy Birthday To Me
-The Howling
-My Bloody Valentine
-The Prowler
-The House By The Cemetery (the final installment to Lucio Fulci's zombie trilogy.)
-Scanners
-Wolfen

Compare that to what we have nowadays....and it's enough to make a horror fan kill kittens with a rusty spoon.