'Halloween' review

Rating: *1/2 out of ****

‘Halloween’ is the story of young Michael Myers, who, as a boy, murders his family except for his mother and baby sister. He is institutionalized until he breaks out, 15 years later. Michael goes on the hunt for his long lost baby sister. Meanwhile, Dr. Loomis, the psychiatrist who treated Michael while inside, aids the police in the hunt. John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ was a dark, violent piece of cinema. Nevertheless, it was crafted with a skill not seen since Hitchcock. Carpenter knew how to imply violence with lighting and tone rather than exploit it. He could play with an audience without manipulating them. He knew exactly what he wanted us to feel and when, and he could masterfully construct the story, plot and pacing so that we felt it. Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ is a more gruesome, mean-spirited version of Carpenter’s original masterpiece. There is little inspiration in Zombie’s world and it tries to operate with a screenplay filled with ill logic, and ends up feeling manipulative and ineffective.

The opening scene in Carpenter’s film still stays in my mind. The whole scene being Michael’s point-of-view added the element of mystery, building the suspense since all we were able to see were the reactions of a murder victim. We didn’t need to be introduced to what’s inside Michael’s head because we were seeing it through his eyes. Cold, vicious, evil is all he was. Killing was as simple to him as breathing. We didn’t need to know much about him except that he is evil, plain and simple. We didn’t need to know what happened at the meetings between Michael and Dr. Loomis or what occurred behind the walls of the asylum. Most importantly, we knew we couldn’t sympathize with Michael because no matter how sympathetic, it's hard to agree or empathize with such slaughter.

Trying to explain the ‘why’ behind evil is extremely difficult. Zombie makes a noble effort to tell us why Michael is this way, but the mark has been missed. It turns out that there is a young tormented child behind the mask, one that has been abused by his family and schoolmates. With this kind of back-story, we don’t see Michael as a soulless killing machine, but more along the lines of Norman Bates, a psychotic momma’s boy. I find there’s a difference between an enemy who is completely evil and a villain that is in direct conflict with the hero. The latter can be given sympathetic qualities that can allow the audience to somewhat identify with their motives. The former cannot because ‘evil’ does not need explanation. Michael is the former, but Zombie tries to paint him as the latter.

Perhaps the most shocking and disappointing revelation to the film is that all of this back-story is perfunctory. Sure, we learn of Myers’ dysfunctional home life and problems at school, but before we even learn this about his character, it is revealed that Myers is a fan of mutilating animals and has been for some time. What does this say about him? To me it says he is a disturbed little boy, prone to violence and very well could become a killer anyway. So why then would Zombie spend a third of the film with these details of his upbringing if they didn’t matter and only detract from the menace of the character? This film takes a half an hour (or more) to tell the same events that the original told in five minutes.

Originally, we didn’t need a moment where Michael transitions from good to evil. That transition could not be defined because presumably he has always been evil. There’s literally no transition into Michael’s madness in the new ‘Halloween’; but with Michael’s past on screen, one is needed. If the audience is expected to understand this killer, we need to see that moment of transformation. His conversion from killing animals to people happens effortlessly and without deliberation. Then suddenly on Halloween, he decides to kill his family, except his baby sister for some reason. The fact that he leaves her alive could have been a great plot device and perhaps Zombie’s only hope of giving a human quality to a killer. It is wasted in the third act, however, when Laurie is trying to escape. If Michael loves her so much why is he trying to kill her? I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a serial killer contradict himself in such a way.

Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ feels like two movies. The first film is the back-story leading up to Michael’s escape. Everything there-after is the second film. The two films never really come together. The first could have been a rich character study into the mind of a serial killer. The second is a montage of sex and violence. Though neither live up to the original, the second half rings truer of Carpenter’s film. In fact, steps are taken to ensure that the fans are reminded. Tyler Bates’ music is a dead-ringer of Carpenter’s original score and adds that feeling of authenticity. Zombie also recreates many shots and sequences, at times literally shot for shot.

In the end though, what does it say about a movie when its best quality is that it skillfully recreates scenes from a better movie?