darkside

IGN gave the new version a zero rating and called it the worst movie of the year. I had doubts about this film, but never imagined Zombie would defecate on a classic to this level.

ViewAskewbian

I'm 4min into the work print and Christ this is horrible. I didn't think a film could put so many clichees into such a short period of time. This breakfast scene...man oh man.

I'm all for suspension of disbelief in cinema but it's pretty damn hard to believe that:

starseed1981

Never saw the original, but I caught this last night. Seriously, this is easily the worst film I've seen in theatres in the last several years. It just fails on every single level. Avoid at all costs.

JaxComet

It seems like the people that hate it, really hate it but the positive reviews are raves. I'd say it probably will fall in the middle. Too many people on Carpenter's nuts........


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/halloween/

JaxComet

I couldn't agree more. The original has some great atmosphere but is definitely best when nobody is speaking...........

Johnny Zhivago

Fuck You Out Of 10

OldBoy

i thought Zombie would bring such a fresh take to the horror movie genre, but so far his 3 have really been less than stellar and disappointed me so much. i liked HoaTC and DR mostly for the chees of the 1st and grit of the 2nd, but they haven't wowed me.

CPA-ESQ.

I'm going to say that after seeing the WP, that I liked the movie.

It gave a fresh look to the origins of Mike, and that the 2nd half of the movie was almost exactly like the original movie - except for the ending.

I watched the WP one night, and then watched the original the next. It seems to me that Rob took great care to preserve the original movie, but give the monster a better background, and update the story to modern times.

The one think I don't like in the movie is

jeffkjoe

Of the top of your head, anyone want to list Michael's killings / killing methods in spoilers?

Thanks.

mdc3000

I hated it from start to finish. Nothing scary, nothing shocking and certainly nothing entertaining going on. I also think WAY too much time is spent with young Michael - because it's just not interesting... I hate movies with a creepy kid who becomes violent...I think things like that play much scarier if the kid seems NORMAL and then does something totally batshit crazy like killing his whole family - then finally we get to Laurie and her pals and I couldn't care less about them. Even having people like Clint Howard and Brad Dourif show up don't help the proceedings... I don't know what Zombie was thinking, but this was a tired POS.

wewantflair

The positive reviews are baffling to me. I tried to view this as a separate entity from the original, and this is a horrific movie even outside those comparisons. There is not one believable or credible line of dialogue uttered in this movie. OK, fine. It's a slasher movie. None of the kills are interesting, scary, or even surprising. It's all choke, stab, and drag.

None of these characters even remotely resemble real people. Part of what makes the horror genre interesting is the juxtaposition of the grounded reality with the unrelentingly supernatural. How do real people deal with relentlessly awful situations? When every character is a bad caricature, we don't ever invest any emotion in their well being.

islandclaws

I watched the workprint last night and I'm still sorting out the events in my head, but my intial consensus is: I thought it was pretty good. Now I know fully well that the final cut is quite different, but there was a lot I like about this cut that, sadly, will end up being left out of the new cut. And likewise, there are things I'm hoping he removed/rectified for the theater.

I'm a Carpenter nut, so I knew there way no way in hell Zombie could make abetter film, and he didn't. But if you can forget that film existed while you watch this, you might find yourself liking it. Granted, it falls into some lame slasher cliches and doesn't explain many things that are glaringly wrong, but it worked for me on certain levels.

I liked young Michael... most of the time. His "encounter" in the woods with a bully was one of the film's best moments. The white-trash family unit was typical Zombie flavor, with the only real standout being Forsythe, mostly for being so over-the-top. Once Michael snaps, though, is when things get a bit better. One thing did leave me in tears... from laughing. When young Mikey wears the mask while stalking his sister down the hall. I kept expecting him to remove the mask and reveal Gary Coleman underneath. It was like Mini-Mike the stalker.

All of the asylum footage was great. I loved seeing Mike slowly turn over time from an inquisitive young kid to a hulking mute brute. His escape scene was a little unneeded, but I suppose it works especially compared to the ridiculous way he escapes in the new cut.

Once we get into Haddonfield is where I have some issues. Yea, Zombie said we wouldn't see Mike driving but, how the hell does he get there then? Did he run really fast to make it in one night? Smith's Grove ain't exactly down the block. And the girls. I didn't care for any of them, especially the girl playing Lynda. Not only was her character annoying, but she sucks big time at acting. These scenes felt so rushed I didn't have time to care for any of them. And many of Michael's actions demanded explanation. No one, not even Loomis, knew Laurie was adopted, so how the hell did Mikey know she was and where to find her? And if he loves her so much, why the fuck is he trying to kill her? I'll admit I did like the ending. I know he changed it for the new cut and, from what I've read, it doesn't sound nearly as effective. Guess I'll find out tomorrow night.

pdutta2000

The reviews are so bad that I now have to see this film. I am a huge fan of the original and really want to see the fast forward second half of Zombie's film. It's really too bad that Zombie didn't do more with this. I was hoping for a Halloween revival a la Batman Begins to the Batman franchise.

islandclaws

I don't know about you, but if some huge fucker is stalking me, killing my friends and chasing me with a knife I assume he wants to kill me. They may not have explicitly showed he was going to kill her, but they also didn't make it blatantly obvious he wasn't.

Zen Peckinpah

Horrific. Mind-bogglingly horrific. One of the worst endings I've seen in recent memory.

LivingINClip

I just got back from see'ing it and I have mixed feelings.

1: Part of me likes the idea that Zombie wanted to show his change, but at the same time, I felt it was way to forced. He made the family so dysfunctional that they almost became parodies of themselves. Then again, when I look back at why the original was so successful, I think it is because of the fact MIchael was a kid who just went crazy out of nowhere. There was no background, he was the embodiment of evil. It was simply there, with no excuse.

2: Once we get to Haddonfield, it just goes downhill fast. It was like watching the original, except more "hip" and a lot faster. Almost like those flash movies where the Bunnies do a movie in 30 seconds. We meet Laurie, we meet her friends, we see MIchael, we watch them die. There is no development for them whatsoever. They are obviously just characters that are here to die for this monster that Zombie has recreated.

3: The logical plot holes really hurt it. Young Michael has enough sense to hide his knife and mask? A man is so drunk he doesn't realize he's being duct taped to a chair? How did he know where his sister would be? I mean, the whole town didn't know it was his sister, why would he know that his sister, after all these years is there? Not only that, but he knows exactly where she lives? I guess you could say the original had the same problem, but that problem really didn't occur until the sequel brought up the sister storyline, so I view it differently.

Along the same lines, we have the fact that Zombie wants to show that this is a normal man, who as a child suffered a tragic fate, but once he becomes "The Shape", all that is lost. He quickly morphs into a paranormal being, as he is stabbed twice, shot four times and still can put up such a fight. This is a huge problem, as it totally changes the dynamic of the character. Carpenter was smart enough to save the shooting and unstoppable monster angle for the ending of the original, Zombie didn't do the same, and in doing that he abandons what the first half of his film establishes.

All in all, I wouldn't say it is worse than Halloween:Resurrection, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it. It seems as if two film merged into one and this is what we get, the first half is slow and deliberate, the second half is Halloween on speed.

wewantflair

With all due respect - as I normally enjoy your reviews - but NOTHING is "clear" about this movie.

Jackskeleton

What a surprise. I've been saying these things for a while now.

As for Myers wanting

wm lopez

Will the 24 and under generation who have not seen the original like it you think?

islandclaws

^The Hot Topic crowd will eat this shit with a ladle. Anyone older will have their (deserved) reservations.

Brent L

Ugh, enough with the bashing! Yes, there is something clear about this movie:

wewantflair

LMAO!

chaz k

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I really really really wanted to like this movie. I've been awaiting this since it was first announced. The original is my favorite horror movie and one of my favorite all time movies. Unfortunately this was a disaster, i tried my hardest to go into this with an open mind and try not to compare it to the original. Unfortunately, it was for me at least....impossible.

First, Michael was turned into a Devil's Reject's character. IMO, Tyler was too big in stature for this role. All the elements of what made Michael sort of a "mythical" figure in the original is gone. He's on the screen for 75% of the movie. There's no suspense or buildup for the killings, you know where he is and whats coming next through the entire movie. Michael is is turned into a redneck "terminator type" serial killer, running through doors and walls.

When Malcolm McDowell was cast for the role as Dr Loomis i thought it was a good choice, boy was i wrong. He was awful. No charisma, nothing, just seemed like he was going through the motions.

Halfway through the movie, Zombie decides to try and copy the original basically scene by scene. Although, certain scenes are done in different order and done just a bit different. This also fails. The teenage girls are terrible, everything seemed rushed and forced.

This movie IMO failed at every level, and is an absolute spit in the face of the original. I dont know how this hack director Zombie, could sit back and watch the final cut of this movie and think it was good.

An absolute disgrace

Artman

Watched the early print.... started out pretty terrible, really just not enjoyable entertainment at all (i'm especially angered by women abused on screen, in this case raped)... and ended just "ok".

If RZ has spent the entire film on the actual Halloween story rather than just the last hr we might've had something.

Also would someone mind listing the changes between the workprint and final film? The "escape" from the institution is a joke and I understand that's different... but it sounds like the ending is significantly changed as well.

Jackskeleton

A page back or two is where I listed the difference in the work print to final.