Reviewed on Friday, 31 Aug, 2007

Rob Zombie’s take on the original Halloween

My first thought while leaving was “Was there a 2 for 1 sale at the local bloodbank?” Talk about overkill…..yes, it is a horror movie and given who the director was, that was to be expected….but I found myself unable to watch any of the killing scenes….it was pretty tough to take. It was even difficult to listen to the sound effects as Michael plunged his knife into the victims or crushed their bones….yuck!

/my scaredy cat rant

Overall, I still liked the movie, it stayed pretty much true to the original, with some modifications here and there. The 70s soundtrack brought back memories of my youth and managed to briefly distract me from the pervasive blood and gore. I liked how they explored Michael’s backstory (at least we got more insight as to how a monster can be created).

For a moment, I got the feeling that Michael’s intent (this time around) was not to kill Laurie. I think he just wanted to reconnect with his family….although, I am still confused as to how he knew she was his sister….so at least on that score, it failed just like the original. I was glad that Rob left it up to the viewer to speculate how he got back to Haddonfield, instead of insulting our intelligence by having him steal another stationwagon after he escaped, like the original.

I’m still wondering why a mental hospital would allow a psychotic who knifed his family to eat with metal utensils……….

C+