Halloween (dir. Rob Zombie, 2007)
A decision was made to reboot the series after the disappointing box office returns of Halloween: Resurrection and the death of the original executive producer Moustapha Akkad in a terrorist bombing in Amman, Jordan in 2005. Musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie made two pitches to Dimension Films–one a prequel detailing Michael Myers’s early years in the asylum, the other a modern remake of the first film–which would be condensed into one project.
Zombie’s stated goal was to provide a backstory for Michael Myers that would provide insight into the character. The original film provide one for us that was sparse, but effective. The sequels expanded upon this, first with the revelation that Laurie Strode was his sister and later with an expanded family tree and a tenuous connection to the supernatural by way of druidic magic that were both dropped. None, however, provided a reason for his first murder. Critics and academics have long connected to sex and misogyny, and all of the subsequent films contain a scene where he behaves like a standard slasher villain, but I tend to agree with John Carpenter’s assessment that he just likes killing.
Rob Zombie opens his film in Michael’s childhood, showing a ten-year old who’s not only psychological unwell, but also being molded by a broken home life and bullying at school. As Samuel Loomis (played now by Malcolm McDowell) says: he “was created by a perfect alignment of interior and exterior factors gone violently wrong–a perfect storm, if you will. Thus creating a psychopath that knows no boundaries and has no boundaries.” They are the conditions that create textbook antisocial personality disorder, but the depiction of it in the film is no less upsetting for it.
That said, the backstory Zombie does provide has its issues. Part of his reimagining of the character is to have him born into a fairly stereotypical “white trash” background: a mother working as a stripper, Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie); her deadbeat and abusive boyfriend Ronnie (William Forsythe); his older sister Judith (Hanna R. Hall) who now has a cruel streak and similarly suffers from this familial dysfunction. I have my problems with this setup [1], but I think the actors acquit themselves well. The decision to expand the number of murders Michael commits as a child is somewhat excessive, but it also helps diminish the idea of him as merely an anti-sex figure.
There’s much to be said for Rob Zombie’s decision to make Michael Myers a somewhat sympathetic figure as a child. I tend to agree with the opinion of John Backderf who wrote in his book My Friend Dahmer that any sympathy for someone like Jeffrey Dahmer or Michael Myers should dissolve upon their first crimes, but we should still mourn the child before then, but Zombie extends this grace period further than that. We see the first year of Michael’s time under the care of Loomis. He develops an obsession with making masks and withdraws into himself unless he’s visited by his grieving mother. After her suicide after Michael murders a nurse, he goes completely catatonic. This is one of the weaker aspects of the film, because I don’t think Zombie adequately depicts this change. We’re not given much other than this idea of a void inside Michael that finally overtakes him. I really would have liked more development there.
The second half of the film tells a similar story as the first film, but that doesn’t mean it’s without its good points. The cast is phenomenal. Zombie has assembled a murderer’s row of the great genre actors to appear either major characters–like McDowell as Loomis and Brad Dourif as Sheriff Brackett–or in supporting roles or cameos–including Danny Trejo, Udo Kier, Ken Foree, Sid Haig, Sybil Danning, Dee Wallace, and Bill Moseley. Some people find the new versions of Laurie, Annie, and Lynda unlikable, but they’re realistic enough teenagers for a film written and directed by a man in his 40s. Scout Taylor-Compton does well considering she has to take over such an iconic role. I also think McDowell is excellent as Loomis, who comes across here as an idealist who’s been worn down into cynicism by his inability to help Michael as his psychiatrist. Dourif too is great as Brackett. There’s some interesting camerawork to be found here in the film’s quieter moments, but the action and horror setpieces don’t feel particularly memorable. It’s not just that you’ve seen the first film. It’s that you’ve seen all the films that it inspired as well.
On the whole, I’d consider the 2007 Halloween more of a success than a failure. I like Rob Zombie as a filmmaker for the most part, but this movie lacks either the the stark horror of The Devil’s Rejects or the style of The Lords of Salem, although it does feature the most depressing striptease I’ve seen since Atom Egoyan’s Exotica, which is no small feat. It’s a solid entry in the series, and better than most of the middle sequels.
[1] For instance, how do they afford this palace of a home?
October 25, 2018)
oliveresque 