Rob Zombie Remakes Halloween. But Why?
Director Fails To Revitalize Tired Horror Franchise
Aug 7, 2008
Heavy-metal musician turned writer-director Rob Zombie turned to the horror genre with his debut, "House of 1,000 Corpses." Although intended to harken back to the down-and-dirty '70s exploitation days of 'The Texas Chain Saw Masscre,' it was artlessly callous overkill. His follow-up, 'The Devil's Rejects' was a vast improvement; although grimy and sadistic, it was an entertaining drive-in homage. One thing is for certain, even with his "reinvention" of 'Halloween,' Zombie has a thing for white-trash folk.
Zombie's Take on Carpenter's Classic is Misguided
Zombie's misguided bastardization of John Carpenter's scary and tasteful low-budget thriller is distinctly divided into three acts. First, it's a pointless, foul-mouthed "backstory"---30 minutes worth, in fact, that more is less---of punkish 10-year-old Michael Myers' sleazy, white-trash household where he kills off his sister, the sister's boyfriend, and this time his mother's boyfriend, on Halloween night. That leaves Mom (Sheri Moon Zombie, the director's wife) and his infant sister to be the sole survivors. Michael is supposed to be "pure evil," but we get it already, Mrs. Myers was a stripper, his older sis a slut, and his stepdaddy an abusive, rude idiot, so his troubled homelife made him do it!
The plodding section section has Mikey institutionalized for seventeen years and counseled by Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell, god bless the good sport). The finale is a compressed rehash of the original, in which the white-masked boogeyman stalks his now-teenage baby sister Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) and her two yappy Haddonfield friends, but it still never seems to end. The climactic showdown of brother and sister is so drawn-out that it comes off almost as a parody of the horror genre.
Director Zombie's Trademark Violence
A film by Rob Zombie wouldn't be his without violence. The violence here is so soullessly brutal and just feels like a punch in the face. Scene after scene of explicit kills leave nothing to the imagination. Suspense is lost and the film becomes exploitative, desensitized overkill. What's worse, the characters are hopelessly undeveloped to the point of us not caring about their fates.
Tyler Bates' musical score with echoes of John Carpenter's memorable theme is evocative but ineffectual. The same goes for shot-for-shot recreations of original sequences: thoughtful but mostly clumsy. As for the direction, Zombie's raw, gritty style grows numbing after a while. He chooses to shoot with an annoyingly shaky camera, reliant on too many tight close-ups; mistake.
The Actors Are Zombies, Except For Zombie's Wife
As far as the cast goes, the only standout, surprisingly, is Sheri Moon Zombie as Michael Myers' mama who works nights as a pole dancer but cares for her boy. She shows the most depth and gives a heartbreaking performance. Much of the cast is comprised of the "Who's Who" variety, with B-movie stalwarts Dee Wallace Stone and Danielle Harris (who starred as Michael Myers' niece in 'Halloween IV.') The cameos are a self-referential touch, but it's a waste.
Now the question is, will Rob continue filmmaking after such an abomination? (It's rumored that he's remaking 1931's 'Freaks'--which with Zombie at the helm deems to be extremely interesting.)
 |
