"Rob Zombie's Halloween" Script Review (and a little more) SPOILERS!!!!!!!

Aw... remakes of classic horror films. Some are entertaining (Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Dawn of the Dead), two are better (The Hills Have Eyes/The Thing), but most are downright terrible (see all the others). With the success of all of these remakes, we were bound to see something that should have never EVER have happened (other than the shot-for-shot Psycho massacre) and that was a remake of HALLOWEEN. John Carpenter's classic that is widely regarded the best horror film of all time (other than Psycho), and definately the most influential horror film of all time.

In 1977, John Carpenter set out to make a film that nobody had ever seen: a movie about babysitters having sex and getting murdered by an embodiment of pure evil. Yes it sounds cheesy. Yes, Jason has done more films with same plot. But this was the first. There were only two films out at the time with comprable plots: Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both of them featuring extremely real killers in the middle of no where. Carpenter and his writing partner, Debra Hill, took this idea of somebody who could realistically be other there but set him right in the middle of suburbia. A killer right in the homes of the people who were watching? It was a terrorfying idea. Especially when the killer began as one of them, and without any warning at all snapped. Carpenter spent time developing every character so when it finally gets to the killings near the end, it is terrofying and almost as if you are watching people you know get murdered. The movie wasn't about blood and guts, it was about character and suspence with a killer that had no explanation. Halloween II explained that the main character was Michael's only sibling alive, but it kept the same feeling of the original and just made it slightly more gorey. The sequels... we don't need to talk about those.

Then, in the 90's the world had a falling out of any good horror. All we were recieved was Scream and some low budget hilarious splatter films from Peter Jackson. By the end though, the horror world heard echos of a film made by Universal and written and directed by singer/songwriter and horror movie geek: Rob Zombie. This film was entitled House of 1,000 Corpses and was causing huge controversy.

First of all, it was rated NC-17 by the MPAA, one of the first horror movies in a while to do that (now adays they shoot for NC-17 and release that as the UNRATED cut). Script changes were made throughout the production and it had gone over schedule and over budget. When they recieved the NC-17 rating, Universal dropped the picture and decided not to release it.

With such a tantalizing name as "House of 1,000 Corpses" and by such a loved metal singer, people were anxious to see the movie.

2003, a great company named Lion Gates Film picked it up and distributed it. The movie was met with bad reviews and bad fan reactions. Until it was released on VHS and DVD. It was there that the film gained momentum and grew a large cult following. The crazy characters and the feeling as if you are watching a nightmare. It was bound to happen, and this reviewer was sucked into it.... but not originally.

First I had to see "The Devil's Rejects" which was Zombie's sequel to it. He did away with all the fantasy aspects and created one of (if not THE) best horror film of the decade so far. It was disturbing, refreshing, and felt like a great 70's film. It had the music, the editing, and the story build up of a great throw back to when horror was great.

So when it was announced he would be directing the remake of Halloween, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, it was Halloween! HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?! On the other hand, Zombie had stated his love for the film many times before being hired to the project. And a remake of one of my all time favorite movies of all time (Dawn of the Dead) had been pulled off very well with somebody who had a fresh eye to it. Zombie was also able to change his style with every movie so far, so I was contented.

Until I heard he had messed it up with his script. It was basically said that the script would be in 3 parts: Michael PRE-Asylum, Michael IN asylum and "the night HE came home." Okay okay, So I could live with that as long as he didn't mess with the story that much. Maybe he would show his family being worried because he never talks and seems very removed, then show Loomis becoming obsessed with him, so on and so forth.

Details about the script started being released and, to say the least, I was unhappy.

Then I was ecstatic to get my hands on the script. This was the first time I got a script that was hadn't been made yet, that, and the film wasn't even in production! So I was going to be able to sort of see how this remake of a film that I hold in such high regards was going to be done (note: this film is more a remake of parts I and II).

So how is it and how does it stack up against the feel of the original?

(NOTE: THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS AND IS OF AN EXTREMELY EARLY DRAFT)

Well... just okay.

What Zombie has really done here is shaped a film that is more a prequel to his character Otis Driftwood than to Michael Meyers. It is all about how Michael's family was a bunch of rednecks and hicks and how he was abused and hated his family.
You see, his motehr is a stripper, his real father is dead, his sister is always banging her boyfriend, and his step father abuses. Poor Michael. So sad for him.

In the very first scene in the film we see how he is already messed up as he takes out pictures of animals he has killed, plays audio of it, and masterbates in his room with "Black Sabbath" posters, cause he is evil, ya know.


We also see his school life. Michael is picked on and treated really terrible.

At school, children make fun of his mom for being a stripper and Michael snaps, beating the shit out of them. The principle finds pictures of Michael's mom that Michael has written very not nice things about her on (calling her a "whore" and a "slut"). They decide to send Michael off to a pyschiatric ward.


The next day is Halloween. After school, he follows two little girls home wearing his clown mask and takes them on a "short cut" and kills both of them. I absolutely loved this scene for two reasons: the way it was intended to be shot was from first person of Michael for a very long time, which is a Halloween trademark and it created a great deal of suspence. Michael also had NO reason to kill the little girls, except because he had a bad day, but that clearly isn't the motivation behind this. Once again, extremely Michael... then Zombie went his redneck way again and had Michael piss on their dead bodies... which killed that entire scene.

That night he is stuck at home with a clown mask, his sister fucking her boyfriend and his drunk stepdad. His mom isn't there cause she is off stripping. Michael gets the idea to kill them all. This scene, I loved from beginning to end. It does what a remake should do: stick to the original, but up the antee. It even supplies the orgin for the mask (his sister's boyfriend is wearing it when they have sex... not as stupid as it sounds when I type it here). This is, once again, first person up until the actual moment of the killings and it is really a great scene.

His mother returns home that night to see Michael covered in blood with a knife and the family dead. He is off to funny farm.

This first section of the film is what I have my main problems with. Simply for this reason: There is way too much to explain why Michael is a killing machine. Yes, the killing of the little girls is uncalled for, but that is it. Michael is a killing machine, trying to wipe out his family and whoever gets in his way of doing so. He has no explanation. He wasn't beaten, his mom wasn't a stripper. He grew up in a middle class family with middle class values. I mean, we see his parents come back in fancy clothing in the opening scene of the original. That is what has always been most scary about Michael, he comes from a neighborhood that most people do.

There he is looked over by Dr. Loomis. The scenes between Michael and Loomis are great and pop and sizzle. They are creepy and great. What Michael says, which isn't much, is creepy and very good.

We then get a montage of Michael growing up and Dr. Loomis becoming more and more aware that Michael is the embodiment of pure evil.

Michael is grown up and we discover that he has made a mask for every feeling he has... which gets to my problems with Loomis. Loomis is a dignified character that uses elegant words to express his feelings and what he is thinking. He would never say a line "even a mask for when he has to shit." Which is A) A stupid idea and B) A terrible line for Loomis. Loomis even says "fuck." I couldn't believe it. It was jarring because he had some very good dialouge, but there are moments that Zombie could do away with.

Then there is the night that Michael escapes from the Asylum. It is fast, brutal, but once more, because of something Zombie added, it is kills the mood of the scene. The way he does it is begin with a rape of a retarded girl that makes Michael very angry and he kills the two guys... as if he is doing it for good. This isn't the Michael who "has been looking forward to this date" this is a good michael who is doing the right thing... sort of. It really makes him an anti-hero in this scene, which Michael is not.

Then we get to the "night when he came home." Remember the original movie? Condence it all down to 30 to 45 minutes. Everything is the same, except without the creepy appearances of Michael. He comes and he reaks hell. Once more, Zombie knows how to create a really good, Halloween scene and then kill it.

The big climax is not just bad, it is laughable. You see, in an earlier scene when he was a child we see Michael connecting to a baby that he calls "Boo." Guess who "boo" grew up to be? That is right, Laurie Strode. It is a very good moment in the opening of the movie. Very nice foreshadowing of what is to come, but then it is blown to hell. When Michael finally confronts Laurie he starts saying "Boo" over and over again. Nothing more, nothing less. Just "Boo" "Boo" "Boo" "Boo" it is embarrassing. Especially when Michael basically begins to cry.

The film ends the same way as the original, except with home movie footage of Michael at the end.

So that is it, Rob Zombie's Halloween. Personally, there are many moments that I really liked in the script and that if Zombie cuts out certain things, will make the movie much better. He also better adapt Carpenter's style to the best of his abilities. I know that Zombie has kept the red-neck family thing, but hopefully it pans out better on the screen.

See ya next friday when he comes home once more.