I don't really know how to review this film because my feelings are very mixed, on one hand this is an ugly, brutal, degrading, depressing, revolting and vile film, but on the other hand it is so well made on a technical level, he sure knows how to compose his shots and give a unique look to his films, and if Rob Zombie's intention was to make me feel ill, sad, and unclean and depressed he succeeded.

The story is like the original in a way, except we get to know Micheal Myers as a child.  he lives in a horrible household with a bitch for a sister, a horrible step dad and a stripper mom, who in fact is the only character that has any compassion.  Michael likes to torture and kill animals, and after getting bullied one too many times brutally murders one of the bullies.  then shortly after he sadisticly kills his step dad, his sister, and her boyfriend.

he is now sent to an institution where he is looked after Dr. loomis.  Michael can't remember what he did, and after a while he stops talking, then murders a nurse.

17 years later he grows up, and boy does he grow, he is massive, like 7 feet tall, and he kills his way out of the sanitarium.

from this point on it is like the original, just more brutal and ugly.

What's good about this movie is the technical stuff, it is very well shot, the look is great, it also has the best movie soundtrack ever, the Halloween theme is also played throughout, plus they keep a few lines from the original.  the acting is pretty god for the most part and there are a couple real genuine scares.

On the negative this movie made me feel physically and emotionally ill, the first 45 are painful to watch mostly cause how this family talks to one another, it's all fuck you, go fuck yourself, you jerking that rat off kinda stuff, i felt unclean.

The last 30 min of the film is all climax, one thing after another after another after another and it doesn't let up, it consists mostly of the torture, mutilation and killings of teenage girls, some of which is just degrading, one scene is borderline snuff, a girl is mutilated in horrific ways and left alive, I had to turn away, and I have a super strong stomach, but i felt this was just to much, her breasts cut open, stabbed several times, the camera holds on her as she whimpers and cries in pain.

Then comes the last 15-20 seconds that are burned into my head, it is just so awful and ugly.  Everyone leaving the theater after didn't talk, didn't look at each other, just had their heads hung low.

So in the end I don't know what my feelings are, this is well made and well put together, but it is just so ugly and degrading that it made me feel ill.  

This film was..alright I guess.

The film itself is good. But when I compare it to the original, its got nothing. Sheri-Moon Zombie sucks at acting, why does Rob ALWAYS have to use her. He would of been better using someone else.

Daeg isn't brilliant either, but he's still young. Has time to blossom.

I HATE THE ENDING. Oh my god is the ending crap..not going to spoil it for anybody. But this is probably the WORST ever.

I found it to be "simply ok"

Nothing great, nor was it as awful as some other horror remakes.

I agree the ending was a huge let down.

I also hated the new Dr. Loomis character.

It was kinda distracting with all the cameos lol Instead of focusing in on the film I would think "oh hey!  It's Bill Mosley!  Oh hey!  It's Danny Trejo or Ken Forre!" lol

Anyway if you see it, see it during the afternoon so you won't have to pay full price.

I found it good. I had a foot long review for it but I accidentally deleted it. Bummer.

The actors, except for (shockingly) Malcom McDowell were very good. And myers himself, boy am I speechless.

In the original, Loomis kept ranting about how Myers was "pure evil" and that worked for some people, but to me, he just struck me as a horny perv who wanted some teenage booty and got his ass handed to him.

What was scary about the original was not Myers himself, but the creepy, masterful atmosphere that JC created around him.

In this version of Halloween, I found Myers to be a lot, and I mean a lot scarier than in the original movie. Why? Because we get to see just how vile he really was before he reaches Laurie, instead of just seeing Loomis saying "he's pure evil, he's the devil!". I got a feeling he was actually dangerous this time and I found my heart beating faster when he was stalking the girls (who, by the way, were extremely likeable and natural). Besides, he wasn't Dahmer here, he WAS pure evil in this film too. Even living his white trash life, he still had little or no motive to do what he did. He wasn't anymore human here than in the original.

There were some unintentionally funny scenes, such as Danny Trejo's murder. And I didn't like "Love Hurts" playing one time. It seemed awkward. But overall, I loved the tone of this movie.

I also saw Lindsey Wallace as comedic relief, although maybe that's just me. But she was played nicely, either way.

And  James, I really don't mean to imply in any way that you might be a wimp or anything of the sort so please don't take offense, but the violence here was not as strong as you said at all. Rob Zombie still insists on having most of his character cuss and have sex, and he exploits that, but this time, I did not feel he expoited violence in the least.    

All I have to say is this should not be compared to the original film. Rob was right. It's not a remake, it is an alternate take on Halloween, which I liked.

Really, Rob has the potential to be one of the greatest directors out there today. But, he NEEDS to stop being so obscene. It shows in his films. There were three sex scenes in this movie where ONE, just ONE would've been enough (although I in part thank him for this, because I finally got to see Danielle Harris nude O__O). He should tone down the sex and cussing, and he'd be just amazing.

--Julio

Quoted from ReaperCreeper And  James, I really don't mean to imply in any way that you might be a wimp or anything of the sort so please don't take offense, but the violence here was not as strong as you said at all. Rob Zombie still insists on having most of his character cuss and have sex, and he exploits that, but this time, I did not feel he expoited violence in the least.

It's Jordan, not James...LOL, and it wasn't the violence I had a problem with, I think most people here know I'm a gore hound, I love blood and guts in the movies, and the violence wasn't exploitive, it was how the camera just sits and holds shots of young mutilated girls suffering, after about 10 seconds we get the point, we don't need a couple minutes of watching them suffer, and almost every girl is killed in the nude or just after having sex.  I also don't have a problem with swearing at all, I curse like a son of a bitch, but how these people talk to one another just made me feel sad.  Also when Michael finally snaps, it just happens, he's eating candy, then gets up, grabs a knife and starts killing.  An what is with the step dad being all crippled, How did that happen, we aren't told, I think it was just a ploy so that Michael could kill him easily, cause if the guy wasn't all banged  up he would have been able to stop him, I though that was kind of an easy way out, why not show us what happened.  Also Michael is not as scary in this one like in the original, he is just a monster, not a man, he is far to big, and the fact we are supposed to empathize with him doesn't work, when he kidnaps Laurie and then kneels down in front of her and gives her the picture of them when they were small, that was kind of cheap.  And these girls were not like able, they were just foul mouthed little sluts, in fact the only sympathetic character was Michael's mother, she seemed like the only person who cared about anything.  The movie was just such a downer, so was the original but it wasn't such an ugly world it took place in, and all the girls seemed like real girls, here they are caricatures.  I did love all the music though, I gotta get the soundtrack, some great stuff there.

Awful movie.  It made Michael the protagonist.  He even has to kill himself in the end because no one else was worthy to.  If you felt dirty after watching it, you should.  You were made to cheer for the guy that senselessly murders everyone within arms reach.

It wasn't scary.  It was Michael's POV.  You see Michael.  You see him walk up and kill someone.  Strangle them.  Beat them with a baseball bat. Stab them 20 times.  Etc.  The movie killed the suspense that makes a horror movie a horror movie.  There were no scary moments.  No moments where you went "Turn around" (though you might have screamed, "STOP WHINING ALREADY, YOUR GIVING ME A HEADACHE").

The acting... the dialog... of the characters... made you want everyone to die.  It was depressing.  You didn't cheer for anyone.  And by the last fight scene you just wanted it over and that was when they decided to drag it out.  And drag it out.  And drag it some out some more.

Ugh.  11 million, box office record.  ugh.  

"and all the girls seemed like real girls, here they are caricatures."

I thought it was backwards. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up in that time. I'm sorry, but girls like the original Laurie are rare these days, and I've heard some people say that even back in the late seventies, Laurie was not a realistic character.

Most girls cuss like crazy these days. I don't think so, I know so. I'm with them everyday. They obviously don't do it in front of their parents (although some do), but they do it. The way they spoke here is the way they really speak among friends, not the sugar-coated conversations you hear in most movies.

Oh, and sorry about your name. lol.

"There were no scary moments.  No moments where you went "Turn around""

lol. Tell that to my audience, Dethan. It wasn't just the young fans screaming, it was about half the people there. And no one seemed displeased with the movie.

Either way, I liked the new Laurie better than the original Laurie. The old Laurie was too perfect for my taste. She didn't do a thing wrong and she knew exactly how to fend off Michael. The new one is more innocent in the sense that she's completely helpless against the beast that is Michael.

I also found the new Michael scarier, but not at all because he was bigger, but because we saw how demented he was during the first half of the film. Those "POV kills" you speak of served their purpose for me. When he escapes from the loony bin, the Michael's POV murders are gone,  and Michael is complete. This is were I realized this version of Michael far surpassed the old one.

But even this imrpoved Michael couldn't make up for the atmosphere in this movie. The original is heaps better in that aspect. Rob Zombie uses too many Rock songs.

I also felt he kind of screwed up on the sex and cussing. Like I said before, cussing, and even excessive cussing, is okay, but...damn--Here it was like Rob thought the world would end if he didn't include the word " fuck " every fifteen seconds.

The sex also made the movie suffer. By the time the long-awaited Danielle scene came up, people were fed up with the sex. Rob needs to learn to use less of it in his movies. Hell, I'm a teenager, and even I thought it got annoying.

All in all, I wouldn't compare his movie with the old one. Halloween '78 is a great Horror movie not without its faults, and Halloween '07 is a great Horror movie not without its faults. Comparing them is pointless. Zombie said since the begginning that it would not be like the original movie. If you went in expecting a clone of the original, you should've known better.

This was a good movie, and better than EVERY single Halloween sequel there ever was. Halloween '07 and Halloween '78 are tied up in my book.

  

--Julio

  

My audience left to a mantra of about 12 people going "That was soo stupid." "yeah, stupid." "really stupid."  "Yeah that was sooo stupid."  Oh, and one going "That was soo stupid, a KISS fan wouldn't kill people."  I kid you not.  I don't remember a single person screaming, and that was a sold out IMAX showing.  Not that audience reactions mean a thing.  I really don't know why you bring up the audience screaming.  Everyone in the audience screamed during Black Chrismas when I saw it.  That doesn't make the movie good.  In fact, Black Chrismas is comparable to the requel of Halloween.  They both suck.  Halloween, to be honest, a bit more so then Black Christmas.

Michael wasn't demented at the start.  He killed a bully.  He had a reason to kill the bully.  And after 45 minutes of white trash rants, his dad and sister deserved what they got too.  He spared his innocent sister and his mom. Again, he is acting rationally.  Sure, it isn't how you should react, but you sympathize with him.

I hated the first 45 minutes because white trash dialog gets tedious after five unless your drunk.  I wasn't.

And cheerleaders don't talk exactly like a white trash family.  So, yes, the dialog sucked because all the characters sounded alike.  And, in this case, that means they sounded like drunken bikers with the exception of lines lifted from the original.  Those lines stood out amid the muck because you could tell someone put some thought into them.  Given the dialog, the two kids that were being baby sat were the smartest people in the entire movie.  You know, so realistic.

As for the appearance of what could be called a POV shift - you are reading too much into it.  Zombie had to switch POV to tell the original story in any reasonable way.  He needed to cut to the doctor and Laurie.  Also, he had to set up the kill scenes.  Michael's POV returned once the setup was over... until the final fight sequence which was a cross between an homage to the original and Laurie's POV.  Just done badly.

I didn't hate this movie like dethan did, but i can totally understand why someone would hate this movie, I don't even think it's a bad one, but the movie made me feel bad, but the point about the cheerleaders is dead on, they do not talk this filthy, sure they say fuck and shit and stuff like this, but it is brought to a whole other level here.  This movie is supposed to take place in the burbs, not a trailer park, and even trailer park girls don't talk like that (I know a few of em, just don't ask me why).

I do think this is a well made film, but it's just so damn ugly and hateful, especially towards women.  I think with Rob's direction under another writer it would have worked better.

I agree writing isn't Rob's strong suit. I think he had a lot of good ideas that fell flat here. But I did think the film was overall well worth the ticket, despite of that.

Alright, here's a better review then my lazy one earlier.

I'll start off with saying, if you thought that the three characters were going to be sluts besides Laurie. Then your wrong as hell. Most of the girls these days are sluts that constently say curse words. Trust me, i've dated a few of them. I felt that Laurie's character was BETTER in this new one. She was good, but a jackass at the same time.

I didn't like the first two acts of Michael's childhood. Most of it wasn't needed. They should of made the second and third act of Michael's homecoming. I mean the first act is suppose to be twenty, thirty minutes. Thats plenty of time.

The nudity and gore didn't bother me either. Most people say "Thats stupid, look at the original, they didn't have that much stuff". Well considering they didn't have enough money to add in blood, and they had just as much sex as they did in this one. They just didn't reveal as much.

The acting overall was horrible. The only good acting came from Scout, Trejo, and Danielle. The rest pretty much sucked at acting. And thats not counting MOST of the cameo's. And before you ask, I don't consider Trejo's appearance a cameo.

Overall this film was worth my money and time. I felt like it was better then most of the sequels coughs *resurrection, H5*. I did jump in the few scenes, and scared in some others. I was really surprised I was scared at all.

***/*****

I heard Udo Kier's character was a lot more than a cameo in the workprint, and he was very good (no matter if it's a big budget movie or a trashy sci-fi channel flick, he's always good) and Sid Haig didn't even appear. Rob sure likes re-hiring his friends, eh? I think the entire main cast form House/Rejects made an appeareance here.

--Julio

Well it's been a few days since I seen it, sometimes after I see a movie my emotions take over and I may not like it as much as I should have, this happened with the last die hard, I was angry after I saw it, but after a few days I ended up liking it a lot.  In this case however it is not true, I even dislike it even more.

I think the biggest problem with the film is the ugly and depressing tone of it.  What made the original so great was it took everyday people in the everyday world and then threw in this element of pure evil which made it so much more frighting, all the characters were realistic.  In this one however everyone is vile and disrespectful to one another.  First of all what kinda family talks to one another like the people in this film, it's just filled with emotional abuse, I thought you're supposed to love one another, maybe it's me, maybe it was the way I was brought up with the crazy notion of do unto others, that could very well be the case.

So after the first half of the film I thought maybe it would go back into reality, but it doesn't, the people are still vile, the characters are degrading to one another,  I mean there are still good people , and there still are 16 and 17 year old virgin's out there, I can pretty much bet all of them on this site are.   So when Michael shows up it isn;t scary, just depressing.  I have never really known a town like this Haddonfield, where everyone talks trash and treats each other with such disrespect, I know there will always be a few people like that, but everyone?  In the end I found this still to be a very hateful and depressing movie.

I cant really talk on this too much as I have yet to see the theatrical version ( have to wait until October over here ) but I know what you mean regarding the characters.
The family aspect, I can handle. It's a dysfunctional unit to say the least and I have no doubts these families do exist. Well, I know they do. My gripe with this was it had to be in a Halloween flick, but hey. I think the best approach would have been a normal loving family and a normal kid that just then flips out. That is a lot more frightening to me then what was given.
But back to your point and yes, every character in this movie apart from Loomis, Brackett and Trejo's character had some vile aspect about them where you just wished Myers would carve them up and be done with it. I think the film suffered some major problems in the editing area from what I have read and heard about and Dimension are notorious for making late and drastic changes.
But Lynda, in particular, was probably the worst. She was the basic "Im the bad girl so kill me now" character. Rob Zombie is even on record as saying he hates the Halloween sequals for making faceless victims. Well, sorry Rob but you made a film full of them. Bob and Paul for example. Did we even see Paul's face?

From what I have seen, I enjoyed. I like the tone and mood but it all gets a little jumbled. The sanitarium scenes are my favourites and I think McDowell did a very good job as did Daeg Faerch. Sherri Moon Zombie was pretty horrific at the start but by the end of act two, I thought she did a really good job.

There is potential in this, and since I have not seen the proper version I cant really compare. But I enjoyed what I watched.

"Did we even see Paul's face?"

LOL! You're right. I just saw some blonde hair and he got killed. He didn't even get to have any dialogue XD

I have only seen the theatrical verison, but I've heard people say teh workprint is better, you want me to tell you some of the differences before you go see it?