Halloween (2007)

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While the original series of 'Halloween' flicks coexist with the two latest (soon to be three), here's where we take a major detour and have a look at Michael Myers' story from Rob Zombie's eyes. By this point, Zombie was known for directing his own music videos, and the horrific duality of 'House of 1000 Corpses' and 'The Devil's Rejects'. Personally speaking, I wasn't big on either one, but I can't really deny that Zombie seemed to set a new sort of bar for horror. If he's out to make you uncomfortable, he certainly succeeds. It's just that it's the overall discomfort he provides that causes a disconnect for me. Once again, I respect the guy, I love his music, but I often wonder if anyone ever gave him a hug as a child.

The idea behind Zombie's version of 'Halloween' is more of an origin story. This is something I've always personally liked, because I feel like horror origin is never really touched on. But I mean a full origin movie, like this. 2010's 'Elm Street' movie wasn't that, nor was 2009's 'Friday the 13th'. We never get to see the killer pre-supernatural powers. I've always thought something like a Springwood Slasher movie would be great (origin of Freddy for those unfamiliar). But I digress. This is maybe the one movie by Rob Zombie that I actually like. It pulls off a full origin story with Michael Myers as well as follow through with the horrific events of one fateful Halloween night

The film opens one unspecified Halloween night (although it's later supposedly implied to be circa 1990), ten year old Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) goes on a bit of a killing spree after showing signs of psychopathic aggression. While the original film has him take out his older sister, this one shows a domino effect where Michael starts with his bully (Daryl Sabara), moves on to his sister, Judith (Hanna Hall), Judith's boyfriend, Steve (Adam Weisman), and his mothers abusive boyfriend, Ronnie (William Forsythe). He's eventually found guilty of first degree murder, sent to Smith's Grove Sanitarium, and is placed under the care of Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell).

As the film continues, we see how Michael copes while he slowly seems to unravel over the next fifteen years. His biggest hobby is making papier-mâché masks, and at least to me, this is all interesting. It's kind of like knowing how badly a serial killer's reign of terror went and knowing everything the person did, then watching that person in a true crime interview of some sort years later. That said, it's perfectly understandable for this to be upsetting to fans, as so much of Michael Myers was mystery to begin with. It was all about never knowing what made him tick... that is until all that cult crap came into play. Anyway, I may be the odd one out, but that's how it is for me.

Eventually, of course, Michael escapes and we get a new version of the events that happened one Halloween night between Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton), Annie Brackett (Danielle Harris - the same girl from 'Return' and 'Revenge', all grown up) and Lynda Van Der Klok (Kristina Klebe). The rest is pretty much the same as the original with a few odds and ends altered to suit Zombie's vision. It's probably my personal fave of any of his films, but I have to admit that I understand being the odd one out on that. I suppose it comes down to a matter of taste in the end. 'Halloween' 1978 will always be the untouchable classic, but I appreciated this as a remake​.

Rebooted Body Count: 24
​Rebooted Total: 24

3/5

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