At one point in Rob Zombie’s Halloween, a child asks his babysitter: “Laurie… is the boogeyman real?”

Yes, he is.

And that will polarize a lot of fans of the Halloween film franchise, first brought to life in 1978 when director John Carpenter and his co-writer and producing partner Debra Hill wanted nothing more than to make a few bucks on making a horror movie. They knew the genre was popular, and cheap to work in since “names” were not always a requirement. Halloween was a hit, and has since become an icon.

Whether or not it’s an untouchable icon is neither here nor there, because let’s face it horror fans: Every one of our beloved classics is going to be remade. Personally, if it’s got to be done, I’d rather see someone like Zombie do it than someone like Ulli Lommel. And poison my candy if you will, but the vintage Halloween is not a truly great film when you compare it to its contemporaries like The Exorcist, The Omen, The Shining, et al. It’s a meager-budget slasher flick, and probably the first one to successfully introduce the cookie-cutter teenagers-in-peril / silent masked can’t-die killer symbiosis we’ve had to endure ever since. That’s not to say I don’t love the original Halloween, because I certainly do… but I prefer a little more meat with my gristle.

And lest we forget, there have been some great remakes over the years – Carpenter himself probably leads the pack with his version of The Thing, but let’s include Dracula (Francis Ford Coppola), Scarface (Brian De Palma), Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese), and so on. In some ways, this version of Halloween is better than the original because it is a fuller-fledged, more assured, and unwaveringly cruel, harder film.

When I first heard that Zombie would be doing Halloween 9, I wasn’t quite sure what to think. Personally, I wanted to see what he could do with a non-horror film (though I suspect if he vacates the genre he’d still make something along the lines of Straw Dogs or The Marathon Man… brilliant and unblinkingly brutal.) A while later, the property became a remake under the tutelage of producer Malak Akkad. The Weinsteins wanted back story. It sounded as though there were a lot of fingers in the pumpkin pie. But as a diehard believer in the abilities of the writer/director, I went into the theater looking for a Rob Zombie film and not necessarily a Halloween movie.  

I got both.

Much of the narrative is spent getting to know who “the Shape” really is. The mythical murderer Michael Myers may be a bogeyman, but nobody will deny that even in Carpenter’s script he was born and had a family. Part of the allure was keeping all of this shrouded in mystery – but after eight Halloween movies, somebody had to upset the (razor-spiked) apple cart.

I will not reveal plot points or outline what happens, because even though you are reading this review I want you discover as much on your own as you possibly can. If you are familiar with Zombie’s work you know that his songs, music videos, books, and films are much like Russian nesting dolls, and Halloween is no exception. For instance, there’s a complete tonal shift partway through the movie which will throw some off -- but if you loved how Hostel went from Porky’s to Death Wish, or if you felt sympathy for the devils in The Devil’s Rejects at the end, you’ll totally get it.

If you revel in anarchy, you’ll be with Zombie as he teeters on the knife’s blade and flies in the face of fanboy convention. He tells you he’s going to do this in the movie trailer: “These eyes will deceive you – these are the eyes of a psychopath,” says Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell, less histrionic than Donald Pleasance in the role, but even more obsessed). We never saw Myers’ soul-mirrors in the other films. Zombie takes that and runs with it. He is gutsy as hell, and in my opinion a potential genius (time will tell, as he makes more movies… then again, look at what Orson Welles did with his very first movie, Citizen Kane …uh, no… I am not comparing House of 1000 Corpses to the big C.K.!). Like the sea change in the middle of the movie, Zombie not only gives convention the finger – he pays compliments to the original by using iconography anyone familiar with it will instantly see.

As usual in a Zombie flick, music is an extremely important component to the onscreen action. You’ll hear Alice Cooper’s Only Women Bleed, and BOC’s Don’t Fear the Reaper. Obvious? Hell, yeah. Apropos? Fuck, yes. And Tyler Bates’ take on the famous Halloween theme offers just the right balance between respect and originality.

The dialogue is rapier sharp (Bill Moseley gets the best lines, again!) but unfortunately they aren’t always delivered with the gravitas needed to carry them off. Yeah, I do have a few quibbles about Halloween – the acting is somewhat uneven and, like trick-or-treaters who keep on trickling in late into the night, it starts to wear out its welcome a bit. There are a few shoehorned scenes which clearly don’t fit in the bag, but they’re forgivable.

When it comes to the major roles, everyone is on-point. Especially newcomer Daeg Faerch as the 10-year-old Michael, and Sheri Moon-Zombie as his beleaguered mother, Deborah. Perhaps the most inexperienced actors in the cast, each shows a great deal of range. (As does Tyler Mane -- portraying the adult Michael -- albeit without dialogue.)

Zombie insists nothing was trimmed from the kill scenes (though a couple do seem somewhat, er, choppy) and that he had no trouble getting an R, so hopefully you will rest (un)assured after seeing Halloween… it is mean, nasty and vicious when it needs to be. (Danielle Harris, a Halloween movie alum, delivers the goods in her terrifying and harrowing encounter with Michael.)

I see so very many horror movies – daily –  that not much gets my pulse pounding anymore. But Rob Zombie’s Halloween did, on many levels. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a (doorbell) ringing endorsement.

= = =

Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

Also check out our exclusive video from the Halloween world premiere [1].