Susan Granger’s review of “Halloween” (Dimension Films)
Ron Zombie’s “re-imagining” of John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978) has made a killing at the box-office so it’s impossible to ignore.
The story delves deeper into what turned young Michael Myers into a psychopathic killer. And – guess what? – it’s his dysfunctional family.
There’s his stripper mother (Sheri Moon Zombie), abusive stepfather (William Forsythe), trampy older sister (Hanna Hall) and baby sister – most of whom 10 year-old Michael (Daeg Faerch) dispatches in a variety of nasty ways, sparing only mom and the baby. Michael is sent to a maximum-security sanitarium under the watchful eye of Dr. Sam Loomis, a child psychologist (Matthew McDowell). But rehabilitation doesn’t happen; Michael won’t talk and has a mask fetish, creating Leatherface out of papier-mache. So it’s no surprise that, 16 years later, when he’s being moved to another facility on Halloween, now grown-up Michael (former pro wrestler Tyler Mane) escapes, leaving hacked-up corpses in his wake.
Back in Haddonfield, he discovers that baby sis, Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton, ineptly replacing Jamie Lee Curtis), has been adopted, so he goes on another killing spree, eliminating her best friends – both boys and girls – much to consternation of the sheriff (Brad Dourif) and Dr. Loomis. This mayhem is accentuated by Tyler Bates’ generically creepy score. Curiously, there’s no visual allusion to the Halloween celebration – no carved pumpkins, no trick ‘n’ treaters.
It’s said rock star-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie (“House of 1000 Corpses,” “The Devil’s Rejects”) spent only about $15 million, but Bob Weinstein, co-founder of the Weinstein Co., doubts that there will be another sequel: “I never say never, never.but it would have to be something very different.” On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Halloween” slashes its way to a violent 3, making mincemeat of far better films at the multiplex.
