Halloween Franchise (1978-?)

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Fletch F. Fletch · #26 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:12 pm

Michael wrote:I thought so too but I'm going to wait and see it for myself. I just hope that Rob's not taking the same route as Gus Van Sant. Rob is an okay, no-biggie director. House of 1000 Corpses is so lame except for the fabulous Karen Black and the stunning underground sequence. The Devil Rejects is slightly better but not a movie I'd watch again.

I partially agree with you. House was "okay" and had its moments but Rejects was a definite jump in quality on every level and showed Zombie with a much better command of craft. Plus, I admire the fact that he refuses to wallow in the torture porn that is all the rage nowadays with all these up-and-coming horror directors. Not to mention, Rejects had an awesome southern rock soundtrack.

scalesojustice · #27 Post by **scalesojustice** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:32 pm

i would take it a bit further to say that devil's rejects was horrifyingly hilarious. i would have loved if zombie continued to grow the violent tongue-in-cheek approach, instead we get a pointless remake. yawn.

DrewReiber · #28 Post by **DrewReiber** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:27 pm

scalesojustice wrote:i would take it a bit further to say that devil's rejects was horrifyingly hilarious. i would have loved if zombie continued to grow the violent tongue-in-cheek approach, instead we get a pointless remake. yawn.

Agreed. I'm far more interested in The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, by Mr. Lawrence & Zombie. I'm sure this time next year people will frequently make comments to the effect of, "I wish he made Werewolf Women of the S.S. instead."

Antoine Doinel · #29 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:48 pm

Here's the trailer.

toiletduck! · #30 Post by **toiletduck!** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:59 pm

Pointless or not, that got me excited. All of the problems (which aren't terribly many) that I have with Zombie's work is that he seems a little overzealous at times, which is an admirable flaw. But he seems to be settling into his style as time goes on (for example, the last shot of the trailer -- Zombie is a whiz with the pregnant pause, and he seems to be embracing his fortes). If there's gonna be a remake of Halloween, he's one of the few modern horror directors I would put faith in to do it up right.

-Toilet Dcuk

#31 Post by **Mr Sausage** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 7:26 pm

Well, that was filled with the usual trailer tricks: the annoying jarring cuts and screetch noises, ect. But those isolated moments where you can see the 'movie itself' were thrilling. It's too bad, tho', that Zombie chose to show Myer's eyes while he wears the mask. That mask is at its most unnerving and frightening when it is a white, blank, souless face, without that glimpse of humanity. There is a reason he is credited in the first movie as "the Shape." At least, I think it mitigates the mask's effectivness.

Antoine Doinel · #32 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:51 pm

Though I'm not particularly a horror film enthusiast, I do like the "classic" visual aesthetic Zombie seems to be bringing to the film. I hope the gritty feel of the film stock isn't just for the trailer and is actually carried over to the film.

lord_clyde · #33 Post by **lord_clyde** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 10:43 am

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:
Michael wrote:I thought so too but I'm going to wait and see it for myself. I just hope that Rob's not taking the same route as Gus Van Sant. Rob is an okay, no-biggie director. House of 1000 Corpses is so lame except for the fabulous Karen Black and the stunning underground sequence. The Devil Rejects is slightly better but not a movie I'd watch again.
I partially agree with you. House was "okay" and had its moments but Rejects was a definite jump in quality on every level and showed Zombie with a much better command of craft. Plus, I admire the fact that he refuses to wallow in the torture porn that is all the rage nowadays with all these up-and-coming horror directors. Not to mention, Rejects had an awesome southern rock soundtrack.

Yeah, I remember someone recommended Elizabethtown, telling me it had the most memorable scene involving the song 'Freebird'. Afterward I laughed and said a flaming paper mache bird was no match for the ending of The Devils Rejects.

John Cope · #34 Post by **John Cope** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:40 pm

Here's a particularly well considered response to the teaser, from PopMatters.

I agree with this statement especially:

A study of this new teaser trailer indicated a less stylized, more aggressive approach to the Michael Myers story.

That's exactly what struck me about it as well. And that's my hope for it to distinguish it from the rest. Though I'm no big horror fan I do have a soft spot for the Halloween franchise; this may have a lot to do with the many years of my life bouncing around similar small town environs in Illinois but it also has to do with the evocation of that small town atmosphere and its archetypal qualities. Then there's also the establishment of a palpable good-evil dichotomy that's less fashionable now but gave the arc of these pictures an almost mythic weight and stature. The best of the sequels (Return, for instance) has a bearing in real experience that contributes to the impact of the horror--add to that the truly disturbing ending for Return which was quickly glossed over at the beginning of the godawful Revenge lest anyone be unduly upset.

Carpenter's original was stylized in the way Gibron indicates; it had an agenda which demanded that the monster be kept in shadow and turned into more of an abstract. The purpose for that, and its subsequent effects, have been lost along the way, so really any "re-imagining" at this point is better than yet another hollow retread ("Trick or treat, motherfucker!" indeed). After the brilliant Devil's Rejects I trust that Zombie does actually have a vision for this and the teaser bears that out. What's most striking is the way Michael is presented to us straight away in these "glimpses" as direct and confrontational; his physical presence is imposing and unyielding. There is something much more aggressively oppressive being emphasized here, I suspect, and that's a fine, fruitful new direction.

BTW, I always found the titles of the Halloween pictures useful as a means of demonstrating to others just how general audiences are perceived by studios. After II and III we got 4 and 5 and then, once people were out of digits to count on, the numbers were dropped altogether and we ended up with KFC, excuse me, H20.

addz · #35 Post by **addz** » Fri May 11, 2007 3:30 am

Apparantly, Dimension are gonna keep milking this cow. Yep, that's right; they plan to make at least two more. Let's be honest though, who didn't see this coming?

patrick · #36 Post by **patrick** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:20 pm

The PopMatters critique is on point, I'm greatly relieved to see that Zombie has brought his grimy exploitation style to this instead of simply aping Carpenter's film. I just don't see why this film needed to be remade in the first place, seeing as the original story is a prime example of "high concept" thinking and isn't particularly interesting in and of itself. A disturbed boy kills his sister and returns years later to kill again - the plot doesn't catch me, but Carpenter's mastery does. Still, I'll go check this out because Zombie has a touch for creating truly disturbing moments, as opposed to most of his peers who can only reach for shock value.

My obligatory two complaints:

1. Why the hell is this coming out exactly a month before Halloween? With the state of things today, if this doesn't come out of the gate strong it might be out of theaters before the end of October. I know Devil's Rejects only played for 2 or 3 weeks around here.

2. Malcom McDowell was a terrific choice for the Loomis role, but did he have to wear that goofy beard?

Antoine Doinel · #37 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Sat May 12, 2007 10:54 pm

patrick wrote:Why the hell is this coming out exactly a month before Halloween? With the state of things today, if this doesn't come out of the gate strong it might be out of theaters before the end of October. I know Devil's Rejects only played for 2 or 3 weeks around here.

Yeah, I was wondering about that too but I did some digging and October is already crowded with horror films. Saw IV (despite its shittiness, a highly successful franchise), The Eye (Japanese remake with Jessica Alba) and 30 Days Of Night (vampire flick with Josh Hartnett) have all secured October weekends.

Given that Halloween: Resurrection grossed a profitable, but hardly exciting $30 million (opening even more oddly in the middle of July), Dimension is probably playing it safe by releasing the film and the end of the summer.

Roger_Thornhill · #38 Post by **Roger_Thornhill** » Sun May 13, 2007 12:47 am

I'm going to give Zombie the benefit of the doubt on this one, I may have hated House Of A 1000 Corpses but I absolutely loved The Devil's Rejects. Although I can't help but think that it would've been a better move for Zombie to make another original like The Devil's Rejects instead of remaking one of the all-time classic horror movies.

Narshty · #39 Post by **Narshty** » Mon May 14, 2007 3:54 am

That trailer does look pretty great. It seems to have some sort of crazed vision behind it rather than the bland aggressive-sadistic pap that passes for horror films these days.

Has anyone else mentioned that Udo Kier is in this?

blindside8zao · #40 Post by **blindside8zao** » Wed May 23, 2007 10:21 pm

I'm really glad that there are other people on here that agree on Zombie. I've never been a fan of the music and greatly dislike house of 1000 corpses but Devil's Rejects was definetly better than most of the horror garbage coming out nowadays. After seeing the trailer I think
Zombie and Halloween will be a good match. All I want is a satisfying theater experience and I think this will probably deliver.

colinr0380 · #41 Post by **colinr0380** » Thu May 24, 2007 12:47 pm

Narshty wrote:Has anyone else mentioned that Udo Kier is in this?

Yes, but don't forget he was in Feardotcom too

(even if he was in the best part of it!)

Antoine Doinel · #42 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:43 pm

The film has gone under some last minute reshoots, with a new ending and six new death sequences.

malcolm1980 · #43 Post by **malcolm1980** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 11:30 pm

Carpenter's Halloween is a masterpiece. I know Rob Zombie's horror movies have a pretty good following but I know he's just going to make the violence and gore more explicit. One of the things which really appealed to me in the original is it's virtual lack of gore and it's reliance on atmosphere and suspense to create the scariness.

colinr0380 · #44 Post by **colinr0380** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:13 am

Isn't that one more death sequence than the original film had?

Awesome Welles · #45 Post by **Awesome Welles** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 8:24 am

Antoine Doinel wrote:The film has gone under some last minute reshoots, with a new ending and six new death sequences.

Sounds like a revision for the current torture porn vogue.

Roger_Thornhill · #46 Post by **Roger_Thornhill** » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:27 pm

FSimeoni wrote:
Antoine Doinel wrote:The film has gone under some last minute reshoots, with a new ending and six new death sequences.
Sounds like a revision for the current torture porn vogue.

I think Michael Myers is too stupid to understand the intricacies of well- executed torture porn, but, perhaps Zombie's Myers is a bit more intelligent than the Carpenter Myers?

Antoine Doinel · #47 Post by **Antoine Doinel** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:52 am

New trailer.

scalesojustice · #48 Post by **scalesojustice** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:10 am

You know, other than the shots ripped straight from the original, Zombie's highly-stylized presentation doesn't do the film any favors. that trailer looks like a "cooler" version of the last Michael Meyers romps. Meyers busting through walls, doors, walking, etc. and the faux film wear/color wash was atrocious.

the reason the original is still terrifying is its subtlety. it's strength is in understatement, which gives it that classic feeling of horror in anytown, USA. However, i am interested in seeing this new "vision." then again the vision might just be like watching the original with a 2000-era grime and gore filter.

i still say that Zombie should stick to his own projects and grow as a director (which devil's rejects showed he could), rather than taking a step back and trying to work with existing cinematic elements.

Person · #49 Post by **Person** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 4:40 pm

I am not impressed.

What made and makes John Carpenter's, Halloween special is its simplicity, unpretentiousness and elegant style. It is a story of evil incarnate, but Michael Myers is not a monsterous, Lovecraftian thing and that is what makes it unique. The way that Myers looks, walks, moves and kills is skillful and elegant and the overall filming style complements that, with great use of Steadicam, dollies, cranes, etc. And the score is minimal, yet highly effective. This remakes seems bombastic, grimey and hints at being gorey.

Halloween is yet another horror film that did not need to be remade. Enough, already.

toiletduck! · #50 Post by **toiletduck!** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:06 pm

Person wrote:The way that Myers looks, walks, moves and kills is skillful and elegant...

Really? I would've said stubborn and single-minded. And meant them as compliments.

-Toilet Dcuk