31 Days of Horror: Halloween

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 27, 2008

Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers(1988), Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998), Halloween: Resurrection (2002), Halloween (2007)

Synopsis: Michael Myers, the physical embodiment of evil, stalks his sister Laurie through the ages, dispatching babysitters, boyfriends, and anyone else in his way. The original, and still the best, follows Michael after he escapes an insanitarium and returns to Haddonfield and murders babysitters. In the sequel, it is revealed that Laurie Strode is his sister, spawning a variety of sequels dealing with this dysfunctional family.

Killer Scene: In the original, Michael Myers disguises himself with a bed sheet and a pair of glasses after pinning Bob to a wall with a kitchen knife. When confronting Bob’s girlfriend, she flashes Myers some breasts, which he apparently doesn’t enjoy.

KILLSHEET

Violence: Over the course of the series, nearly every act of violence you can think of is committed, from gunshots to frequent stabbings to beatings and beheadings. Rob Zombie’s competent remake ups the grit-factor and features some more explicit violence and bloodier deaths.

Sex: As one of the trendsetters, Halloween thankfully had some exposed breasts, a tradition that continued through most of the series. Rob Zombie’s version, of course, ups the exposure of breasts.

Scares: The original Halloween, if watched in the dark, with a careful eye, layers on the scares with a terrific and legendary score, Myers appearing in the background of dozens of frames, and an emotionless killer. Later installments moved away from a tense atmosphere and instead opted for Myers as a lumbering slasher.

Final Thoughts: Like so many classic horror franchises, the series has some missteps. The original John Carpenter-helmed flick stands up alarmingly well today – so much so the remake was greeted with boos from fans. However, a half-dozen pretty terrible sequels left the franchise dead in the water with little respect. Rob Zombie’s remake, while inferior to the original, may prove to be the saving grace of the franchise. The original flick is a stalwart of the genre, and it is the duty of everyone, not just horror fans, to watch it at least once.

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Chris

A near flawless work of art this movie is. "Near" only pointing to the stuff like palm trees in the background, and California license plates. But none of that is going to take away your enjoyment from this. It's good to see you mentioned the entire series as well Robert (I'm one of the freaks who likes part 3 almost as much as the first. Tom Atkins rules!).

I don't agree with your statement though about Zombie's film. It was a piss poor attempt (choose any other marketing buzz word for "remake" here) to bring the series into the 21st century, and it failed. Why did it fail? It lost everything that made the pre-remake series such a fun watch. I DON'T need to know why Myers is like he is. It's scarier when he's unexplained. I DON'T need violence placed into the movie. It's scarier to use your imagination. And I DON'T need strong characters replaced by cursing naked cutouts. The original gave you characters you could believe in, and root for. So much is wrong with Zombie's remake that I won't go into it any further. Believe me though, I could talk on it for hours (don't even get me started on the little blonde girl playing Michael as a child, and the fact said little blonde girl grows up to be an 8 foot tall brunette wrestler).

While I understand it's a "remake/re-imagining/re-boot/whatever", and was updated, it didn't seem to be thought out by Zombie. He had Michael, he had the mask, he had Loomis and the iconic music... throw a story that would've fit somewhere between parts 4-6 (read: terrible), loosely tie those things into your standard serial killer film, and viola! Instant Halloween remake. It didn't even "feel" like Halloween for God's sake.

Okay, I'll stop now. But I will admit I enjoyed the documentary of the making of the movie. If that would've been released into theaters, I would've given Zombie a passing grade.

Don B

While it was nowhere near as good as the original,I liked Zombie's version.I can't disagree with any particular point Chris made, but still I liked it somehow.I do think a remake was in order.Two years ago my wife and I went to see the original at a local theatre(she had never seen it on the big screen).There were a lot of teenagers in attendance that night.They were laughing at the movie and yelling out "BORING!" several times during the film.It was then that I realized that today's generation views "Halloween" not as the great film that it is, but rather as some old movie that their parents like.

personals3317

this is very crazt that i seen michael myers,
i would not go by him or closet to him at all.
that is crazy as hell.

venturis roberson

beasten boy

fogive me for saying this but i kinda thinks he is a beast!!!!!!!! when i dont look at the people he killed.

31 Days of Horror: Halloween

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