Movie Review: Halloween (2007)

Who’s in it? The Rob Zombie-directed movie stars Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Danielle Harris, Bill Moseley, Danny Trejo and Tyler Mane as Michael Myers.

My wife and I originally saw this movie when it came out in theaters in 2007. I have since seen it a couple more times and, this past week, had a copy of it sent to me through Netflix so we could watch it again. This is because, in my personal opinion at least, this movie sets the standard for movie remakes, especially horror film remakes.

I have honestly never been overly impressed with the 1978 version of this film. It admittedly had its moments. But, like many John Carpenter movies, it takes too long to get started.

This film does exactly what a remake should. It kept the same concept as the original, modernized it so a younger generation could relate and added enough original content to the film to make it a completely different movie. The last part of that is something I do like because I really don’t want to pay to see a movie and find out it’s just a copy of a movie I could get on DVD.

One thing I really like about this particular version of this film is the way it gives the viewer a better glimpse at Michael Myers’ past. By having the 10-year-old version of him (played by Daeg Faerch), it’s much easier to understand his motivations as an adult. Well, at least to an extent. I’m still not 100 percent certain if he pursues Laurie/Angel (Taylor-Compton) because he still cares for her as much as he did when he was a kid of if he’s just looking to finish something the started 15 years earlier but, by knowing she’s his sister (something that was not revealed in the original version of this movie), it’s much easier to understand why she is the focus of his attentions.

Another nice benefit of revealing details about his childhood is the movie doesn’t make you wait for something to happen as the original did. Horror movies are much scarier if they actually show the gruesome event, not just talk about it while waiting for something else to happen.

Something that really surprised me about this film the first time we saw it at the theater was the intensity of the murder scenes. After years of movies like this, I’ve grown a bit desensitized. However, some of murders from this film (especially when he slaughters two of Laurie’s friends) are very memorable and even had me feeling a little bit squeamish the first time I saw them. Yet, at the same time, they don’t seem like gratuitous blood and gore either. Unlike so many other movies in this genre, he does seem to have a legitimate reason behind his murders ranging from needing clothes to being upset someone was in his house.

As I said before, the 1978 original does have its moments too. However, I do prefer this version of the movie and think it is one of the best movie remakes I have seen, especially in the horror movie genre. I recommend taking the time to watch it if you haven’t seen it before.

My Grade: A