Halloween (2007) Review

"That is not appropriate babysitter behavior!"

-Tommy Doyle

A remake of the 1978 classic, this version of Halloween takes a closer look at the life of Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) before his initial murders and his stay in a mental institution as Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) tries and fails to help him.  Eventually, Michael escapes and proceeds to stalk his little sister, Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) on Halloween night.

What Works:

Halloween (2007) has some really strong casting choices.  Tyler Mane is hands-down the scariest Michael Myers.  He is 6 foot, 8 inches, and almost 300 pounds.  The guy is a tank and I would be terrified to go up against him.  Mane does a great job in the role and certainly left an impression.

Whoever came up with the idea to cast Malcolm McDowell as Dr. Loomis is, straight-up, a genius.  Apart from the late Donald Pleasence himself, I can't think of a better actor for the role.  McDowell is fantastic, as always, and delivers in every scene.

It's very fun that they bring back Danielle Harris, who played Jamie in the 4th and 5th movies, to play Annie Brackett.  I don't love her character, but Harris is one of the best parts of the Halloween series, so the more we get of her, the better.  Plus she lives and comes back in the next film.

My favorite part of this movie is the scenes of Michael in the mental institution.  I don't mind that we go back and take a look at Michael's backstory.  It's unnecessary, but not intrinsically a bad thing.  And while I don't like the scenes with Michael's family, the mental institution stuff fascinates me.  I like the back-and-white footage and narration of Dr. Loomis.  Their relationship is expanded upon in this film and we actually get to see that Dr. Loomis cared about Michael, at least for a time, unlike the original Dr. Loomis.

What Sucks:

This is a Rob Zombie movie, so that means the dialogue has a lot of swearing.  I don't mind swear words.  I swear like a sailor in my personal life, but the dialogue in this movie, and not just with Micael's family, is just too much.  It's over-the-top and uncomfortable to listen to at times.  Most of the time, I found it unnecessary.

This goes along with the problems I had with the majority of the characters.  Like I said, this is a Rob Zombie movie and, for whatever reason, he likes to put unlikable characters in his films.  Besides Dr. Loomis, Danny Trejo's character, and the kids Laurie and Annie babysit, I didn't like anyone in this film.  Many of the characters are gross and vile and the rest are frequently obnoxious, including Laurie.  Movies need to have characters that are either interesting or likable, if not both, and, for the most part, Halloween fails at this.

The majority of the second act is a pretty faithful reimagining of the original film, but done worse and faster.  The first half of this movie is very different, which is good, but the second act is too familiar.  All it does is remind me of the original, superior film, which is something to avoid when remaking a film.

Finally, the 3rd act goes on for way too long.  The chase between Michael and Laurie through the old Myers' house takes forever and becomes very tiresome.  You could have cut at least five minutes out of that sequence and achieved the same effect.

Verdict:

As far as horror remakes go, Halloween isn't bad.  Malcolm McDowell is excellent, is has the scariest Michael Myers, and the mental institution scenes are genuinely great, but the characters and the writing suck, the second act is too similar to the original film, and the 3rd act is too long, but it's still worth a watch.

 6/10: Okay