Rob Zombie's 'Halloween' - Opinions?

Hey all,

I just finished the unrated DVD version of Rob Zombie's Halloween. I thought it was pretty good overall.

I do think that Rob is better at directing gut-churning horror than the suspense that the original Halloween had. If Rob Zombie is going to direct a remake of a classic horror movie, he would be better at something like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but still he did pretty good.

What did you guys think?

I think Rob Zombie should be prevented from ever writing a screenplay. Let him direct, that's fine. Just slap his hands when they get too close to a keyboard.

I watched House of 1000 Corpses and laughed my ass off at how atrociously bad it is. I know what he was going for, but he got seriously lost along the way. He has no idea how to create suspense or fear and has very little in the way of original ideas. And the whole vehicle for his lame, bad acting wife is just stupid beyond all hope. Remakes or "reimaginings' are just frigging lame in my opinion. Chainsaw & Halloween are fine as they are. Bah. I wish he'd just stick to making music...love him there, not so much the movie man.

How funny. I don't like his music. Aside from Dragula, it just isn't my thing.

Yes, yes, I agree that Dawn of the Dead, Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are classics as they are. Nonetheless, the remakes were pretty good. I'm not bothered by remakes of classics. It is nothing new after all. Brian De Palma's Scarface was a remake. Still good. So was the John Carpenter helmed remake of The Thing.

The remake of The Fog was terrible. It doesn't impact the original John Carpenter film in any way.

Overall, I like Rob Zombie's movies. If nothing else, I respect that he is making horror movies because he loves them and is able to do it. House of 1,000 Corpses was pretty crappy (though the first few minutes at the gas station were great). But The Devil's Rejects really was a good movie even though I hated every main character.

As for his Halloween remake, I agree that he isn't so good at creating suspense, but fear, I think he does well. His movies remind me more of the protracted, uncomfortable 'dinner scene' in the original TCM. Still, there's a place for that. Eli Roth tried the same thing in Hostel and never really succeeded.

My husband and I saw this when it was in the theatre, and were apparently the only ones who liked it (based on the catcalls of the younger audience members). I think the psychological aspect added by seeing Michael as a child made the film superior to all the other Halloween films, where we never know or learn anything about Michael and why he is the way he is - a guy in a mask chopping people up movie after movie, never uttering a word, gets pretty boring. My husband and I are also amongst the few who have enjoyed his other movies, though the stories themselves may seem familiar (but with extra guts), I think the way he films and directs brings some originality, which is generally what is lacking in movies today.

Originally, I had gone with my friend, and we walked out of the theatre after twenty minutes or so. However, when I rented it on DVD to give it another chance, I realized it was hardly as bad as I made it out to be. While the rape scene was rather disturbing, the film overall was actually quite good. I had to look at it as a new film, because that is what it is. Another good-but-not-great film by Mr. Zombie.