Rob Zombie’s Halloween I & II Ultimate Edition (Viavision)

Remakes of beloved or cult movies are, more often than not, shaky ground for studios. Horror remakes in particular can be seen as a way to get a quick buck, regurgitating often tried and tested stories for new audiences instead of promoting the original films which the studio sometimes doesn’t hold the distribution rights to. However, amongst these cheap knock offs have been some genuinely interesting productions which subvert or reframe their source material to explore ideas away from those of the original writers and directors. Enter Rob Zombie’s Halloween duology.

Released in 2007 and 2009 respectively, Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II have been largely regarded as the zenith of bad horror movie remakes, taking John Carpenters groundbreaking original and slathering it in the kind of grimy grindhouse aesthetic that made the heavy metal singer turned director famous in films such as House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects. To that end I’d never actually seen these films until the opportunity came up to review this double set from Viavision – I’m glad I took the chance, though, as what I found in Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1 + 2 genuinely surpassed the films reputations.

Halloween

Written and Directed by: Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Scout Tylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris, Sheri Moon-Zombie, Daeg Faerch
Country: USA
Running Time: Halloween – 109 min (Theatrical Cut), 201 min (Unrated Directors Cut)
Year: 2007

We start this new version of Halloween much like we start the original; with a 10-year-old boy called Michael Myers. Unlike John Carpenter’s story, however, which presents this opening as a ten-minute stalk and slash sequence in which Michael is revealed to be the murderer of his sister one fateful Halloween, Zombie instead pulls the camera back to explore Michael’s (Daeg Faerch) childhood, from his abusive stepfather and uncaring sister, to the bullies at his school and ultimately his love for his mother (Sheri Moon-Zombie).

Arguably the part of the film which alienates fans, this nearly 40 minute stretch establishes Rob Zombies vision for Halloween as more of a violent character study of a serial killer than a straight up slasher movie. The first half presents a darker, more sadistic and nihilistic film than the original, building its story up slowly. The violence is frequent and brutal, although it’s arguably more restrained than some of Zombie’s more grindhouse efforts

By the time Michael has murdered his stepfather and sister and has been committed to an asylum under the care of Dr Sam Loomis (a wonderful performance from Malcolm McDowell) we know he’s not simply “evil” as presented in the original film, but is in this version the product of a severely broken home, surrounded only by cruelty and that the world around him may well be worse than this monster. Over time this 10 year old boy becomes less innocent, retreating to an obsession with masks and, ultimately losing his voice and identity when his mother commits suicide.

The halfway point then introduces us to the bulk of this remake that reframes the original film, in which we’re introduced to Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) a young girl living in Michael’s hometown of Haddonfield who ends up experiencing a night of terror when Myers escapes and comes home. While this half was what fans of the series really wanted, this is, in hindsight, arguably the weaker half of the film as it pushes the narration into more traditional slasher territory. Michael stalks Laurie and her friends (including Annie Brackett, played by Halloween series alumni Danielle Harris) in a series of beautifully shot sequences where Zombie plays with fleeting glances of the hulking visage of an adult Myers (played by X-Men’s Tyler Mane) while an increasingly frantic Loomis hunts him down, aided by Annie’s father, local Sheriff Leigh (Brad Dourif). It’s fairly standard stuff, made enjoyable by some great looking gore effects and ends with a revelation taken from the original Halloween 2 and a sequence that feels like a homage to the finale of Friday the 13th Part 2, bringing the story to a close with an ambiguous final shot.

Halloween clearly has more of a budget than Rob Zombie’s previous films, bringing in not only better looking sets, effects and photography, but also giving the director what feels to be a bit more room to play than he’s had previously. Shots linger, the story takes its time to build to a head and Zombie manages to get some fantastic performances out of a great, broad cast (including, bizarrely, Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees as a gun salesman).

Standout though is Malcolm McDowell as Loomis; lacking the frantic portrayal of Donald Pleasence in the John Carpenter movie, McDowell plays Loomis cooler, all jackets and turtleneck sweaters, but with an air of malice under the surface. His tentpoling a reputation on Michael Myers, even publishing a book feels manipulative and his pursuit of the killer feels less about saving lives and more about saving his career. It’s a very different take and one that only gets deeper in the follow up film.

On the flipside, however, is Scout Taylor-Compton who’s Laurie here is also played differently from Jamie Lee-Curtis’ take in the original film. Where Laurie in John Carpenter’s story was a more sensible, straight laced protagonist, Taylor-Compton plays her as a more promiscuous teenager. This initially didn’t sit right with me, again largely due to the expectations of being a fan of the original film, however as with Loomis, Laurie’s role in the overall story only really becomes apparent when we venture into part two.

And that’s why Rob Zombie’s Halloween feels like a rather curious beast. On my initial watch as part of this review I likely felt what the original audience in 2007 did, that the heavily back story focussed first half was a dull build up to more traditional slasher goodies which were over far too quickly. A couple of hours later, however, after watching the follow up, my opinions and thoughts on this original film were fully flipped on their head. Rob Zombie’s Halloween films are not a single remake and its sequel and, watched together, they present what feels like a fully realised vision…

Special Features:

• Unrated Director’s Cut Feature-Length Commentary by Writer-Director Rob Zombie
• Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary
• Alternate Ending with Optional Commentary
• Bloopers
• The Many Masks of Michael Myers
• Reimagining Halloween
• Meet The Cast
• Casting Sessions
• Scout Taylor-Compton Screen Test
• Theatrical Trailer

Halloween II

Written and Directed by: Rob Zombie
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Scout Tylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris, Sheri Moon-Zombie
Country: USA
Running Time: 105 min (Theatrical Cut), 119 min (Unrated Directors Cut)
Year: 2009

As with the original Halloween 2, Rob Zombies sequel starts immediately where the first story ends, with a severely wounded Laurie Strode being taken to hospital following her ordeal with Michael Myers. Michael, however, is not dead, and pursues Laurie to the hospital with the goal of finishing her off once and for all in a twenty minute opening sequence that is ultimately revealed to be a recurring dream of Laurie’s.

And this is where Rob Zombie reveals his true intentions for this sequel, once again straying from tried and tested slasher formula and into a more character driven horror/drama story, here exploring the effects of trauma and PTSD. Laurie and Annie are the two survivors of Myer’s original rampage, wearing their scars both physically and mentally. Loomis is even more of a profiteer of his work with Michael and even Haddonfield as a town has become a tourist attraction as everyone revels in the grotesquerie of the events of part one.

Halloween II skews expectations of a horror sequel. Rather than the typical continuation and escalation, with an unstoppable Michael returning to wreak more havoc on victims who have adjusted to their new lives, everyone here is in some way broken by their experience and that leads to a much darker, unsettling story than the cleaner looking visuals of part one.

Once again, Zombie wrings some great performances from the core cast with Scout Taylor Compton proving more compelling here, going from bubbly promiscuous teen in the first film to a broken, damaged young woman. Tyler Mane is again a hulking force of nature as an equally broken Michael, still haunted by the loss of his mother and displaying conflicting personalities as his child self begins to resurface. The standout of the cast this time, however, is Brad Dourif returning as Sheriff Leigh Brackett, traumatised by the near loss of his daughter in the first film and holding a dark secret from Laurie which ultimately proves to be the catalyst for the film’s climactic events.

Halloween II has a surreal and dark air which feels closer to the films Rob Zombie usually produces than the original remake. It’s less slick, with Zombie shooting at a more open 1.85:1 aspect ratio, more handled shots and a grainier image, but Rob Zombie still finds excellent ways to explore Michael’s presence in the frame, playing brilliantly with Tyler Mane’s size and shape. This is a Rob Zombie film through and through; difficult, dark and nihilistic with an edge of surrealism that has the viewer questioning what’s real and what’s not up until the very end.

In fact it’s arguably one of Rob Zombie’s best films, a psychological drama masquerading as a slasher movie which successfully subverts expectations and takes viewers on a journey which makes them explore in often painful detail the extent of which an actual slasher movie would traumatise those involved, acting almost like a less meta version of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary by Writer-Director Rob Zombie
• Deleted and Alternate Scenes
• Audition Footage
• Make-Up Test Footage
• Bloopers
• Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures Music Videos
• Uncle Seymore Coffins’ Stand-Up Routines

Watching these two films back to back feels very much like it’s a different experience to that which filmgoers had in 2007 and 2009, presenting a more complete story which reframes this reimagining’s intentions in a much clearer way. It is, however, easy to see why fans rejected this vision given how much it changes the holy cow that is Halloween, in particular Zombie’s take on Michael Myers himself.

Fans of Halloween will indeed decry this as “not their Michael Myers” and indeed that is the case, but after continuous reboots and retcons, who exactly is Michael Myers? Rob Zombie’s films are simply one exploration of this icon of evil and a story which effectively works as a meta commentary of some of the more unspoken and human aspects of the slasher genre in general.

We frequently find our opinions are influenced by those of our peers and I, for years, avoided these films as I’d read they “tarnished the legacy” of the original. I’m happy that this is not the case, that as a whole package Rob Zombie reframes the traditional slasher film as an exploration on the trauma of horror and produces a surprisingly compelling piece of work which many may not like.

The original Halloween and its many, meant sequels and reboots still exist – no one is taking that away. But for those looking for a more cerebral take on Michael Myers, I’d suggest revisiting these two films back to back. They’re not perfect, but they’re different and compelling in their own way.

This box set from Viavision gives fans of the films a superb set to add to their collection including both the theatrical and (arguably superior) unrated cuts of each film, as well as a plethora of bonus features including an incredibly in-depth 4 and a half hour documentary on the making of the 2007 film on its own disc.