I seen the new Halloween movie and I have to say I really enjoyed it....in particular the first 40 -45 minutes of it which is basically about a young Michael Myers....after this it does sort of go back on track to the original slasher of Carpenter's though it does have its differences. The little actor 'Daeg Faerch' that stars as Michael is really fantastic... and there is some great scenes where he has to portray some violent horrific scenes and he does it with a real creepiness and coldness.....I was impressed with him as he doesn't have the look I thought would have been chosen for the future Boogie Man but I think it definitely brings that bit more realism to the role and film. This flick is far less about creating or telling a story about a super killing maniac such as the 70's Myers or Jason or even Freddy but much more about telling a back story of a psychotic killer and what drove him to it or what wasn't done to prevent it. I also believe Zombie plays with us (the audience) a bit in the sense that most slasher movies introduce the characters,.. the good guys... the people we know generally are being lined up for the slaughter save one or two (the likeable leads) who fight back perhaps and survive. We know this is going to happen and we go into a cinema expecting it and revel at their stupidity as they walk in oblivious to whats awaiting them however in this new reworking I felt we were the ones been swiped at..as all the people that Michael kills throughout are just awful horrible people that your almost at a stage where your thinking they deserve it. Michael's home life is dreadful...his Father (or stepfather?) who is a cripple is just awful and constantly mentally abuses the kids but focuses mainly on Michael, his Mother is a stripper and seems more interested in fighting with her husband and being jealous of her daughter then on her son's obvious problems....even when it is pointed out at school to her that he has a fixation on dead animals she doesn't want to listen...Malcolm McDowell's Dr Loomis is introduced here and manages to get her to do so.....but by this stage it really is too late and Michael has gone past the point of no return. Myers is also bullied at school and one of my favourite scenes in the film is when he follows the main bully kid and kills him....its a very well done sequence...... The film does show too Michael's time in the Asylum being spoken to on a daily basis with Loomis and his eventual progression into the silent maniac we all know. I think it is here were the move alters and we are transportered to a much more idylic suburban environment where Michael's sister who was only a baby when Michael was commited is now enjoying her teen life except unlike Carpenter's classic you don't get real likeable teens such as Jamie Lee Curtis though this could be due to Zombie not really devoting much of the screen time on their developments in fact the only one that we are really most in touch with is Michael himself which I felt was part of the film's charm.... The killing's are typical Rob Zombie too which basically means people struggle and don't just die instantly.... you see people being dragged by their legs back, ....repeatedly stabbed.. while screaming and kicking futilly as they struggle to escape their doom...its also quite bloody!! I won't give away endings....I say endings because there is more than one on the go...the one I seen and the one thats been changed for the cinema showings...of what I have heard of the latter I think the one I seen is better!! The Director's wife Sheri Moon Zombie stars as Michael's Mother and I think she does a good job,... she even does a dance routine McDowell also plays his role well too but his part I believe was much more about his feelings of guilt that he let Michael down then about looking like a crazed obsessed doctor though he is that too Yes this movie is not up there with the Carpenter masterpiece but it is an exellent effort at re-imagining the idea and giving a different view I also think it questions the audience perceptions of a slasher movie and the idolisation of a maniac like Freddy or Jason by making his Michael Myers much more human than ever before......This film is intense, gruesome and ultimately entertaining and well worth a look....
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