The Cutting Room Floor: Halloween
This week Rob Zombie unleashes his story of Michael Myers, when Halloween comes to DVD. When word of this ambitious project first came out there were three very different opinions on this film being made. One side was the basic ‘oh great another remake’ and expected yet another watered down and lame attempt from a Hollywood that seemed to be out of original ideas. The second was the purists who wanted nothing to do with the new Halloween because nothing could ever top the John Carpenter original. The third group (and the one I firmly belonged in) was They’re redoing Halloween… and they got Rob Zombie to do it? Holy cow this is going to rock!
For months I followed Rob Zombie on his MySpace blog as he announced locations followed by cast and all leading up to actual production. As the months went by and the film approached it’s release date I noticed something interesting. The people from the first two groups seemed to be changing their opinion. The more the film reached out to the masses the more opinion began to sway in the Shock Rocker’s favor. Yet no one, not even the studio expected what happened on that first weekend. On August 31st, when Halloween opened nationwide it did so to a box office record for that weekend with 30 million plus dollars in receipts.
The movie itself was more then anyone could have imagined. The first half of the movie deals with how Michael Myers becomes the monster. Starting with his disaster of a home life based around his mom Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie), her boyfriend Ronnie White (William Forsythe) and his sister Judith (Hanna Hall). The Young Michael, played disturbingly well by Daeg Faerch, his an outsider. Picked on by the school bullies, abused by the live in boyfriend Ronnie, Michael has begun to display some disturbing anti social behaviors that first draw him to the attention of Dr. Sam Loomis (Malcom McDowell). Deborah ignores the Doctor’s warnings and this leads to the fateful night in the Myers home.
This is the first place in the movie that writer/director Rob Zombie veers off course from the Carpenter original. In the original Michael kills his sister and that’s all we learn until his escape from the mental hospital years later. Zombie, on the other hand, goes into great graphic detail as young Michael, dressed in his clown mask, slowly and deliberately goes about killing everyone in the house only to stop at his infant little sister.
The rest of the first half of the movie is a progression into the madness that is Michael Myers as he withdrawals from the world and stops speaking to anyone. His only love is for the masks that he creates and wears constantly.
The next big step in the direction of the movie is the escape from the asylum. In the original Dr. Loomis is pulling up to the hospital as Michael is escaping. In Rob Zombie’s version we get to see every bloody detail of Michael’s escape and the path of bodies that he leaves in his wake. Then it’s on to Haddonfield for the now adult Michael (played by Tyler Mane) and the now older, wiser Dr. Loomis in pursuit. Why does Michael return to Haddonfield? For his now grown up baby sister Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton).
Michael starts killing everyone that gets in his way Including the sheriff played by Brad Dourif and Big Joe Grizzly played by Ken Foree. However, unlike the original Halloween Michael’s goal doesn’t seem to be the want or need to kill Laurie. Instead he seems to seek a connection with her, wanting her to recognize him as family and to love him like a big brother. It isn’t until she rejects him that Michael tries to kill her.
When Rob Zombie first decided to do this film he stated he was going to do only one, that he had no interest in doing a sequel, so the way the movie ends really isn’t a surprise. The fact that the studios allowed him to do the ending was what was surprising. However, the release of the DVD on the 18th suggests that they were prepared for this as it includes an ‘alternate’ ending that they could possibly use to build a sequel around.
With Halloween Rob Zombie stepped up to the plate, amidst all of the doubters and critics and knocked one out of the park. If you saw Halloween in the theaters I’m sure you already plan on checking out the DVD. If you haven’t seen it yet then I can’t recommend it enough. Don’t let the fact that it’s a retelling of a classic keep you away, otherwise you’ll be missing out.
Richard Carroll is an avid movie viewer and all around fanboy. You can probably find him at his computer playing Guild Wars when not watching,writing, reading or roleplaying something (Oh and then there’s the real world and work). Check out some of his written works at www.ficofthedead.com. A website in need of a webmaster to ensure it gets updated. (Any takers? Anyone? *grins*)