I had no fear of Rob Zombie destroying a masterpiece. I must admit that I have never loved the original. I do like it, but I will never praise it the way some people do. To be honest I was not at all interested in seeing this version. I guess it's because it's not my kind of movie, but low and behold a
screener shows up and I find myself popping it in.
I have seen all three of Zombie's films. I hated Corpses, but enjoyed Devils Rejects. One thing evident in Zombie's film is the influence of 70's filmmakers particularly Peckinpah. There is some sort of excitement in the grittiness of his films, but in Halloween, there is a lack of substance. Do we really need to know more of Michael's back story? Carpenter showed us just enough of where he had come from. Zombie spends the first half of the film telling his story, and by the time we catch up to is escape from the hospital we have not learned anything about his character that we did not know. It seems it was only done just to get a few more killings under his belt. Bad performances kept my head shaking, and I was not going to have any sympathy for Michael no matter how hard Zombie tried.
I know Zombie can make a good film, and technically Halloween has some strong points. Hopefully we will get a chance to see him tackle something with more substance next time.