Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch

From acclaimed musician and filmmaker, Rob Zombie ("The Devil's Rejects," "House of 1000 Corpses") comes an entirely new take on the highly successful and terrifying Halloween legacy that began in 197...( read more  read more... )8. While revealing a new chapter in the established Michael Myers saga, the film will surprise both classic and modern horror fans with a departure from prior films in the Halloween franchise. Audiences should brace themselves for unprecedented fear as Zombie turns back time to uncover the making of a pathologically disturbed, even cursed child named Michael Myers.

Flixster Users

64% liked it

89,542 ratings

Critics

26% liked it

97 critics

R, 1 hr. 49 min.

Directed by: Rob Zombie

Release Date: August 31, 2007

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: December 18, 2007

Get It:

Stats: 31,700 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating
Share on: Facebook Twitter

Flixster Reviews (31,700)


  • September 12, 2007
    There were frightening & gruesome scenes but nothing beyond that.
  • October 25, 2009
    Oh dear, seen this now and what can I say about it that doesn't rhyme with spit?
  • September 6, 2009
    On paper, a "Halloween" remake looked interesting. Zombie tries to go back to the character's origin and reinvent him - it's a recent trend in Hollywood ("Batman Begins," "Casino Royale," the upcoming "Incredible Hulk," etc.), so it's not quite surprising that Hollywood greenlit ...( read more)the project and it got the push it received.

    But the problem that arises while doing this with "Halloween" is that it comes into conflict with the concept of Michael being purely evil. Although I can understand what Zombie was trying to do by exploring Michael's background, it contradicts the whole point of the original. By providing a reason and displaying a human character on screen, you give the character a soul - and despite what Zombie may claim, this does NOT make Michael scarier. It makes him an average movie serial killer: a guy with a messed up life as a kid who snaps one day and goes on a killing rampage.

    Is it scary? No. Gory? Yes. Realistic? At first. And if it were a movie about a serial killer, it would work. But it's not. This is a movie about a monster, a soulless creature; a boogeyman, as per the original film. Monsters aren't scary when we know they're flesh and blood.

    Carpenter had a way of framing the action in the original movie. Michael stalks Laurie in her hometown, but we never see any real flesh behind the mask, we never really see him moving around like a normal human being. But we do here. He stands in the middle of an open road, in front of three teenage girls walking home from school, and they all see him. He stands there for a few moments, then trudges away off-screen. We actually see him walk away, instead of just appearing and disappearing as he did in the original film. Which method is scarier? The answer is clear.

    Zombie spends 40 minutes or so building up Michael's character before he escapes from the ward. We see him killing animals as a child (and torturing them, too), a stupid subplot with his mom as a stripper and a typical school bully, and a promiscuous sister. The sexual talk is frank and disgusting - the mom's boyfriend (husband?) is talking about how cute her daughter's butt is, and at this point in the film we're not sure whether he might even be the father. It's just shock for shock value. Zombie has a tendency of this - blunt violence and blunt dialogue combined - and in a film like this, it seems cheap and fake and unnecessary. The heavy emphasis placed on the swearing - and I mean this literally (as in, the actors place a noticeable emphasis on the profanity they use) is almost unintentionally funny. Zombie cast his wife in the role of Michael's mother, and she can't act at all.

    Donald Pleasence got stuck with the most unfortunate lines from the original film, but we were willing to forgive bad dialogue because of how well-made the film was otherwise. Here, Malcolm McDowell gets the worst of two worlds: he gets to handle an under-characterization with bad, bad, BAD dialogue AND a generally weak film to boot. The sequences with McDowell's version of Loomis are all completely clichéd - Zombie clearly writes his dialogue based on other films' dialogue. The "intimate" scenes at the mental ward between Loomis and Michael are awful. McDowell struggles with typicalities of the genre, such as the Dr. Who Wasted His Own Life By Devoting It To Someone Else's (he explains to Michael that his wife left him and he has no friends because of how involved he became with the case - and the dialogue itself is straight from any cop-vs.-killer flick). The recent film "Zodiac" had a similar theme of men losing their personal lives due to obsession over a murderer, but it was handled better. The whole Loomis character should have been dropped from the remake if all Zombie wanted to do with him was use him as a deus ex machina, by the way.

    Overall, this feels like a redneck version of "Halloween," which is going to offend some people, but I can't think of any better way to describe it. It's trashy, vulgar, and silly - and hey, that's fine, if that's Rob Zombie's motif and he wants to make movies pandering towards that sort of audience. I have nothing against it, and I think it may work with some films - I can imagine him making a good re-do of "Natural Born Killers" (although I hope it never, never happens!).

    However, when you're remaking an iconic, legendary, incredibly influential horror film - don't cheapen it by "reimagining" it with horror movie clichés and shock-value material. The very worst aspect of this remake is that it simply isn't scary at all - it's a typical slasher flick, a homicidal-man-on-a-rampage flick, which ironically is exactly what Zombie said he wanted to avoid.

    The first film was eerie, spooky, and unnerving because Michael's motivations were cloudy and we weren't sure whether Laurie was right or wrong when she said he was the boogeyman. We only knew one thing: he wasn't entirely human.

    But ever since that original movie, the filmmakers have attempted to keep expanding upon Michael's history: the second film developed a motivation for his killings (Laurie was his sister), the fourth offered more clues at his background, and now we come full circle with a complete remake of the original film.

    Michael's true demonic core - the natural horror element of the series - is stripped bare and all that is left is a disturbed, abnormally tall redneck with greasy hair who hasn't showered in years wearing a silly mask going around killing people because he had an abusive family life as a child. Some things are better left unexplored.
  • August 30, 2009
    Not really into the backstory of Michael Myers.
  • August 2, 2009
    First, I don't want to know where the boogie man comes from.
    Second, I don't EVER want to see Sheri Moon act again.

    Zombie's film was horribly misguided from it's inception. The craft is mostly solid, with the exception of the totally unnecessary "masturbating camera man" style...( read more) cinematography.
  • November 10, 2009
    To see how it compares
  • November 10, 2009
    kudos to Rob Zombie for bringing this classic story to a new generation
  • November 8, 2009
    Dont mess with perfection can't hold a candle to the original.
  • November 7, 2009
    everything was predictable. entertaining, but very predictable
  • November 2, 2009
    What an awesome movie!

Critic Reviews


September 12, 2007
Kyle Smith, New York Post

The Batman Begins of slasher movies, and one of the more frightening stabathons of recent years. full review

September 7, 2007
Pete Hammond, Maxim

This story has been told at least four times too many already! full review

August 31, 2007
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

Rob Zombie's gut understanding of what makes '70s horror so great is unfortunately glimpsed in only short, sporadic bursts in Halloween. full review

August 31, 2007
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

Carpenter's original, a series of brilliant joy-buzzer jolts, treated the horror as a dark pop joke, courting our giggling disbelief. Zombie turns it somber. full review

View more Halloween reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

Comments


  • rachelleqld
    August 15, 2009
    I am desperately after a copy of this movie. Even a burnt copy will do. Willing to swap other movies. If you have this movie, please message me. Any regions okay.
  • kaylalynn96
    July 24, 2009
    This movie was so freaking stupid! This movie was the WORST remake ever created. The only reason why these stupid remakes is because they have no imagination. This sucked BIG TIME! The Halloween movies are classics and should be left alone! Anyone who liked this movie has'nt got good taste in horror movies cause all this movie is, is a badly done *** movie. Rob Zombie should stick to music bot movies!
  • djcurrygoat
    January 5, 2009
    Halloween 2 will be shooting on March or May I think which will leave Rob Zombie to hold off production on his Tyranasourus Rex movie....
  • jonasholmgren92
    August 17, 2008
    i dont this halloween is good. i like the older halloween movies ^^
  • LisaMarie12478
    June 23, 2008
    I AM IN LOVE WITH MICHAEL MYRES
  • LisaMarie12478
    June 23, 2008
    THIS MOVIE ROCK TYLER SCARED THE H-E-L-L- OUT OF ME ROB ZOMBIE ROCKS LOVE YOU MAN
  • sethjohnson95
    June 10, 2008
    this movie friggin rocks. a lot of people don't like it, but i do. i think it's one of zombie's best films. maybe i just like it cause Danielle Harris is in it though, lol. anyway, i really reccomend this movie to halloween fans!!!!! :)
  • MitchyMyers
    May 25, 2008
    yeah a movie that i love alot!!..one of 2007 best movies
  • meganzepeda
    February 14, 2008
    hi
  • nclsantamaria
    January 14, 2008
    I thought this was the greatest movie of 2007. I loved how Rob let the viewers know how Michael got to be wat he was a great killer.The other ones just showed the killings and didnt really give the audience a explanation as to y he was like that but i loved the movie one of my top 5 of course. If u havent seen it watch it its worth it.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Official Trailer

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • House of 1000 Corpses
    House of 1000 Corpses (88%)
  • Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers
    Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (88%)
  • Halloween
    Halloween (90%)
  • Child's Play 3
    Child's Play 3 (0%)

Theater Showtimes & TV Listings


Halloween Trivia


  • The story of which "Halloween" movie had virtually nothing to do with its infamous movie monster, Michael Myers?   Answer »
  • Josh Hartnett played Jamie Lee Curtis's son in which Halloween movie?  Answer »
  • In "Scream," the characters are watching "Halloween" on television. Which movie has its characters watching "Scream 2" on television?  Answer »
  • In what Halloween movie does Michael Myers not apear in.  Answer »

Most Popular Skin