The Rocket

Issue date: 9/7/07 Section: Focus

Media Credit: MCT Campus In Rob Zombie's re-imagination of the film "Halloween," Lynda (Kristina Klebe) gets strangled by Michael Myers (Tyler Mane). [Click to enlarge]

Being that it is September, most people are not thinking candy corn and rubber masks. Then again, Rob Zombie ("The Devil's Rejects") isn't most people.

With a name like Zombie, it is fitting that Rob has found himself a comfy home in the realm of horror films.

Since his mediocre directorial debut with the 2003 film "House of a 1000 Corpses," Zombie has sharpened his skills. He has made quite a name for himself with the horror elite by being part of one of the biggest horror projects of the last year. Zombie can add his name to the credits for his work as a director and a writer for Robert Rodriguez ("From Dusk Till Dawn") and Quentin Tarantino's ("Pulp Fiction") "Grindhouse."

Being a lifelong fan of all things blood and guts, who better than Zombie to take the first stab at the holy trio of slasher horror?

A slew of horror remakes have popped up in the last few years, but the icons of Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers remained untouched. Now, almost 30 years after the original John Carpenter masterpiece was released, "Halloween" gets the Zombie treatment.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, slasher villains had back-stories that few people cared about and that were the footnotes to the success of the franchises.

Audiences barely thought of Freddy Krueger being burned alive by a mob of angry parents. Instead, they thought about how they were going to sleep that night with Freddy occupying their nightmares.

Few remember that a young Jason Voorhees drowned due to neglectful camp counselors, but many remember a young Kevin Bacon being skewered after an afternoon session of premarital relations.

These footnote explanations of motive obviously weren't enough for Zombie, who spends a great deal of time in "Halloween" digging deeper and deeper into what drives the psychopath inside Michael Myers.

Where the original spent just a few minutes with young Michael, this rendition spends a good fourth of the movie looking at Michael's tendency to torture defenseless animals and his infatuation with masks.

All this leads up to the brutal (and I mean brutal) slaying of nearly his entire family. Only Michael's mother Deborah (Zombie's wife Sherri Moon Zombie) and younger sister survive.

Due to the stress of the horrific situation, Deborah commits suicide, leaving Michael with his shrink, Dr. Sam Loomis ("Heroes'" Malcolm McDowell), and leaving the young baby to be adopted by the all-American parents, Mason (Pat Skipper) and Cynthia (Dee Wallace) Strode.

After a 15-year time lapse, Michael transforms from a conflicted young boy into a lonely mountain of homicidal rage played by "X-Men's" Tyler Mane. Michael takes out a few guards played by the normal set of Zombie players from his previous films and makes his escape to find baby sis, now a giggly teen named Laurie ("Sleepover's" Scout Taylor-Compton).

With Michael's intentions with Laurie unknown and a bunch of sinning teenagers in his way, what ensues is an unforgiving display of bloodshed and breasts.

Zombie brings his love of exploitation and the female form to "Halloween." These beautiful, young girls never get the chance to slap on a strategically placed towel or grab a T-shirt to cover up. This no-mercy approach to his on-screen gore gives Zombie's brand of terror a little boost of realism and fun.

Also bringing the fun to this film is the amazing cast. Everyone, from the local sheriff to the mental hospital janitor, is a familiar face to any fan-boy.

Brad Dourif, the man who voiced "Child Play's" Chucky and slithered as Wormtongue in "Lord of the Rings," plays Sheriff Brackett. Danielle Harris, who can still play a teenager at 30 years old, plays Laurie's friend Annie, but isn't new to the Michael Myers saga, starring in the fourth and fifth installments of the original series.

On top of the main cast from Zombie's other two films are actors like bit-part-icon and brother of Ron, Clint Howard, and the mom from "E.T.," Dee Wallace. With a cast like this, I was surprised that Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) didn't find his way into Zombie's cameo-fest as well.

"Halloween" is pretty much a 1970s slasher film with a brain. Even if you are a horror-film purest that hates the word "remake," you can enjoy Zombie's revision of this classic character. All of the buildup and back-story make the murders more meaningful and frightening and Zombie's brand of gore makes the film a lot of fun to watch.

Ivan Moore is a senior communication major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.

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