When John Carpenter's "Halloween" hit theaters in 1977, it unknowingly set the standard for a genre of slasher/monster movies that would span more than two decades. Its premise was exceedingly simple. A psychologically upset boy gets incarcerated in a mental institution after murdering his older sister on Halloween night. As an adult about to stand trial, Michael Myers escapes his confinement and returns to Haddonfield to continue his murderous ways. While there he crosses paths with Laurie Strode and two of her closest friends, terrorizing them each in turn before killing them. Laurie Strode alone survives and, in a final confrontation with Michael, watches as he is gunned down by Dr. Samuel Loomis, Michael's former psychiatrist, only to disappear moments later into the darkness of Halloween night.
Carpenter's film was an instant hit, terrifying theatergoers and creating a sensation in the box office that would open the doors for horror franchises such as "Friday the 13th" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street". It introduced theatergoers to the contemporary "movie monster" in much the same way that Alfred Hitchcock's film "Psycho" did 17 years before it.
One of the things that make John Carpenter's film so effective was the minimal amount of actual screen time that Michael Myers, wearing a white William Shatner mask and blue coveralls, actually spends on screen. The killer is often seen in the first person, concealing the visual appearance of a monster who is far more terrifying in our imagination than he could ever be when exposed for what he is-a man in a mask. In addition, Michael Myers is almost never shown without his mask on, alienating his character to a point where the mask becomes his face.
The other part of Carpenter's film that was so incredibly effective, aside from the first rate performances of (then) unknown actress Jamie Lee Curtis, is the incredible soundtrack that Carpenter wrote for the film. It has been said of early screenings of the original Halloween film that "before the soundtrack was added, the movie just wasn't scary."
Carpenter's film focused on the victims, using Myers as a catalyst to put them into vulnerable situations. When Michael finally committed the act of murdering his victims, the scenes were filmed in such a way that the murders themselves were almost innuendos or afterthoughts to the tension that preceded the physical act. You rarely saw blood or any sort of graphic dismemberment. It is the psychological tension of the film that makes it so unsettling, not the gore.
Flash forward to Rob Zombie's reinvention of "Halloween". Zombie's film, from the very onset, had the element of familiarity working against it. Horror audiences would certainly have already seen Carpenter's original film as it has long since become iconic as the definitive stalker/slasher movie. Despite this fact, Zombie took Carpenter's story and, unlike so many remakes, reinvented the characters in a way that made this "Halloween" a unique and terrifying experience unto itself.
Zombie's Michael Myers has good reason for being deranged. The first scenes of the film show the broken home that Michael comes from, with a loving but obviously derelict mother, a deadbeat father and a contemptuous older sister. After an incident involving him being tormented in a school bathroom, where a bully repeatedly insults his mother for working as a stripper, Michael begins his murderous ways by later murdering the boy in cold blood. This new Michael Myers is conflicted and the reasons are well established. This is a boy whose life is so broken, that the lines between right and wrong have been wiped completely away. Further, there is a corrupt pleasure in his work, which is seen by the collections of animal corpses he keeps in his locker at school.
Much like Carpenter's film, the plot development follows Michael's relationship with Dr. Loomis, (effectively played in the remake by Malcolm McDowell). This film also utilizes a plot development from Carpenter's "Halloween II" with respect to the relationship Michael shares with a younger sister. Michael has a baby sister and has a great deal of affection for her. After Michael murders all but his mother and the baby, he is once again put in an institution, this time at the behest of his mother, and spends the rest of his childhood and young adult life there.
From hereon, the story takes the familiar tones of Carpenter's film, except that Zombie's flare for gruesome violence occasionally seeps in to this story. Surprisingly though, Zombie reigns it back and focuses on mood and tension to develop the balance of his story. After such films as "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects", this slight departure from ceaseless violence is a welcome change.
In Zombie's film, Laurie Strode is Myer's baby sister, now all grown up. When Michael makes his deadly return to Haddonfield, it is with the intent of finding the only remaining person he has ever cared about. Of course, anyone that crosses his path or gets in his way is in for a gruesome end, but there is something tragic about this Michael Myers that was absent in the original 1977 film. He is as much a victim as he is a killer. While there is little tenderness behind Zombie's Michael Myers, it is still worth noting that this character is far more developed in this film than he had ever been in the early installments of the original "Halloween" franchise.
While each version of the "Halloween" film contains the same basic storyline and many similar plot elements, they are each worth watching each as a separate movie experience. Zombie's film certainly compliments the original "Halloween" in a way that so few remakes do. It pays homage to Carpenter's vision, but doesn't limit itself by being a knock off of the original. It has flare and style that is unique to Rob Zombie and has a contemporary feel that translates to today's audience.
Of course, it would be impossible to do a comparison of these films without stating the obvious. John Carpenter's "Halloween" will stand the test of time as a true horror classic, ranking along such films as "Psycho" and "the Exorcist". The film is timeless, despite the dated era in which it was filmed and it will have a following for generations to come. Whether or not Zombie's film will remain in the consciousness of future generations of horror fans, well, only time will tell.