by John Conrad

Created on: September 03, 2007

As I sat in the theater watching Rob Zombie's much-anticipated remake of the cult horror classic Halloween, a phrase kept popping into my head. After viewing the film and reflecting back upon Zombie's previous two efforts it became apparent that if anyone bothered to teach this phrase to a young Rob Zombie, their efforts were in vain. Throughout his career Zombie has proven that he doesn't understand that "sometimes less is more."

So, we all know the story, but incase you've been under a rock for the past two decades I'll provide a brief synopsis. Halloween opens as a young Michael Meyers commits murder/s (one in the original and multiple in the remake) in his home. He is sent to a mental institution where he doesn't utter a word for 15 years. Just prior to his transfer to another institution, Michael escapes and heads back to his hometown to take care of some unfinished business (namely his sister, and anyone else unlucky enough to get in his way).

In the original, very little of Michael' origins were shown. In Zombie's version, this took up about a half hour of the film. We are introduced in great detail to the Meyer's family who torment and treat the young Michael harshly because he's a bit "different." But not to fear, his family, as well as a few newcomers, are sure to get their comeuppance.

This is the point that I started disliking the film, and sad to say this feeling remained throughout. By explaining Michael's origins and the harsh treatment he received both at home and school, Zombie seems to be trying to justify his killings. I think this really took away from the film.

Michael Meyers is a psychopath. He has no conscience, no morals, and kills for no reason (basically he is evil personified). In the remake, Zombie made him more human, it seemed like he wanted the audience to not only feel bad for Michael but to actually cheer him on while he takes care of business. Something can't be truly terrifying if you can relate to it, or at least feel bad for it.

Zombie made other smaller changes throughout, mostly with the intention of raising the body count. All these changes made for a longer film (about 30 minutes longer than the original), but also made the film seem rushed. I admit it is odd that a film which is longer than the original can seemed rushed, but Zombie did this by adding elements to the plot and then not developing them properly. It seemed that Zombie was just content with getting back to the killings (which he in no way rushed through).

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