Halloween (2007)

Director:

Rob Zombie

Writers (WGA):

Rob Zombie (screenplay)
John Carpenter (1978 screenplay) ...

Release Date:

31 August 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Evil Has A Destiny

Plot:

After being committed for 17 years, Michael Myers, now a grown man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution (where he was committed as a 10 year old) and he immediately returns to Haddonfield, where he wants to find his baby sister, Laurie. Anyone who crosses his path is in mortal danger.

Plot Keywords:

Dying Words | School Principal | Beating | Palm Tree | Bathroom Stall

Cast

Malcolm McDowell	...	Dr. Samuel Loomis
Brad Dourif	...	Sheriff Lee Brackett
Tyler Mane	...	Michael Myers
Daeg Faerch	...	Michael Myers, age 10
Sheri Moon Zombie	...	Deborah Myers
William Forsythe	...	Ronnie White
Richard Lynch	...	Principal Chambers
Udo Kier	...	Morgan Walker
Clint Howard	...	Doctor Koplenson
Danny Trejo	...	Ismael Cruz
Lew Temple	...	Noel Kluggs
Tom Towles	...	Larry Redgrave
Bill Moseley	...	Zach 'Z-Man' Garrett
Leslie Easterbrook	...	Patty Frost
Steve Boyles	...	Stan Payne

Also Known As:

Hall9ween (USA) (working title)
Halloween 9 (USA) (working title)
Halloween: Retribution (USA) (working title)
Rob Zombie's Halloween (USA) (complete title)
Untitled Rob Zombie Halloween Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity and language.

Runtime:

109 min | USA:121 min (unrated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

UK:18 | Finland:K-18 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Australia:R | Norway:18 | Italy:VM14 | Portugal:M/18 | USA:R (certificate #43755) | Singapore:M18 | Germany:18 | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:R18 | Canada:18A (Ontario) | France:-16 | Netherlands:16 | Taiwan:R-18 | Ireland:18 | Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia) | Hong Kong:III | Philippines:R-13 (cut)

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

One of the most complex scenes in the film was shot on Monday, February 26 2007, on the campus of Los Angeles City College. The day's shooting facilitated the use of 160 extras and about 100 crew people.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Michael and Big Joe Grizzly fight in the bathroom stall, Michael slams him into the stall wall which collapses into the other stall. In the next scene, before Myers takes the overalls, you can see that the stall wall is back up and only slightly dented.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Michael Myers - Child: Come on, sweetie pie. Morning, Elvis. You're a pretty Elvis, aren't you? Yes, you are.

Movie Connections:

References Cool Hand Luke (1967)

Soundtrack:

Deck the Halls

It's not John Carpenter it is Rob Zombie. Keep that in your head when you go into this.

This movies takes a different approach to what makes Michael Myers terrifying. In the past his inhuman mas murders were shocking because of the absolute lack of emotion and more machine like manner in which things occur. Zombie offers audiences a background on myers. Where before the terror came in the lack of explanation, Zombie creates terror by showing how empty and how reasonless he was at 10 years old.

An interesting note about the movie is after Michael at 10 you never see his face. This part may not be different from standard Halloween movies, but unlike those, in this film you have already seen Michael's face as a boy. This then leaves the audience placing the boys face beneath the mask of the 30 year old monster making the idea of these overly brutal killings more difficult to chalk up to another death in a slasher flick. The movie gives less focus to Lori Strode and much more focus on Michael and his progressions from 10 to 30.

Zombie makes the smart call of not completely taking his own new plot line, but also not creating an exact carbon copy, leaving in specific scenes and details but still skipping over some of the more memorable ones. No, it is not John Carpenter's movie remastered, but then if you want that just run it through some filters to make his movie look new. Instead, this movie feels like a Zombie movie but in all the right ways. Best Halloween in a very long time.