I'm a horror movie fan from way back. And indisputably, one of the best horror movies ever made was 1978's Halloween. It may not seem so to younger viewers, but it influenced nearly every horror movie that came after it, and inspired countless imitations and of course, sequels.
The first movie was about a boy, Michael Myers, who became a mindless killer at 10 years old, was sent to a mental institution, and then escaped years later to go on a killing spree. It practically invented the "slasher" film, but was several notches above later movies in the genre. Atmospheric music, scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis, and solid character actor Donald Pleasence came together to form a truly scary movie.
After many of the wannabes (think Friday the 13th) started earning big bucks, they made a sequel, Halloween II, which picked up right after part I, and included the main actors. It was fun, but was pretty much in the mold of the other imitators. Still, the music and elements were there, and most fans were pleased.
The creators decided to drop the storyline, and try a different sort of Halloween movie with Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which was pretty good, but disappointed most fans. It had nothing to do with the previous films, other than the producers, and similar eerie music.
So they went back to the original story (and dropped the roman numerals) with Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, which continued the storyline, and ignored the ending of the second movie, where Michael Myers clearly died. The great thing about Halloween 4 was that the characters reacted like normal people--trying to get the heck out of dodge--and died anyway.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers followed, and was OK, but weaker than the previous films. The sixth movie, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers dropped the number, and tried to add new elements that weren't in the previous films (Michael was a Druid?). The series was running out of steam. The 7th film, Halloween: H20, 20 years into the franchise, tried to reinvigorate the storyline. Donald Pleasence had died, but Jamie Lee Curtis was back, and much of parts 4, 5 and 6 were ignored. They even brought in Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis' real mother, and star of Psycho). H20 was an improvement, but the concept was really running on fumes. The less said about part 8, Halloween: Resurrection, the better.
So now, out of ideas, they're remaking the original film. I can't imagine what they could do with the character of Michael Myers, or the storyline that they haven't already tried. This isn't a story like A Nightmare on Elm Street, with endless nightmare/dream scenarios to plumb. Even with Rob Zombie behind it, I just can't imagine this movie topping the original film.
Honestly though, it can't be worse than some of the sequels. Movie site: Halloween-TheMovie.com
The first movie was about a boy, Michael Myers, who became a mindless killer at 10 years old, was sent to a mental institution, and then escaped years later to go on a killing spree. It practically invented the "slasher" film, but was several notches above later movies in the genre. Atmospheric music, scream-queen Jamie Lee Curtis, and solid character actor Donald Pleasence came together to form a truly scary movie.
After many of the wannabes (think Friday the 13th) started earning big bucks, they made a sequel, Halloween II, which picked up right after part I, and included the main actors. It was fun, but was pretty much in the mold of the other imitators. Still, the music and elements were there, and most fans were pleased.
The creators decided to drop the storyline, and try a different sort of Halloween movie with Halloween III: Season of the Witch, which was pretty good, but disappointed most fans. It had nothing to do with the previous films, other than the producers, and similar eerie music.
So they went back to the original story (and dropped the roman numerals) with Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, which continued the storyline, and ignored the ending of the second movie, where Michael Myers clearly died. The great thing about Halloween 4 was that the characters reacted like normal people--trying to get the heck out of dodge--and died anyway.
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers followed, and was OK, but weaker than the previous films. The sixth movie, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers dropped the number, and tried to add new elements that weren't in the previous films (Michael was a Druid?). The series was running out of steam. The 7th film, Halloween: H20, 20 years into the franchise, tried to reinvigorate the storyline. Donald Pleasence had died, but Jamie Lee Curtis was back, and much of parts 4, 5 and 6 were ignored. They even brought in Janet Leigh (Jamie Lee Curtis' real mother, and star of Psycho). H20 was an improvement, but the concept was really running on fumes. The less said about part 8, Halloween: Resurrection, the better.
So now, out of ideas, they're remaking the original film. I can't imagine what they could do with the character of Michael Myers, or the storyline that they haven't already tried. This isn't a story like A Nightmare on Elm Street, with endless nightmare/dream scenarios to plumb. Even with Rob Zombie behind it, I just can't imagine this movie topping the original film.
Honestly though, it can't be worse than some of the sequels. Movie site: Halloween-TheMovie.com
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