So I have been referencing remakes, sequels and such ad nauseam, so why not review one of those remakes. It would have been too easy to review some sloppy paint by numbers remake like Black Christmas, or My Bloody Valentine (3D!) but given the spirit of the season, and the actual effort that went into this remake AND sequel, why not given this an honest go and be fair.
To disclaimer, I have seen all of Rob Zombie's cinematic endeavours to date, and while I think he has a great sense of style, he's still finding his rhythm in regards to story and character but the passion is there. That in and of itself puts Zombie way above the competition and it makes it that much more depressing when his films do not do well.
In this particular instance, Zombie purely made the follow-up to his first Halloween effort, because he wanted to complete the story he wanted to tell. At least it feels that way. Most people could easily dismiss it as a cash grab, but when you compare the domestic and international numbers, this film was far from a commercial success.
So about the film, well the film basically picks up right from the ending of his 2007 Halloween film, and continues following Laurie (the female protagonist) as she tries (unsuccessfully obviously) to continue her life in lieu of the trauma caused by the first flick. Michael is back (OMG SPOILER!) and havoc ensues. Malcolm McDowell and Brad Dourif are back to reprise their roles as well, and Zombie still finds a way to have his wife Sheri Moon be in the film as well, although in a different capacity than one might expect.
The film does play with some interesting plots, such as Laurie's attempt to move on after trauma, and Dr. Loomis' capitalizing on the notoriety of Michael's killings. If it followed the standard formula for a slasher flick it would have been a bunch of forgettable college co-eds that you WANT to get killed in gruesome fashion, but here you have (for the most part) people attempting to be somewhat real, and having plausible relationships to one another, and how they are all victims in some fashion or another to the unstoppable killing machine of Michael. Again, character is not always Zombie's strong suit, so some are bordering on ridiculous, but otherwise it's a relatively solid effort.
The good: The imagery. Zombie is a horror movie aficionado and he nails aesthetics that again elevate this above the regular drivel that passes for horror movies these days. What I think he needs to do though, is reign in his thoughts, and go back to telling his own story. House of 1000 corpses and Devil's Rejects were okay films that were too much style over substance. So he's got that, but he needs to get another original story, and writer/co-director that will keep the story in check and provide the objective voice that Zombie needs to hear in order to really elevate him to quality film-making. As it stands now though, I worry that Zombie has attached himself too much to the whole 70's exploitation style of cinema (ala Devil's Rejects or Grindhouse) and he will pursue that instead of carving his own niche in the horror department.
The bad: Characters and story are the only thing hampering this flick. As well I can't help but imagine how much better this would have been if it wasn't tied to an established franchise. Mike Myers and Jason, are ultimately weak antagonists. Zombie gets an "A" for effort in attempting to psychoanalyze Michael and give him a back-story, but ultimately no one seeing 'Halloween II' is going because they want to get into the head of Michael Myers. As much as I knock remakes and sequels, the fact is their target audience are audiences who want a throw-away movie. The same college co-eds that are epitomized on screen are the reflections of the typical audiences who go see these flicks. It's no wonder why Halloween II was not very successful for Zombie when you can imagine that most of the audience in attendance probably has the attention span of a toddler, and unless you can keep the kills or the T&A at a higher ratio than their text messages, you're gonna lose them in the exposition.
Final Verdict: I can appreciate Zombie's work here, but ultimately the film is a one off. It gets a passing grade for being entertaining enough to endure the 90+ minutes it takes to tell it's story, but it's by no means a classic in the making. Truthfully the failure can mostly be attributed to the very fact that Zombie pursued material that for many people is too established in pop culture. The very fact that the Halloween series, much like the Friday the 13th series, had become ridiculous caricatures of what they once were though the over abundance of sequels and increasingly absurd premises for stories, meant that Zombie had an uphill battle to tackle the material. He may not have been entirely successful, but working with what he had, he may as well have turned water into wine.
Add to the Vault? No. This is not going to be a Halloween regular (despite the irony), and I definitely won't be buying it. But I am still holding out hope for Zombie to make the one film that finally tells the story he needs to tell. Does that make sense? Please Rob, go back to telling original stories!
No comments:
Post a Comment