In Comparison: Halloween (1978) vs Halloween (2007)

This Michael Myers Monday, we examine why Rob Zombie’s Halloween remake just may very well be one of the better slashers in recent memory.

The rave reviews coming out of TIFF for the new film, shows just how anticipated a new movie in the Halloween franchise is. It is perhaps important to remember, it didn’t always start out like that. As a matter of fact, John Carpenter’s ultimate classic didn’t find success until several months into its distribution. Flashback to 1978...

John Carpenter’s Halloween — Courtesy of Trancas International Pictures

HALLOWEEN (1978)

What can be said about its originality, lighting, the score, the directing or the acting? Every single facet of Halloween has been poked, prodded, dissected and even over-analyzed; from being a movie about feminism, to theories on Michael being the victim of years of prescription medication rather than having been rehabilitated, the list never really seems to end.

There’s something incredibly offbeat about this figure, this shape, being able to suddenly appear out of nowhere. In the original, he’s not truly given a motive. In many ways, Michael is artistic and has a macabre sense of humor not matched — even by the likes of Freddy Krueger.

When you think about all of the serendipitous things that strung the film’s creation together; be it Jamie Lee Curtis’s availability opening up to take the role, Irwin Yablans having seen John Carpenter’s previous work, Debra Hill and John being involved, Debra having known Dean Cundey from an earlier project, John being musically inclined, Nick Castle wanting to be on set to study how to be a director and John having him play the shape — All of it feels as though it was meant to be, dare I say, fate.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween — Courtesy of Dimension Films

Halloween (2007)

There are quite a lot of people who flat out hate this film. That’s totally fine, they’re entitled to their opinions. What bothers me is how many people cut one another down, belittle and even threaten one another over it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people tell someone to kill themselves over them liking a movie the other person doesn’t.

The popular misconception is that Rob Zombie killed the Halloween franchise. He didn’t, not by a long shot. When Halloween: Resurrection came out, it was given a limited theatrical release at select theaters. Had we gotten a Halloween 9, it’s plausible it would’ve continued that path until finally, it would have become a straight-to-video mess like Hellraiser.

A revitalization of some sort was necessary and, given the recent increase in remakes, frankly inevitable. Luckily, Rob Zombie’s gritty gore fest was financially successful at the box office. So successful that, now 11 years later, still holds the record for number 1 Labor Day weekend release. Not only is that a big accomplishment for this franchise, it’s a tremendous feat for the horror genre and the slasher sub-genre, overall.

I can appreciate Rob wanting to keep the story close to the original, without doing a complete copy and paste job like the Psycho remake. Some of the scenes are pretty well directed, too. I think his script, particularly the dialogue, could use some work, and certainly the shakiness is annoying, but it’s really not the worst in the franchise. His movies in no way effect the original or the sequels that followed; they’re still in existence and they still have the same effectiveness they always had.

Upon watching the four hour making of feature, I learned Rob was being told to “Make it more Rob Zombie-ish”, which is precisely what most take issue with. There was an awful lot of pressure with this film, a lot of confusion and I think many had gone into this with wicked high expectations, because it’s Halloween.

Michael having long hair and a beard doesn’t bother me much at all, primarily because — especially in the sequel, it makes sense. I don’t believe Michael would cut his hair or shave, let alone care. The mask is pretty cool in this film, too. Not as good as the original, but still one of the better masks in the series. I was pretty let down with the score.

Tyler Bates did a decent job with some of the John Carpenterisms, but with his own contributions, it was terrible. He even used a track he’d previously utilized in The Devil’s Rejects. A lot of it was loud, unstable washing machine sounds just slamming together.

No matter what, nothing is ever going to touch John Carpenter’s Halloween. The 1978 original is surely going to stand the test of time, for one reason or another. As far as remakes go, Rob Zombie’s 2007 film is most certainly not the worst.