So
I caved and bought the new Limited Edition 15 Disc Halloween Blu-ray
Box Set. You know, this one:
Well,
I traded for it. I took a bunch of stuff up to MovieStop and got a
hefty chunk of that retail price knocked off. I also managed to get a
free copy of 22
Jump Street (whenever
it comes out). I’m still not sure how that happened.
I’ve
watched the original, parts II, III, the Producer’s Cut of 6, and
both Zombie movies. I haven’t made it to IV and V yet and I have no
interest in H20
or Resurrection
because they both sucked.
Who
am I kidding? I know I’ll end up watching them. Probably by the
time this posts.
UPDATE!:
I’ve watched all of the movies now. More on that later.
My
point here is that my opinion of Zombie’s remake and its sequel has
evolved. It hasn’t really changed,
but I’ve fleshed out my thoughts and have developed slightly
different opinions.
Obviously
they are two completely different stories. The original series
(barring Season
of the Witch,
which I think is deserving of a spin-off series of its own, but only
if they are all filmed in an 80s style; similar to the way Grindhouse
aped the 70s) features a supernatural predator that returns from
death after death and is seemingly invulnerable. Or at least can
recover from anything. Any characterization of Michael Myers other
than as a monster pretty much stops after the opening scene of
Halloween.
Rob
Zombie’s remakes are an examination of what made and motivates that
monster. Or at least, the genesis of the monstrosity. We get to know
Michael Myers quite well and even see moments of seeming humanity
from him when he and his mother are together (Sherri Moon Zombie is
absolutely fantastic in these movies, by the way). As a grown-up,
Michael Myers is not the silent, foreboding Shape that John Carpenter
created. He is a grunting, yelling human whose face we see constantly
throughout the second feature. He is far less supernatural and
mysterious, which brings the invulnerability of this version into
question.
The
original Michael’s constant recovery and returns were easier to
take because once we get past the opening recap of Halloween
II he
is completely The Shape. Rarely do we see more than his eyes and
heavy breathing is the most that is heard. He moves like an automaton
and is rarely seen to falter. You don’t question his recuperative
abilities because he is clearly a force of the supernatural and
something beyond human.
Zombie’s
Myers is a different creature entirely, especially in the second
film, which admittedly is an intentional and massive departure from
anything the original movies established (though I absolutely fucking
LOVE
the feint and misdirection of the hospital opening). This Michael
Myers is a human monster. We met him as a little boy and followed his
life all the way up through his escape from Smith’s Grove and his
ensuing fate at the hands of Dr. Loomis and Laurie Strode (which in
itself is quite different from the original and seems to be setting
the stage for the events and outcome of the second Zombie film). We
know that he is flawed, but we also know that there is no magical
force behind him other than psychosis and dementia. The visions of
his mother in the second movie don’t seem to be anything more than
just that – visions. She isn’t a witch providing him with power
from beyond the grave. This is simply how Michael sees Judith Myers
through his delusional eyes.
All
of this makes Michael’s recovery from multiple massive traumas a
little harder to wave away. Which is exactly what I did the first
couple of times I watched Zombie’s movies, but now having seen them
in close proximity with the originals I am noticing them a bit more.
It isn’t really having an effect on my enjoyment, It’s just one
of those things you notice.
I
still love Zombie’s interpretations, especially the second one.
It’s a wild, way-out movie that really departs from the Halloween
mythos so much that it’s Zombie’s own movie. There’s no
separating his ideals and aesthetics from the material. Zombie’s
hand is as recognizable as Terry Gilliam’s or Tim Burton’s, which
is one of the reasons I love his work so much. Sure, his dialogue is
painfully bad at times. But I feel like that’s a by-product of his
devotion to 70s cinema. If he could get someone to clean up his
scripts I think we could get some truly incredible movies from the
man. As it is, we are receiving unique and memorable ones and that’s
good enough for now.
As
far as general comparisons between the original Halloween
movies and Zombie’s remakes – I prefer the originals as far as
being stories of Michael Myers. He’s a pure evil that generates no
empathy and that has never been a victim. Evil for the sake of evil.
And his foil - Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode – is the perfect
opposite. She is sweet, innocent, and kind.
And
I think I just nailed my personal outlook on the two – the
originals are a fairy tale. There’s a clear right and wrong
unsullied by any sort of ambiguity. Good versus evil. But Rob Zombie
gave us something closer to the real world - where there are shades
of grey and everybody has their dark side. It’s gritty and ugly and
sometimes it’s hard to know who to root for. I enjoy both for
different reasons, but when presented with a Michael Myers I’ll
take the pure evil every single time.
Now
it’s time to talk about the movies that I wasn’t sure I would
have time to watch before the end of the month. Actually, let’s
just run down the whole list. Then I’ll hit on the box set and some
of the features I’ve been able to check out.
Halloween
– The original and still the best. Even on what could be my
hundredth viewing the movie’s creepy, tense atmosphere is still
effective. The young cast of victims do a great job of acting like
regular teens. They aren’t overly obnoxious or trying too hard to
be trendy and cool. They’re just kids.
Michael
is pure evil and stabby. As he should be. The end of the movie is
still shocking. Carpenter doesn’t even suggest the death of his
monster. When Loomis looks over the railing, Michael simply isn’t
there. It’s wild and surprising, especially considering the never
ending cycle of deaths that we have seen the great slashers go
through since 1978.
Halloween
set a standard that no other slasher movie has ever met, let alone
exceeded. It doesn’t have the sense of immature humor and the
feeling of being aimed at young people that most other slasher flicks
display. It’s a horror movie and it horrifies time and time again.
5 out of
5
Halloween
II
– The first time I saw this movie – whenever that was – I was
delighted by the fact that it picked up immediately after the
original. I still love that fact and usually have to watch the first
two movies together. I consider them a single work. Carpenter didn’t
direct this one, but he did write it with his original writing
partner Debra Hill.
The
feeling of continuity is very strong, as there are no major
differences in the way that Michael Myers is portrayed and Jamie Lee
Curtis once again plays Laurie Strode. Lance Guest plays a very
likeable love interest for Laurie and the hospital setting is
fantastic.
Nobody likes hospitals, so the tense atmosphere that
Carpenter is so good at comes easily and naturally.
The
only reason this one scores lower than the original is that it isn’t,
well, original. It’s more of the same. It’s great
same, but it doesn’t do anything new. 4
out of 5
Halloween
III – Season of the Witch
– The first time I saw this
movie I was terribly disappointed. Like a huge majority of fans of
the franchise, I wanted more Michael Myers.
However,
in recent years I have developed an appreciation and even a love for
this standalone feature. We talked about it on Earth
Station Boo
and decided it fit nicely into the horror/sci-fi genre and was even
an excellent example.
It’s
not perfect and it’s certainly dated, but Season
of the Witch
is a lot of creepy fun with some unforgettable concepts and imagery
that will haunt me forever.. 4
out of 5
Halloween
4 – The Return of Michael Myers
– This movie brought the Shape back, for better or for worse. I
love what they did with Jamie Lloyd and with Dr. Loomis. Danielle
Harris does an absolutely fantastic job. Donald Pleasence gets to run
around acting all crazy and just generally appearing to have a good
time with his character’s mania. The character of Rachel is one of
the most charming and likeable of the entire franchise. The movie is
a little muddled and trudges in some places due to an unnecessary
focus on the lives of the teenage characters, but overall this is a
fairly satisfactory return to form with a feel that is new and yet
still true to the first two parts of Michael’s story.
I
love
the fact that everybody is taking Michael Myers seriously in this
one. The cops are out in force and there is a genuine feeling that
Haddonfield is a broken town in the aftermath of his original crimes.
I also love the end of the movie. The cops show up and simply blast
the shit out of Michael Myers. No questions. Just shooting. And
Pleasence sells the shit
out of Loomis’ horror and dismay at Jamie Lloyd’s actions.
While
I enjoy this one, it is definitely a sequel and suffers from a lack
of direction and an overabundance of writers. But the kill count is
high and Michael only feels slightly deviated from his stabby
origins. He hasn’t (yet) fallen victim to stereotypical slasher
tropes. 3
out of 5
Halloween
5 – The Revenge of Michael Myers
– Part five is pretty bad. Michael becomes just another slasher
looking for varied ways to kill his victims. Jamie can’t talk for
most of the movie, which is hugely annoying. Also annoying is the
fact that Rachel – a great character – is quickly killed off and
replaced in the narrative by Tina, who is an annoying moron.
Rather
than continuing the narrative of Jamie Lloyd’s following in the
footsteps of her uncle Michael, the producers decided to make her
mute and psychologically damaged. She also shares some kind of hokey
psychic link with Michael, so we get scenes of Danielle Harris
gesturing in an annoying manner interspersed with scenes of Danielle
Harris having weird fits in an annoying manner. Lots
of fits. And they go on for-fucking-ever. Listen – it’s not
Harris’ fault. She’s doing what she was being told to do. But
holy shit did they turn one of the most interesting child characters
in the history of horror into somebody you dreaded seeing on screen.
Of
course, you pretty much dread seeing anybody
on screen in this movie, as the entire cast has been reduced to the
same kind of stereotypical, annoying shitheads that were slowly
killing the slasher genre at the time.
I
can’t say I’ll never watch this one again, as I enjoy Donald
Pleasence’s wacky performance and there are some good beats, but
there isn’t much to recommend Revenge
overall. It is, however, where The Curse of Thorn was introduced, so
I have to give credit for that.
2
out of 5
Halloween
6 – The Curse of Michael Myers: The Producer’s Cut
– The original version of this movie is quite flawed, but it has
always been my favorite of the originals. Not the best,
mind you. But the one I always had the most fun watching. I like the
weird mythology of The Curse of Thorn (conspiracy stuff always gets
me). I like Paul Rudd’s off-kilter portrayal of Tommy Doyle. Kara
Strode is a solid new character that has a little depth. Her son
Danny isn’t too
annoying. And crazy Dr. Loomis is back again!
For
years I had heard about The Producer’s Cut of this movie.
Apparently it is something that has been floating around in bootleg
form for years, but I never really pursued it because you never know
how those sorts of things are going to turn out.
It
turned out AWESOME. It’s still flawed, but the movie goes so much
further with the crazy conspiracy/cult stuff. I had a blast watching
this version and can’t wait to do it again. I always hated that
Danielle Harris wasn’t able to reprise her role as Jamie Lloyd, and
now it’s so much worse because of the character’s expanded
presence in The Producer’s Cut.
This
movie also looks
slicker than its predecessors. I’m not overly familiar with the
director, Joe Chapelle, but he’s directed a lot of television,
including Fringe
and The
Wire.
Halloween
6 has a
great pace and a clean visual look that I really like.
While
the standard version of Curse
gets a “4”, The
Producer’s Cut
gets a higher rating for being crazier, more entertaining, and
overall a standout entry in the series. I feel like it’s a sort of
spiritual predecessor to Zombie’s take on the franchise in that it
tried different things.
5 out of 5
Halloween
H20
– I didn’t like this one when it came out. I felt like it was
dumbed-down Scream-spawn
and that it completely homogenized Michael Myers, making him just as
generic and interchangeable as the rest of the slashers had become by
the late 90s. I haven’t watched it since I saw it in the theater,
aside from occasional snippets on television.
I
went into this viewing with fresh eyes. I figured my younger self had
been too harsh on H20
and that maybe there would be things there that I could appreciate
now with a little more perspective on life and horror movies in
particular. After all, it was Jamie Lee Curtis’ big return to the
franchise. There must be something
to appreciate.
Sure
enough, there was something to appreciate. Clocking in at 82 minutes,
it is the shortest movie in the franchise.
I
kid, I kid.
At
the beginning I was enjoying the performances from Josh Hartnett and
Michelle Williams. I liked their characters and their dynamic. And
Curtis’ portrayal of a paranoid, shell-shocked Laurie Strode was
solid. What I didn’t realize going in was that H20
completely scrapped the stories of Return,
Revenge, and
Curse.
I didn’t remember that from when it came out (and it is somewhat
subtle), but realizing it now was a mark against it. Anything that
erases Danielle Harris from history is my enemy.
Within
half an hour I was disliking this one and recognizing all of the
things that had made me dislike it back in 1998. It’s bland,
repetitive, and predictable. Michael Myers looks like a lame knockoff
of Michael Myers. The mask is too tight and the actor is too human.
He also gets knocked around. A
lot.
Here are some comments I made on my Facebook
page while I was watching:
- El Phantasmas And the mask looks terrible. The eyes are too big and it fits his head like skinny jeans.
El Phantasmas And they've got Michael hanging from the ceiling and hopping around on tables like some kind of damned monkey.- El Phantasmas I did not even remember the end of this movie where Laurie kidnaps Michael and drives him off of a cliff and they both survive even though she got thrown out of the van and he got smooshed between the van and a tree. This is the silliest pile of horseshit. At least Zombie's Laurie just shot him in the face.
- El Phantasmas Oh. We'll then this Laurie lopped his head off. So that's okay. Now I have to watch Resurrection to see how he got his head back on. Duct tape, I'm guessing.
- El Phantasmas Too late. It was actually a tubby, mustachioed paramedic that survived all of that. I can hardly wait for Busta Rhymes to start chewing up this scenery.
I
can’t see watching it again. There’s just nothing special or
interesting about this twentieth anniversary flick. 2
out of 5
Halloween:
Resurrection
– This is an utter piece of shit. I remembered about forty-five
minutes in that this was one of the first movies that ever inspired
me to get up and walk out of the theater. Maybe the
first. Every fucking thing about it is intolerable. Every fucking
thing. The cast is a horrible nightmare, even Katee Sackhoff, who I
normally adore.
It
has a shitty pop music soundtrack, Michael looks like a joke and is
basically treated like one, and the whole plot is a redo of Curse’s
idea of a big media event at the Myers house, but done with reality
TV instead of radio.
I
hate this movie. Here are some Facebook comments to that effect:
I
hope to never watch this garbage again. It’s no wonder they went
after Rob Zombie to reboot it rather than follow up this fucking
turd. Shit
Sandwich out of 5
Okay,
I will say this about Resurrection
– Jamie Lee Curtis was great. I liked her character so much more in
that one than I did in H20.
I felt like that was the Laurie Strode I wanted to see. And while her
death was kind of lame and definitely weird, she was great to watch
while she was on screen.
I
guess I pretty much covered my feelings about Zombie’s movies
above, so let’s get to the set.
As
far as it goes, it has the most current versions of each movie, along
with a ton of all-new features. This is the fifteen disc set, not the
slightly cheaper ten disc version that is not, as far as I know, a
Limited Edition. Here’s Anchor Bay’s blurb about the set:
“For the legions of
Halloween fans, the Deluxe Edition boasts 15 discs and contains all
the Halloween feature films – Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween
III: Season of the Witch, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers,
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers, Halloween: The Curse of
Michael Myers, Halloween H20, Halloween: Resurrection, Rob Zombie’s
Halloween and Halloween II. The set includes the NEVER BEFORE
RELEASED producers cut of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers as
well as the ultra-rare network TV version of the original Halloween,
the network TV version of Halloween II, plus the unrated versions of
Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II. It is packed with hours
of BRAND NEW bonus features including new interviews with cast and
crew from the entire franchise! In response to years of fan
feedback, the first Halloween will now also include the original mono
audio track and the set will include both versions of the original
Halloween-the original Blu-ray™ release and the recently remastered
35th Anniversary version with the mono track added back in! It also
comes with a limited edition 40-page book written by Michael Gingold
of Fangoria Magazine. The collectible packaging will include a newly
commissioned illustration on the outer case and each film will be in
its own black Blu-ray™ case with the original theatrical one sheet
as the key art. This deluxe set carries an SRP of $169.99.”
That’s
a bunch of stuff. I’ve barely even dipped into the Special
Features. I should have started with the new disc, but instead I went
back to the first movie and listened to the commentary featuring John
Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis and watched some of the documentary
about Curtis putting together some kind of media event to exploit
fans
raise money for charity.
Putting
those two things together in one viewing brought me to the conclusion
that Jamie Lee Curtis is kind of an asshole. Not a malicious asshole,
but one that is pretentious and dismissive of horror and its fans.
She makes it quite clear that if she hadn’t come up with the
charity thing she wouldn’t want to have anything to do with the
kinds of creeps that enjoy the movies that launched her career.
During the commentary track with Carpenter she seems almost regretful
that she was part of Halloween.
Maybe
I took certain things the wrong way, but I wasn’t thrilled with
those portions of the Features.
And
that’s really about as far as I’ve gotten. I wish I could’ve
covered more, but October is busy, man. And it’s not like I got a
free advance copy or anything.
The
bottom line is this – the box set has pretty much all of the
Halloween
that exists at this point except for the excellent 25
Years of Terror documentary.
If you’re a fan of the franchise, you have to have this set.
Just
throw Resurrection
in the trash. Or use it as a Frisbee. Whatever.
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