Horrific Inquiry: HALLOWEEN (2007)

Welcome back to the scariest, and at times goriest, column here at Film Inquiry: Horrific Inquiry. Twice a month, I will be tackling all things horror, bringing two films back into the spotlight to terrify and frighten once more. And occasionally looking at those that could have pushed the envelope further. Join us as we dive deep into the heart of horror, but warning, there will be spoilers.

“Inside every one of us, there exists a dark side. Most people rise above it, but some are consumed by it. Until there is nothing left, but pure evil” – Halloween (2007)

As Halloween rolls around every year, so do revisits to the undeniable horror classic Halloween. With Halloween, John Carpenter introduced audiences to the Boogie Man, his stone cold demeanor, unrelenting violence and immortality launching a franchise that is still running strong today. Yet, as Halloween drew closer this year, I found myself wanting to break away from the traditional rewatch of the 1978 classic, pouring over the sequels and remakes that have followed since its release. And while Halloween 2 and Halloween: H2O were initial front runners, it was Rob Zombie‘s 2007 remake that won out in the end.

One of the reasons I settled on Zombie‘s remake was the sheer fact that to this day, I had still not seen it. A fan of House of 1,000 Corpses, the intention had always been there, having purchased a directors cut on DVD several years earlier. And while the film had alluded my watch list, this was the year I was finally going to make it happen. And while it does not stand as my favorite within the entire legacy of Michael Myers, it retains its own rhythm within the franchise. One part Zombie classic, another original homage, Halloween (2007) is a perfect fit for the most horrific of days.

Part 1

While not initially apparent, Halloween is broken into two parts. This breakdown though does not become clear until the introduction of Laurie Strode halfway through the film. The first half of Halloween feels pure Zombie – rom coloration and contrast to the brutal violence that Michael inflicts on the majority of his family, and subsequent victims at the asylum. As the years have passed since the film’s release, I have heard many express both a love and a distaste for the film – and I feel much of this discourse lies with its first half. It doesn’t feel like a Halloween film, even though the names and overall murders mirror the original, all accompanied by the all too familiar leitmotif. There is something darker and deeper than Halloween attempts to access that for many just won’t land.

I myself had a hard time coming to terms with the first half of Halloween. I felt detached from the franchise, the lack of cohesion driving a disconnect from the film. Halloween wants to fill in the gaps and explain the environment and motivating factors behind the violence of Michael Myers. And where John Carpenter presented audiences with pure evil rooted in the terrifying absence of explanation, Zombie crafts a dark push towards the dark side. The film opens with Michael and his family, a dead beat father figure in Ronnie (William Forsythe), a loving mother Deborah (Sheri Moon Zombie) at her wits end and a promiscuous sister Judith (Hanna Hall). Where the original gives the feeling of pure evil born out of a peaceful upbringing, Halloween delivers on the tropes of a broken home. As each is introduced, there is a Zombie feel to the characters, the vulgarity exchanged feels like fuel to the fire that would become Michael Myers.

As the film moves away from home life, viewers discover that Michael’s (Daeg Faerch) environment at school is not much better. The influence of vulgarity within his home life follows Michael here as he interacts with both his bullies and the school principal. There is an accountability feeling to the environment that surrounds Michael, almost consuming him. There is an unsettling feeling that beings to set in, an abandonment, a feeling that Michael could have been saved. That at one point there was a chance. And while this feeling works as a means to draw empathy from the audience for Michael, it wavers in its effectiveness.

As we have set the background to what would be Michael’s violent murder of his sister Judith, Zombie takes it further, heightening the body count and bloodshed. First to go is Michael’s bully Wesley Rhoades (Daryl Sabara), the first of many kills that in essence allows him to “overcome” the perceived evils and transgressions in his life. Also one of the many kills reinforces the idea of Michael’s need to watch – to watch the life drain from his victims. To watch death take hold. Yet, where there is this sense of taking control, there is also the fulfillment of a prediction made by Dr. Loomis. And as Michael makes his way home, seemingly preparing for trick or treating as he usually does, his actions lose its reclamation of self, allowing the stone cold evil within to take form.

As Ronnie, Judith, and her boyfriend are brutally murdered, in essence following the opening of the original, Halloween commits to is the dedication of presenting Michael in the before. We watch as he watches the life drain from his victims, pure evil in the form of rage consuming him. We follow the young Myers as he is found guilty and transferred to the asylum, where he begins his sessions with Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). Slowly shutting down in the enclosed environment of the mental institution, Michael falls silent, his mother eventually killing herself after witnessing another of Michael’s murders, and Loomis ending their sessions as there has be no improvement. The film pushes hard on the idea of abandonment, one that may have been enacted to create further empathy, but is utilized to further create a continuity of understanding of why Michael would go back to Haddonfield for Laurie – why he would go back for his sister.

Part 2

The entire first half of Halloween is a saturation of explanation, attempting to answer the whys and hows that the original film left out. And while some aspects are successful, others fail to truly impress. With Michael having escaped the asylum, leaving a massacre in his wake, the film shifts back to where it all started. And while it doesn’t resonate much of the original off the bat, the film settles into a familiarity that eases the melding of two artists. As Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) interacts with her parents, and shortly after with Tommy, it is the first time the film feels as though it is a remake, where the presence of both artists rings true.

The stone cold stalker of Michael Myers takes full form as he puts back on the mask and begins to follow Laurie throughout her day. There are so many homages to the original film that Zombie includes, giving them each his own sense of style. Giving a further sense of horror homage, the film also casts Danielle Harris of Halloween 4 as Laurie’s friend Annie and Brad Dourif of Child’s Play as the Sheriff.

Halloween gives a wider breadth to Laurie. The film focuses less on her bodily purity like Jamie Leigh Curtis‘s Laurie, this Laurie’s purity of heart is more highlighted. She is vulgar at times, yet the loving and obedient daughter, friend and babysitter. The Laurie presented here is a modernized version, giving her a more credible appeal and relatability, while also retaining the feeling of Carpenter‘s original final girl. This pureness is best on display as she interacts with her mother and the children she babysits for.

While Halloween is not in a rush to begin its blood bath right away, it does inevitably begin. First up is Laurie’s friend Lynda (Kristina Klebe). As she and her boyfriend Bob (Nick Mennell) have sex in the old Myers home, they are unaware that Michael has returned. Leaving to get a beer, Bob, as was in the original, is the first to die, a knife pinning him into the wall. More brutal and well-lit then the original, there is an excitement to seeing the scene brought back to life. Lynda is next, giving audiences the well-crafted balance of Zombie and Carpenter. There is a similarity to her interaction with Michael, and subsequent pairing with Judith’s tombstone later on. Yet, the film embraces a moment of continuity, her naked body turned away from the door as she plays Blue Oyster Cult‘s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”, mirroring the moments leading up to Michael murdering Judith. In this moment as much as it feels Carpenter, it also feels Zombie.

This collaboration of past and present continues as Michael brings the violence to Laurie, the children running from the Boogie man, and Annie and her boyfriend (also in the midst of sex) fall victim to Myers. Yet, as much as it retains a strong essence of Carpenter, Zombie takes the film a step further. Michael does reach Laurie, taking her away to his childhood home. As she awakens in the basement, there is a brief moment of confusion as to why Michael did not kill her when he had the chance – why he would bring her home. As he drops to his knees, letting go of the butcher knife, it is a small picture in his pocket that he pulls out that becomes the twist in this version of Halloween.

Michael did not come back to kill his family, he rather came back to be reunited. After killing Ronnie, Judith and her boyfriend at the beginning of the film, Michael was found by his mother outside the home holding baby Laurie. He does not interact with baby Laurie, or baby “boo” as he calls her, much in the beginning of the film. Just enough so in this moment, we understand his need to reunite with the only person who gave him purpose, the only person other than his mother he truly loved. The abandonment instilled earlier in the film comes full circle here, giving pure evil a moment of heart – a moment of redemption. That is until Laurie, in defense and a will to survive, stabs Michael. Only then does he realize she is like the others. Only then does he see her as just another body to kill.

Conclusion

I will always be a purist when it comes to Halloween. Always willing to give sequels and remakes a chance, but always sizing it up to the 1978 classic. Rob Zombie‘s Halloween was no different. And while not every element of Zombie‘s remake lands for me, it stands as a decent remake that I would not only watch again but am inspired to see where he takes the sequel. For the ending of Carpenter‘s, it is confirmed Michael Myers is the Boogie Man, vanishing into the night after he has been shot by Loomis and falling out the window. The subsequent sequel picks up immediately after, Laurie once again chased down by the killer in the hospital.

For Zombie‘s take, Laurie and Myers both go out the window and Laurie is the one who shoots him in the end (seemingly in the face). Her blood-soaked face releases maniacal laughter after the gun has discharged, one that had me thinking back to the final moments of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There is a relief, yet also an overwhelming sense of shock. Then the screen goes black, the final credits beginning to roll. There is no disappearance of the Boogie Man in the night, no other help that stands beside Laurie. As a viewer, I find myself curious to see the effects on Laurie and where the film goes from here. The curiosity and stone cold ending push viewers to want more and pursue the sequel Zombie has locked and loaded.

It may not be the standout Zombie was hoping for, but Halloween finds its own brutal identity along the way while still honoring the original it is based on.

Happy Halloween!

Have you seen Rob Zombie’s Halloween? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

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