Just saw it, and I gotta say, it was like watching two movies; one terrible, one excellent.
The first twenty or so minutes was absolute garbage. Why does Michael have to be raised by white trash? Why does Judith have to be a slut, his mom have to be a stripper, and his step-dad have to be an abusive crazy? Resurrection, for all it's faults, at least made the point that nothing *made* Michael what he is, and to suggest otherwise would be a cheap joke. Why do you have to make excuses for evil? Michael is pure evil, plain and simple, why try to change that? And then, just when I thought the movie couldn't get any more cliche, they introduce the school bully.
Cue "Love Hurts" and an utterly pointless scene of Sheri stripping, and I'm ready to puke. I'm seriously ready to walk out at this point. I know my wife is probably loving it as she was telling me how Zombie's version is going to be one of, if not the horror event of lifetime. I look to my left to find that she is just as appalled as I am. I say "want to go?" and she says "I think so..."
That's when the killing (of the family) starts. I say "We'll stay for this, at least" If I said my interest was piqued at this point, I'd be lying, but it was alot better than the previous 20 minutes of garbage I was subjected to. There is no suspense, just brutal killings. Some black humor was forced in there involving the step-dad getting duct taped to his chair while sleeping, and Judith's boyfriend porking her while wearing the mask. If that's the best Zombie could come up with to explain where the mask came from and to weather it for the dirty look later in the movie, so be it, I guess I can deal with that. Even though this segment was a lot better than the previous, I was too annoyed by the setup to care. I'm ready to go.
What's this? Malcom McDowell as Loomis? I almost forgot. This movie could be saved yet. And to my surprise, and delight, it actually is! This is where I began to realize that Zombie wasn't trying to explain away Michael's evil with an abusive upbringing, he was just beating human Michael down to the point where he couldn't keep the monster inside a bay anymore. I don't think he killed animals because he was abused or was brought up wrong, I think he killed those animals to satisfy the beast inside him before the beast could call for human blood. I finally started to understand, but I still wish it was executed a little better so that I could enjoy the film from start to finish.
I couldn't believe a film that was absolute garbage not fifteen minutes ago, could show such signs of brilliance all of the sudden. In the asylum, the night janitor suggests to young Michael that "there are no walls inside your mind" was one perfect example of said brilliance. Michael looks inside himself and is then consumed by the beast. Michael is gone, there is only the Shape. I heard people complain when, later in the film, the Shape kills the janitor. They said "he was the only one that nice to him." I don't think they "got it," there was nothing human left of Michael, the shape of evil was acting on rage alone.
Years pass and Michael breaks out of the asylum and heads to Haddonfield. At this point, the movie ceases to be about Michael and focuses on Laurie. Laurie was brought up by decent folk, was a good kid, and had normal friends that any kid could have. This is where I think the "second" film starts.
You pretty much know the rest of the story, since Zombie doesn't stray from the original too much after this. He pretty much replaces the suspense of the original with brutal new-school style killings. The human Michael does eventually seem to fight back to the fore-front once the Shape finally captures Laurie. The question will forever remain in the viewer's mind: "Could Michael have prevailed over the Shape if Laurie hadn't stabbed him?" We'll never know, and that's the way it should be.
The casting was brilliant for all parts other than the Myers family. I daresay Laurie's friends were more likeable in this film than the original. There were a couple flaws in the cheerleader character I thought (why did she have a hippie scrub boyfriend?), but the acting was well below par for the slasher genre (below par is good for you non-golfers). The new Laurie was a great update to the character. Face it, Laurie Strode, as she was portrayed in the original, can not exist today. The new Laurie was far more believable for our time. Heck, I even thought the kids (Tommy and Lindsay) were a lot better than the original. As for Malcom McDowell as Loomis, I cannot say enough good things about him. He really shined in this role, and may be the only actor on this planet that could do the Loomis character justice. Don't even get me started on Brad Dourif as the Sherrif. Brilliant casting.
I do have one minor gripe about the Shape though. I can deal with the fact that he is now 80 bajillion feet tall. I can begrudgingly submit to the fact that he doesn't move like a slow mechanical killing robot. What I cannot swallow, however, is the fact that he grunts and makes noises when he's "doing his thing." I hope that aspect of the character is re-thought should Zombie or any other director choose to make a sequel.
The only *major* casting gripe I have is with that of Sheri Zombie as Michael's mother. She did okay through the majority of here scenes, but the exchange in the kitchen between her and crippled guy were painful. I'm talking a high school drama student could do better type painful.
When I watch a sequel, remake, or re-imagining, of a film like this I look for two things: How good is the score? and Did they screw up the look/feel of the monster/villian/bad guy? The story is secondary to me. That's just the nature of the slasher genre. The answer to the first question is: the score is very good. I feel (despite all it's other faults) Resurrection had the best score of the sequels, but Tyler Bates did a good job of mixing the classic theme with horror-type sounds and whatnot. As long as there's no guitar whine ala Halloween 6, ("whhhaaaaaa!!!! reeeeeeeeeer!!!!!!) I'm a happy camper. The answer to the second question: eh, he's different, but maybe he has to be. I'll reserve final judgement on that for the sequel.
I thought the story was great, I just feel the audience shouldn't be expected to think so much to find the story, especially in a slasher flick. I seriously think the story went over most people's heads. I hope I'm not coming off as conceited in saying that, I just don't think you can expect an audience to put the pieces together completely on their own. There had to be a better way to explain this. You might, at this point, point to the "perfect storm" speech that Loomis gave. To which I reply, it's not enough. This is slasher, things should be spelled out a little better.
Movie as a whole: 3 (out of 5)
First 20 minutes or so: -80 bajillion
Rest of the flick: 4
Okay, I'm done. If you read all that, thanks and I'm sorry for the length.
I'm now on the hunt for NECA's.
