A new Michael Myers is upon us, here we are at the film that divides Halloween fans everywhere, Rob Zombies remake of the original Halloween.
With advice from Carpenter’s make the film his own ,Zombie chose to develop the film as both a prequel and a remake.
If any of the films took away Michael’s mystique then this film did so and then some! We see a young Michael interact with his family, showing love for for his mum and little sister, we see Michaels surrounding’s, a loving family, but also a hatred between him and his mothers boyfriend.
If you ever wanted to know what happened to Michael through all those years before we saw him escape in the original film then this is the film for you. If you don’t then don’t watch it.
Not only do we have a new Michael, we have a New Dr. Loomis & new Laurie Strode and friends, with Danielle Harris returning to the franchise as Annie. Malcolm McDowell is a very talented actor, but personally, he just can’t replace Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis. There are just some actors that cant be replaced.
You do have to give credit to Zombie, with only 2 films under his belt it was a brave move to try and reboot a much loved franchise, one that he himself has stated his love for. He could’ve took the easy route, like Gus Van Sant did with his shot for shot remake of Psycho, but he took Carpenters advice and did make it his own way with his new ideas.
It’s a film you either love or hate but one thing it does show is that Zombie does have a future in Horror films.
Miscellaneous facts about the film:
At one point Dimension Studios considered making a crossover film featuring Pinhead from the Hellraiser series, following in the footsteps of Newline Cinema’s horror crossover Freddy VS Jason. A poll was held on the official site, but response from fans was negative and the studio dropped the concept.
The movie’s production was delayed due to the death of Moustapha Akkad, the producer of all 8 previous movies. Akkad died of severe injuries as a result from the terrorist attacks at Jordan in 2005.
Before deciding to go with Rob Zombie’s version, the studio was about to green light “Halloween: The Missing Years”, which would have been a prequel, set within Michael Myers’ early days at the Asylum.
In an early scene in the film, the movie White Zombie is playing on the TV. The band ‘White Zombie’, whose name comes from the film, is where Director Rob Zombie first gained attention in the 1980s and 1990s.
Adrienne Barbeau’s role was cut from the final finished film.
While calling 9-1-1 to get help for the injured Annie, Laurie identifies the street she is on as “Winchester Road”. “Winchester” is the name of the production company which produced the horror classic The Thing From Another World. The movie prominently appears on the TV during a horror movie marathon on both this version of “Halloween” and the original film by ‘John Carptenter’. Carpenter later remade “The Thing”. This was Rob Zombie’s nod to the originals and remakes of both films.
The inclusion of the plot line about Michael Meyers’ early days at the mental institution under the care of Sam Loomis is a nod to a plot line added in by John Carpenter for the TV viewing of the original Halloween. As told by Carpenter, when the original film was first sold to TV, they demanded added scenes to replace the edited portions of the murder scenes. So Carpenter recalled ‘Donald Pleasance’, the original Sam Loomis to film scenes of him at the hospital taking care of Michael.
William Forsythe actually injured his leg prior to shooting, which is why his leg is in a cast in the film. In the script the character only had an arm brace, but Forsythe’s leg injury was also worked into the film.
Danielle Harris was 29 years old when she was cast as the teenage Annie Brackett. The movie was released nearly three months after her 30th birthday.
‘The Misfits were one of Rob Zombie’s influences during his musical career, and the band’s track ‘Halloween II’ is playing on the stereo during the kill scene while the couple are having sex in Michael’s childhood home. Also, Tommy’s costume is that of the Crimson Ghost character ‘The Fiend’. This character has been used as The Misfit’s band mascot since the band’s inception.
Emma Stone auditioned for the role of Laurie Strode.
Before reinventing the legendary Halloween, Rob Zombie made the wise choice to inform John Carpenter about it.
26 minutes were trimmed from the film for its theatrical release in Brazil, so it could get a broader rating, which translates to more screening times. In the end it received a rating of 14 years (kids over 14 can watch it without parental supervision), which is not the most restrictive available, yet meant that the film could only be shown after 9pm.
Director Rob Zombie originally wanted Danielle Harris to play Laurie Strode and Sheri Moon Zombie to play Lynda.
Was originally going to be another sequel entitled “Halloween: Retribution” starring Lindy Booth but the idea was scrapped and they went with Rob Zombie’s vision.
The sheriff played by Brad Dourif is named in memory of Leigh Brackett, a screenwriter and (mostly) science fiction novelist. Rio Bravo was the inspiration for a previous John Carpenter movie, Assault On Precinct 13.
Tyler Mane is the tallest actor to portray Michael Myers at a height of 6’9.
A new Michael Myers is upon us, here we are at the film that divides Halloween fans everywhere, Rob Zombies remake of the original Halloween.
If any of the films took away Michael’s mystique then this film did so and then some! We see a young Michael interact with his family, showing love for for his mum and little sister, we see Michaels surrounding’s, a loving family, but also a hatred between him and his mothers boyfriend.
Not only do we have a new Michael, we have a New Dr. Loomis & new Laurie Strode and friends, with Danielle Harris returning to the franchise as Annie. Malcolm McDowell is a very talented actor, but personally, he just can’t replace Donald Pleasance as Dr. Loomis. There are just some actors that cant be replaced.
You do have to give credit to Zombie, with only 2 films under his belt it was a brave move to try and reboot a much loved franchise, one that he himself has stated his love for. He could’ve took the easy route, like Gus Van Sant did with his shot for shot remake of Psycho, but he took Carpenters advice and did make it his own way with his new ideas.
It’s a film you either love or hate but one thing it does show is that Zombie does have a future in Horror films.