TR reviews horror franchises: "Halloween"

[Big DSR Energy]

The implication in the first film, Carpenter's film, was that before he killed his sister, Michael was completely normal. Granted, we've only seen him from that moment on, when he was either completely devoid of any emotion and on a maniacal killing spree, but we were led to believe from the start that prior to that fateful Halloween night Michael was a normal 5-year-old.

I know, but like I said, I wanted to make my point anyway. ;D

And, like I said, this normal-ness makes him come off more like a blank canvas, so to speak, and allows the audience to infer their own ideas about evil onto him.

[Lick Ness Monster]

I move that when I post the review of "Halloween II," discussions on Zombie's remake stop.

All agree?

[hollywood]

Apr 8, 2008 15:14:31 GMT -5 Big DSR Energy said:

The implication in the first film, Carpenter's film, was that before he killed his sister, Michael was completely normal. Granted, we've only seen him from that moment on, when he was either completely devoid of any emotion and on a maniacal killing spree, but we were led to believe from the start that prior to that fateful Halloween night Michael was a normal 5-year-old.

I know, but like I said, I wanted to make my point anyway. ;D

And, like I said, this normal-ness makes him come off more like a blank canvas, so to speak, and allows the audience to infer their own ideas about evil onto him.

Well, that's a fair point.

It's a shame they went the remake route with Halloween. If they really wanted to make an addition to the franchise so badly, it would've been a lot more fun if they'd worked out their differences and put Michael in a Freddy VS Jason sequel and make it a Three-Way-Dance of Terror!!

[Big DSR Energy]

Apr 8, 2008 15:16:14 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

I move that when I post the review of "Halloween II," discussions on Zombie's remake stop.

All agree?

Fine by me. I haven't even seen the f***in' thing.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Apr 8, 2008 15:18:46 GMT -5 Big DSR Energy said:

Apr 8, 2008 15:16:14 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

I move that when I post the review of "Halloween II," discussions on Zombie's remake stop.

All agree?

Fine by me. I haven't even seen the smurfin' thing.

I'm sure you've read it already, but neither have I. I swore off any and all horror remakes after I saw the TCM remake.

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Apr 8, 2008 15:16:14 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

I move that when I post the review of "Halloween II," discussions on Zombie's remake stop.

All agree?

No, TR, I don't agree. I'll do nothing but talk about the remake during this whole thread!







Seriously though, Halloween 1 & 2 are pure awesome.

Funny story, one time when my brother was sick he took some STRONG medicine. We stayed up and watched these movies one night. The next day I was making refrences to them and he just looked at me like I was dumb. I was like "It's from Halloween man" and he was like "Dude, it's been sooooo long since I've seen it I don't remember that."

I just stared at him for a minute and was like "We watched it last night."

"We did? What?"

That medicine had him so doped up he didn't remember it.

[Big DSR Energy]

Apr 8, 2008 15:20:08 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

Apr 8, 2008 15:18:46 GMT -5 Big DSR Energy said:

Fine by me. I haven't even seen the smurfin' thing.

I'm sure you've read it already, but neither have I. I swore off any and all horror remakes after I saw the TCM remake.

I assume you're referring to modern remakes, rather than stuff like, say, Hammer's Dracula/Frankenstein/etc. output of the 50s and 60s?

At any rate, I won't swear off any and all horror remakes, but at the same token I have yet to see any previews for stuff in recent years that appeals to me. Though, that goes for both remakes and original stuff.

[Lick Ness Monster]

That's a funny story, Deadpool.

My little motion wasn't directed at you, either. Not directed at ANYBODY in particular - it's just that it seems to be a pretty emotional topic for everyone, myself included, and this thread seems to be going really well. By far the best out of all my review threads.

I always kind of like the discussion to be about the movie I reviewed LAST, anyway. And once "HII" is up (probably sometime around 11 or midnight tonight) I want people to talk about that.

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Apr 8, 2008 15:29:09 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

That's a funny story, Deadpool.

My little motion wasn't directed at you, either. Not directed at ANYBODY in particular - it's just that it seems to be a pretty emotional topic for everyone, myself included, and this thread seems to be going really well. By far the best out of all my review threads.

I always kind of like the discussion to be about the movie I reviewed LAST, anyway. And once "HII" is up (probably sometime around 11 or midnight tonight) I want people to talk about that.

Oh yeah, I understood.

I was just messing around.





Also, one thing I do want to say about horror remakes before we stop it. It's off subject but there aren't many threads that I can say this in and it makes sense to say . I just want to say that I think the greatest horror re-make of all-time is John Carpenter's The Thing. I personally feel it's one of the few remakes in history that did it WAY better then the first.

[BoilerRoomBrawler]

I like the first three, the second three were okay in their parts, and the last two (haven't seen the remake) weren't so great.

As far as the first being the best horror movie ever, I would have to respectfully disagree not in its top tier status but as far as the king of the mountain, The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are both better in my book.

Also IMO, John Carpenter's The Thing was scarier than Halloween, granted it has a less plausible premise but that atmosphere of complete isolation and paranoia is great.

Speaking of The Thing, Tommy is watching it during the horror movie marathon in Halloween, making an interesting foreshadowing of John Carpenter's career.

[BoilerRoomBrawler]

Apr 8, 2008 15:33:41 GMT -5 Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action said:

Also, one thing I do want to say about horror remakes before we stop it. It's off subject but there aren't many threads that I can say this in and it makes sense to say . I just want to say that I think the greatest horror re-make of all-time is John Carpenter's The Thing. I personally feel it's one of the few remakes in history that did it WAY better then the first.

Definitely agreed; still not beaten after 25 years.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Both - great call on "The Thing" remake. Way better than the original - but I would actually have to say that the best horror remake of all time is David Cronenberg's "The Fly." This movie is also infinitely better than the original, and has great performances to boot.

[Lick Ness Monster]

HALLOWEEN II
1981
Director: Rick Rosenthal

This movie was one of the great joys of my youth - I watched the original "Halloween" as an eight-year-old kid on Halloween night itself on USA, and directly afterward they showed this. I was extremely pumped, and most first-time viewers of the original film are as well. The first movie will leave you so hungry for more Myers action that a direct sequel with the same cast and the same main villain is the perfect way to quench your thirst for more Haddonfield, Illinois.
Better yet, it was written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, the same screenwriting team that had penned the original. Thus, when paired with the first movie, "Halloween II" makes a tremendous amount of sense as far as slasher-movie sequels go.
And this is very much a direct sequel - it takes place on the same night, no less, directly after all of the chaos and murders of the first film. Michael has disappeared. Loomis is still convinced that Mr. Myers is something more than human, that this person is simply evil personified. And Laurie Strode is hospitalized.
The main plot device of the film - that being Laurie's repressed memories of her own childhood leading to the revelation that she is Michael's sister - is one of the best, most lasting plots in all of horror. The obsession that Michael has with his family - and, in particular, the urge within himself to kill all members of said family - is strangely one of the more poignantly evil plots in all of horror. Given what we would see of this idea in the later sequels, it is definitely done the best in this particular film.
This movie also introduces another one of Michael's motivations. As Loomis and the Sheriff ruthlessly attempt to track Michael down on his quest to destroy Laurie and all who stand in his way, they discover that he has broken into a classroom and scrawled the word "Samhain" on a chalkboard. Samhain, of course, is one of the greater Witches' sabbaths, taking place at the end of summer and traditionally October 31st itself. The Wiccan and religious implications on Michael's character in this film add some great depth - and it is effective simply because it isn't overwhelming. It isn't spelled out just why Michael has gone so deeply down the wrong path - it merely gives us IDEAS. Seriously, my mind fills up with all sorts of crazed, overtly nerdy fan fiction considering Michael's past as it relates to just the first two films.
The real bread and butter of this film takes place in a hospital, as Myers stalks Laurie and ruthlessly eliminates the hospital staff. Given the location, it gives Myers the opportunity for some very creative kills. With the first murder of the film, writer Carpenter and director Rosenthal establish a distinctly different tone for this film - while the first film left the worst parts of the carnage up to our imagination, this film's first murder features a drastically gory stabbing. Other deaths include a hypodermic needle (to an eyeball!), scalding from hot water, bloody slicings, etc. - it doesn't go overboard with the gore, but the visceral imagery definitely paints Michael as one very pissed off monster.
This film's basic arc is also done very well - Michael eventually does eliminate everything that stands between himself and Laurie with the exception of one man - Loomis. This great (and superbly acted again by Pleasence) hero character essentially throws everything he can think of in Michael's direction in a frantic effort to slow him down - but he just keeps coming, and it takes the ultimate sacrifice by Loomis to slow him down for good...
This film was originally intended as the conclusion to the story of Michael Myers, Laurie Strode and Sam Loomis. Having seen the rest of the series, I wish it would have stayed that way. This film is not as good as the first - while it contains a lot of the same style and intrigue, it feels a little re-treaddy at times, and the supporting cast isn't as interesting - but it is definitely a worthy follow-up.

*** 1/2

[Captain Wonderful]

Don't forget about the security guard who gets a claw hammer to the back of the head! (A lot like the cop who gets a claw hammer to the back of the head in Friday the 13th Part 2 that same year.)

I like Halloween II. It's a lot darker and more slashery than the first one, but it's one of those rare movies that meets or exceeds the quality of the original. The therapy-bath drowning/scalding is f***ing brutal. I also love the way it seamlessly transitions from Halloween into part II. There's a version of the two films edited together, but I've never seen it; it's more of a novelty thing.

Also, you just don't mess with Michael Myers lurching towards you ON FIRE.

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Halloween is the movie I site the most when people tell me that Michael Myers is "just a normal guy". Also to the people that tell me they would "just shoot him".

I tell them to watch the end, where he gets shot in both eyes... and is still coming.

[plushtar]

The new gore clearly shows that this was inspired by Friday the 13th. I used to love watching this on TV, but recently, cable networks have butchered the hell out of it making it difficult for me to watch.

Anyway, along with Hellraiser II and the next three Friday the 13th films, this is a great supplement to the first one and it is difficult to not watch this film right after seeing the original.

I loved the Samhain part which added more to Michael's mystery. The term itself inspired me to research the concept of Samhain.

[Lick Ness Monster]

Apr 8, 2008 21:17:03 GMT -5 Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action said:

Halloween is the movie I site the most when people tell me that Michael Myers is "just a normal guy". Also to the people that tell me they would "just shoot him".

I tell them to watch the end, where he gets shot in both eyes... and is still coming.

Such an awesome sequence. My sig around these parts used to be a gif of that very scene, but the photobucket user who created it sadly deleted it.

I WANT MY MYERS GETTING SHOT IN THE EYES SIG BACK!!

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Apr 8, 2008 21:28:50 GMT -5 Lick Ness Monster said:

Apr 8, 2008 21:17:03 GMT -5 Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action said:

Halloween is the movie I site the most when people tell me that Michael Myers is "just a normal guy". Also to the people that tell me they would "just shoot him".

I tell them to watch the end, where he gets shot in both eyes... and is still coming.

Such an awesome sequence. My sig around these parts used to be a gif of that very scene, but the photobucket user who created it sadly deleted it.

I WANT MY MYERS GETTING SHOT IN THE EYES SIG BACK!!

Why don't you just start up your own photobucket and save them, TR?

[Jiren]

as much as i love H2, it created the whole "Micheal & Laurie are siblings" which Carpenter regrets to this day

[Maidpool w/ Cleaning Action]

Apr 8, 2008 22:15:16 GMT -5 Jiren said:

as much as i love H2, it created the whole "Micheal & Laurie are siblings" which Carpenter regrets to this day

That in and of itself doesn't even bother me, it's the fact that it let the sequels spin off into a whole bunch of "WTF?" directions that gets to me.