Early Halloween reviews

Last Updated on July 27, 2021

Reviews are beginning to trickle in for Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN. Apparently within the last few days there was a screening in Chatsworth, CA and a couple of people are giving their two cents.

*Very minor spoilers ahead *

Over at AintitCoolNews, a mixed review says:

The film is very erratic in it’s pacing. Where the best moments are the quiet, character-developing scenes between Michael and Dr. Loomis or Michael and Ismael Cruz(Danny Trejo), which add pathos to Michael and are actually kind of sad, the scenes involving Michael’s family are over the top and continue to explore Zombie’s fascination with “Redneckdom”.

… the casting of the leads is great (Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Scout Taylor-Compton, etc.), however, the film is cameo HEAVY! Beyond Zombie’s usual suspects, he has cast so many horror/sci-fi icons and just film personalities, that it takes you out of the story each time one pops up.

…the violence is brutal and unrelenting. Michael is in no way subtle in his killing. I’m a grown man, and even I was getting overwhelmed by the carnage. (To read the whole thing, click HERE)

Interestingly, another review we were sent was from the webmaster at HalloweenSeries.com – obviously a loyal fan of Mr. Myers. Unfortunately, “Chad. K.” did not dig on this film. A few comments:

Tyler Mane did a good job as adult Michael, but the way he killed just seemed too much like Jason and Leatherface. What I love about John Carpenter’s Michael Myers is that he is portrayed as the shape, described not as a man but as a force of evil, where as Zombie’s Michael Myers is just some crazy guy in a white mask.

The second half of the film felt WAY too rushed. We hardly develop any relationship with any of the characters besides Michael, which made the film have almost no suspense, because why should I be scared for a character when I hardly got to even know her at all in the movie?

One of the main things I disliked about the second half was the way it was filmed. I got a headache from watching it because it seemed like someone was kicking the camera around as they filmed it. Everything was WAY too shaky, at some parts you can’t even tell what’s going on. I kept hoping the film would improve towards the end, but it only kept getting worse and worse. (To read the rest of it, click HERE)

Look folks, I’m only the messenger, and these are only two reviews I’ve found today – so if there are some positive ones, or better yet, if you yourself have seen it – feel free to holler at us. You know the bit about opinions being like buttholes, right?

Speaking for myself, when I read the early draft of the screenplay, I too was put off by Michael’s “redneck” household: thought it defeated the purpose of Michael being pure evil and gave him the background of every lowlife killer we’ve ever heard of. And indeed, the second half read like a sped-up version of the entire original. Everyone has poo-pooed that draft (including Zombie himself) but the more I hear about the flick, the more it seems like it has stuck pretty close to that script.

I guess we won’t know for sure until we’ve all seen HALLOWEEN when it opens August 31.