Give it a break!

Rating: 5/10 (26 June 2008)

OK I wasn't going to review this film but after all the abuse I have read I feel I need to defend it so you can make an informed decision as to whether you're going to like this film.
Let's get one thing straight the original Halloween film was crap! It was low budget, the story line was typically plain and it has the classic late 70's cheesy vibe with plenty of topless girls (always a guarantee in these films)! It was however a classic because people back then were scared s**tless of that kind of stuff. The violence and nudity was so taboo at the time that it made for a fascinating watch, the story was almost believable and most of all it truly scared people. If you were to show that film to a group of modern day teenagers they wouldn't give it the time of day. I too enjoyed the original Halloween when I watched it at 14 years old, today it just bores me.
In comes Rob Zombies remake of a therefore classic. There was no way this film was ever going to surpass the reviews its original got, it was labelled a failure from the start and whether they like to admit it or not a true horror buff cannot go into this film without a tremendous amount of scepticism that will take a lot to overcome. I am not a fan of Rob Zombie's films. I agree that modern day horror films need to go to extraordinarily extreme and somewhat sickening lengths to achieve a shock value (Hostel/Devils Rejects), but unlike films such as SAW, Rob fails to back his films up with intensity and mind twisting story lines. I respect Rob for keeping a lot of the original things that made Halloween a classic, if he didn't he would not have been able to justify calling this film a remake. He understood though that simply sticking to the original would not have achieved the shock and aaawwww value of its predecessor with a modern audience. He had to delve deeper into the character in order to achieve a juicier storyline. A lot of people have criticised this but it was what had to be done to bring this film into the modern era of horror. I personally enjoyed the way this remake has done that and it gives whoever has seen the original a motive to watch this. Overall this film is not a classic; it was never going to be simply because this sort of film does not work with a modern day audience. Don't expected to be scared, just expect a slasher film that makes you reach for a bucket instead of cushion.