| Overall Grade: |
C- |
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| Story: |
C |
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|
| Acting: |
C |
|
|
| Direction: |
B- |
|
|
| Visuals: |
D+ |
|
|
MIght want to stay away from this one....
by EdwardM (movies profile)
Apr 25, 2008
24
of
35 people found this review helpful
It is with a heavy heart that I write this review. I don't think anyone was more happy to see this trailer when it came out than I was. An avid fan of the Halloween films since the '70s, I couldn't wait for a modern spin on the Carpenter classic. So much so that I went to the opening night showing (even though I haven't been to an opening night since the last Star Wars)
First of all, keep the kids away from this, even if they love horror movies. Let me start by saying, I am NOT easily offended, nor do I generally even realize how much violence and language there is in a movie, but WOW, it is pervasive throughout the whole movie. I mean, my favorite movie is Seven which if you have seen it, you know is not for the faint of heart. Enough said.
There are about 5 nude scenes (almost all of which include sex and one is full frontal) and one 10-15 second scene where someone is reading a VERY graphic porno mag and you see everything....I heard gasps around me for this one. In fact at my theater they checked tickets twice and then scanned the crowd for underage kids throughout the movie. Two parents near me sent their kids out 15 minutes into the movie even though they had bought them tickets.
OK, enough said on that. The movie is very disturbing. It has been about 14 hours since I saw it and I still don't know if I liked it. You leave feeling drained, tired and apprehensive. Its not that it is scary.....grant it you jump when the whole theater screams, but not as scary as others I have seen. What is overwhelming is the amount of graphic imagery. What made Halloween a masterpiece was that your imagination filled in most of the blanks...with this one, you get to see and hear the results of every kill, like a kid's head being bludgeoned with a metal bat, over and over again. Myers is not the sophisticated killer that he was in the original, here her is a meniacal killing machine.
The other thing that is REALLY disturbing is quite a bit of the killing takes place when Michael is 10 years old so you get the imagery of a little boy slitting throats, bludgeoning people and loving it. While the backstory makes you realize how messed up he was, it is WAAAYYYY over the top.
If you loved the original, prepare for a flip flop of the story. Whereas we only saw 10% of Michael's childhood and 90% of current times in the classic, the opposite is true here. For about 1 hour + Michael is young and/or growing up and only about 30 mins is he killing in Haddonfield.
The other problem with the film is the camera angles and lighting. There is about 5 minutes in the movie that you can't see....not an error, I checked with the theater...and most of the killing is shot with a hand camera held by someone having a seizure. It is really distracting rather than fright provoking.
SPOILER>>>>>>>>don't read on as it "could" be a spoiler.....
Finally, there are major gaps in the story. For example, no one in the town (except for the Sheriff) is supposed to know that Laurie Strode was Laurie Meyers, yet Michael finds her in about 2 seconds, going directly to her even though he last saw her at 6 months old. Also, some scenes start outside and within seconds, it seems like the characters are wrestling around in an attic.....maybe it was so dark I missed something???
Also, we always were fearful of Myers since he was super-human and couldn't be stopped. After watching this film it no longer makes sense since he is portrayed as simply a young boy who is so severely traumatized that he loses his mind....does that allow you to escape death over and over again?????? Not even a mention of why he has superhuman strength and can not be killed although the same remains true.
Well, judge this one for yourself but be warned. If you loved Halloween, you probably won't like this unless you are a HUGE Zombie fan. |
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