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Current mood:  listless Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities
 !SPOILERS! (maybe a few)
as i am currently watching 'Halloween: 25 Years of Terror'.... i'm realizing exactly how much i enjoyed Rob Zombie's 'Halloween II'.... not that i hate the originals, not that i hated the sequels.... it just got so silly over the years that it lost it's edge.... and what Rob Zombie has done, is given back the edge, the terror, the evil, the fear.... made the bad guy the bad guy.... granted, it's not the perfect horror film and it won't be looked upon as the quintessential scary movie of our time.... but despite all of the good or bad press you're hearing.... this is not a bad movie.... it's just a new spin on an old theme.... he's no longer just 'The Shape', the "boogeyman".... he's a real person who's out to kill you and he's not going to stop until he succeeds.... end of story....
so put aside your bullshit expectations set up by the media.... walk into this film with no expectations.... just go and make up your own damn mind....
it is no secret that i have a love of Rob Zombie.... i love all of his films, music and art.... he's my "man crush".... but there is reason to my maddness.... the man loves his horror and his monsters and it shines through everything he does.... he pays homage to all the greats.... he uses the same actors and scenarios to pay tribute to all the classics.... he's a horror lovers horror lover.... and for that i thank him..... and this was his take on where 'Halloween' was meant to go.... according to his mythos.... not according to the fans.... i can respect that and i actually got behind it after watching this film play itself out.....
the story picks up a mere minute after the last movie.... Laurie has just shot and "killed" Michael.... she's rushed to the hospital, he's rushed to the morgue, Dr. Loomis clings to his life.... it's all very much in line with the original 'Halloween II'.... right....? well, this is about where all of that ends.... yes, there is a rather grusome scene at the hospital, but that's mostly just to pay tribute to the hospital scene in the original....
 there are many great scenes and reasons to praise this minor portion of the film, but i'll let you see that on your own time....
needless to say, it's all a dream.... Laurie wakes up and realizes it's a year later and her life is shit.... she is screwed up in the head and is living with Annie and her daddy, the local police man, at their home and working at a local store to pay the bills.... not the life she dreamed of, but what more can you expect for a survivor of a brutal attack by a serial killer wearing a mask and who's 7 ft tall.....?!?!
it's Halloween again in the town and this is flooding back the rush of bad memories in Laurie's head.... meanwhile, Dr. Loomis is cashing in on his 2nd book about the situation and not giving a shit about who he has to step on to make a buck.... and in this most recent re-telling of the story, he reveals that Laurie is in fact, Angel Myers, Michael's little sister.... this puts Laurie in a tailspin and sets us up for the 2nd act of the film.... the part where she goes apeshit, Annie gets the short end of the stick and we realize that Michael is far from dead.
 it's actually revealed fairly early on that Michael is a drifter now.... he's basically a homeless guy with a mask and a knife.... something to which i thought i would find appalling, but Zombie makes it work.... he sets up Michael to be a killer without a reason.... someone in search of his lost little sister.... and someone so misguided and messed up, that he's being led around by a white horse, his dead mother and a child like version of himself.....?!?! in a very strange way it all works.... and works well....
Michael wanders the countryside, keeping to himself until a slight altrication with 3 hillbilly's and their dog which sets up a possible link between his sister and himself....? it's not covered very well and i look forward to the DVD commentary to expand on it.... needless to say, as Halloween approaches, he heads back into Haddonfield to wreak havoc on the little town, to find his baby "boo" and to killl everyone in his path.... all dressed like a man with no home for a year would dress....
 finally, he finds his sister, she finds out she's his sister.... a whole lot of killing happens and the end....
rather than spend the entire review telling you line for line what happens.... i'd rather you go and see this movie for yourself and make up your own opinions.... i personsally, think that Rob Zombie has completed his vision of what he wanted this story to entail.... granted, i was a little off put by the ending.... it's not my movie.... it's Rob Zombie's movie.... so i will respect his wishes.... i think he's created something that will grow and take on a life of it's own as a new breed of slasher film.... that of the slasher as a human..... not some bullshit unstoppable killing machine.... yes, he's like a shark in his desire.... and bloodlust.... but he is at heart, a man.... that's it....
not unlike 'The Devil's Rejects', this movie sets itself apart from it's predecessor and requires repeated viewings to truly appreciate his overall vision... i think it's a great film and i think it deserves to be praised for doing somthing all it's own.... it said, "fuck you." to the fans and to the naysayers..... and Rob made HIS movie..... and i respect that far more than anything else he could have done.... i really enjoyed this film and i cannot wait to add it to my collection of DVD's.....
 all in all, i would give this 4 out of 5 stars.... a film that requires more than one sitting.... i could have done without the ending.... and it was a little distracting to have a new little Michael Myers..... but despite all of that, i was glad that i had heard so many terrible things, because it allowed me to go in unjaded and with nothing to expect.... and he gave me what he wanted me to see... i'm sure there is a lot more i could say, but i'll end it by saying this about this film:
it's a slasher movie with a real slashser.
if you see this and disagree, so be it.... go back and watch the other films before Rob took over and enjoy them.... that's what they're there for.... i'm just proud of him for taking something old and making it feel new and making something stale seem fresh..... thank you Rob.... and i look forward to whatever is on your plate next....
3:30 AM
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