Reviews

I went into the theater with very few expectations except for one: This new Halloween movie was going to have great atmosphere and chills. I was confident it would be one scary movie and I was really looking forward to it.

The first ten minutes go by and I'm laughing quite a bit. I thought to myself, is this supposed to be a comedy? Am I in the wrong theater? I figure maybe Rob Zombie made it funny at first as an odd way to hook the audience.

Suffice to say, I'm still waiting to be scared. This movie had no atmosphere and did not scare me in the least. Sure, some of the killings were gross but none were scary. And where was the 1970's style horror atmosphere? I thought Rob Zombie loved 1970's style horror movie making (as do I). Halloween is 1970's horror served up on a silver platter.

This isn't a bad movie overall, very average if you ask me, but it is a less than stellar Halloween remake or re-imagining. It just doesn't work as a different take on Halloween. It's almost as if Rob Zombie took an old story he created about a kid with a totally messed up family life who becomes a serial killer and said, "Hey. I'll just make this kid Michael Myers." His "explanation" of Michael Myers, while very well acted especially by the little boy, just didn't ring true to me. The boy becomes a serial killer because of a bad family life? Cliché and uninspiring to say the least. The footage of him in the asylum was even worse. Awful and boring are words I would use to describe the asylum footage. And the writing and acting for the Dr. Loomis character was laughably poor. It got to the point where I laughed every time he was in a scene.

*** Spoiler*** And the ending. The endearing quality of the original 1978 film is the ending. The imagery of seeing Dr. Loomis looking out the window at the spot where The Shape should be is the most compelling and powerful portion of the film. I literally was so scared I couldn't even move when I saw the original the first time. Fantastic imagery and a fantastic ending to the movie.

Rob Zombie chose to include the silly "Laurie Strode is my sister" add-on angle from Halloween II but chose an ending that is neither clever nor endearing. It's your average bloody girl somehow is lucky enough to survive and kill the knocked out bad guy. Folks, that's not what the original Halloween is all about.

I guess I assumed wrongly that Rob Zombie understood what Halloween was about originally. Or, maybe, he didn't have complete creative control as claimed. Either way, what I saw was a decent horror movie but a very poor take on the original Halloween.

Let me start off by saying I did see 'The Ring' a few years before I watched Ringu so I knew quite a bit about the movie from the get go. Also, subtitles are not my favorite thing as I don't see many movies with them and they were a bit of a distraction for me. Some of them were simply laughable as something was lost in the translation.

Overall, I enjoyed this film quite a bit. I was amazed at how closely 'The Ring' followed Ringu, which was not nearly as frightening as The Ring. The best word I can think of to describe it is creepy, especially the last third or so. The acting is decent and the story-line is alright, although certainly not the greatest story ever told.

***Spoilers***

The one thing which bothered me about the movie was the ringing phone, or, to put it more accurately, lack of a ringing phone. After the main character watches the tape, the phone rings right away to signal her pending doom in one week. She then shows it to her ex-husband at her home. After he watches it, the phone never rings. I was left thinking, 'Hmmm. It didn't work for him.' But, later, he says to his ex-wife, 'I only have one more day than you,' meaning the phone must have rang but they just didn't show it. I found that very odd. Same thing occurs after their little boy watches it. The phone does not ring but we are led to believe the boy is also in danger.

Good movie and my first taste of Japanese horror outside of Godzilla (not really horror I know). I did enjoy "The Ring" more but this story interests me enough to where I would definitely like to see the next Japanese Ringu movie if I can get my hands on it.

I watched this movie with my girlfriend and we both had the same reaction at the end. "What was that?" was pretty much our reaction.

This movie isn't awful because it is well acted and funny at times, Enid's father is hilarious, but it just doesn't go anywhere. The main character in the movie, Thora Birch, plays a recent high school graduate who has this "I'm so much better than everybody else" attitude. Everything she sees around her she considers "sucky" in some way. However, she ends up befriending a lonely record collector and this is when the story began to get interesting. I won't go into spoiler details but she pretty much ruins Seymour's chance at happiness because she becomes jealous when Seymour begins to see and like a woman Enid pleaded with him to meet originally. She is a twisted little girl.

I was thinking about the title too. I believe the title is not about her living in a "ghost world" per se, it is the opposite. She is actually the one living as a ghost in the world. She goes thru life like a ghost. Her attitude ostracizes her from her best girlfriend and her friend Seymour whom she ends up misleading into a life of misery when he was so close to finding true happiness. She went thru life, not as a person with hopes and dreams, but as a ghost, dead inside and raining on everyone's parade. And what does she do at the end? She rides off into the sunset as a ghost would...unseen, without a sound and with nobody to really care. She actually tells Seymour this is her fantasy earlier in the picture. An odd tale about what can happen if you poison your friendships and life with negative attitudes, lies, and jealousy.

**Spoilers herein**

‘Wrong Turn' could have been so much better. It turned out to be just an average horror film that wasn't very scary, not to mention the plot rip-off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was actually a little comical to see 3 retarded, inbred hillbillies killing people and keeping a few of their body parts for reasons never revealed in the movie. This film also didn't have any charisma of it's own. It was simply a twist of TCM.

However, it COULD have been so much more. The first part of the film, with the 2 rock climbers, should have really set the tone of the movie. Instead, it was a huge disappointment. Without getting into specifics, this portion of the film could have been horrifying but took the easy way out with killings off screen that had no scare or shock value whatsoever. Then, unbelievably, they spell out who the killers are immediately via press clippings during the opening credits. I don't get it. Very poorly conceived way of telling a horror story.

If you ignore the obvious TCM aspects and simply watch the movie, it is watchable and somewhat enjoyable but highly predictable. I knew the outcome 10 minutes into the movie, including who would get killed and in what order. I will give the director credit though for having three highly attractive women in the movie, especially the short-haired redhead.

The ending also leaves a lot to be desired. These killers are simply brutal and kill their victims on the spot. However, they simply tie up the final woman instead of killing her in the woods. Why? Very strange. Anyway, I give the movie 4 out of 10 stars. But only 1 star for horror. This movie is just not scary.

*** SPOILERS *** I've enjoyed many of the Halloween movies, especially the first one. I saw H20 back when it came out and thought it was a good way to end the series. H20 satisfied the following...Michael Myers met his doom. An ending which completely wraps up the saga with Jamie Lee Curtis and Michael Myers.

Now comes this film which, literally, lies to the viewer. There is really no other way to put it. To say Michael Myers was not killed at the end of H20, that it was somehow another man who survived being pinned against a tree at high speed, is tantamount to the most foolish storyline I can imagine. Not so much because it is ridiculous but because it's a complete lie. The film was ruined for me right there. I couldn't believe the writers actually expected the audience to believe such a thing. A total insult the audience's intelligence.

The rest of the film just never worked for me. Busta Rhymes. Man, I don't know what to say. Worst actor of the year award? And the whole reality TV angle with all the Myer props in the house, which had nothing to do with Michael Myer's real childhood, was absurd as well. Just a bad, bad storyline.

I read an interview with John Carpenter a long time ago which stated he never wanted a single sequel made with Michael Myers. The first movie back in 1978 was it. A great open ending but the Michael Myers story was complete. Carpenter actually wanted other writers to write stories under the name "Halloween" each year with different characters and story lines each time. It is past time for that to happen.

Please.....No more Michael Myers. The man is gone...Dead in H20. Burn this installment of the Halloween series and start with a fresh story line.

This movie considers what life is like when 2 people attempt to build a relationship with sex as its foundation. The question asked of the viewer is `What would a relationship be like if the only connection the couple makes is sexual?' The answer is quite obvious.

** Possible Minor Spoilers ***

Each main character is consumed by sex. One-night stand type sex or sex without meaning. This is all well and good but problems arise when 2 of the characters mistakenly try to have a real relationship based on their like appetites for sex. Demi Moore and Rob Lowe quickly learn workable relationships are much, much more than great sex. Most people, including myself, at one time or another think sex is the single most important part of a relationship. This thinking could not be further from the truth as this movie tries to illustrate.

Unfortunately the movie is not real effective. Nor is it very funny. All 4 characters are complete sluts and seem to lack any type of intelligence. James Belushi is funny but Demi's friend, Elizabeth Perkins, is simply annoying until the very end of the movie. Let's face it, Rob Lowe is not a great actor and it shows. Demi, with her utter beauty and sexy voice, is extremely sensual and naked in the movie. She makes the entire film worth watching in my estimation. The ending is decent but the story is told in a choppy way. The scenes do not flow together very well. The characters, Lowe and Demi, do seem to learn something thru their experience but overall they are both shallow people.

Overall this film is watchable and somewhat enjoyable but does not do a good job developing the character's thoughts and emotions. Plus, this comedy is simply not very funny other than a few stories and lines by Belushi. This film is more `eye candy' than a true portrayal of a couple's trials. 4 out of 10.