Zombie comes off as a smart guy in interviews (and on the DVD commentaries), and it's apparent he tried his best to find a new take on the material, for which he should be commended. I just don't think he totally succeeded.
The best part of the movie comes in the first two "acts," which are almost totally new. Here we see Michael Myers as a child, played by Daeg Faerch, who is worryingly good. Zombie gives us more than one new truly disturbing image here and in this context, I mean that in a good way.
Hanna Hall (below) as Michael's sister and especially Sheri Moon (Zombie) as his mother are well-cast in their likable, doomed roles.
Moon is seen below (at far right) with some of the other women in the cast, along with a guy I don't know but whom I deeply envy.
In fact, almost all the performances in the remake are of a higher caliber than most horror films, and spiced with actors who bring their own "legends" of a sort to the proceedings.
Malcolm "A Clockwork Orange" McDowell plays Dr. Loomis, and wisely doesn't even try to compete with Donald Pleasance's indelible portrait. Brad Dourif is the town sheriff. Dourif has been in over 100 movies or television shows including One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and the Lord of The Rings films. He's also the voice of Chucky in the Child's Play movies. A great character actor, Dourif isn't given as much to do here as in some of his other roles, but he's an oddly reassuring presence nevertheless.
But when it comes time for the third act, Michael's bloody return home as an adult, things have to move so fast that (although I do think Zombie wanted me to) it was almost impossible to care about any of the victims. Almost but not impossible. To an extent, good casting comes to Zombie's rescue here.
At age 10 (give or take), Danielle Harris played the daughter of Laurie Strode, the Jamie Lee Curtis character from the original Halloween, in Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. This is still the only sequel worth a damn. Here, actually 30 but impressively realistic as 17, she plays one of the best friends of...Laurie Strode.
Her nude scene in the film has gathered some...let's call it "acclaim." But beyond the novelty of-"Whoa! That's Jamie Lloyd all grown up-and topless," her casting has an effective echo of the earlier sequel.
When the grown-up Michael, played by Tyler Mane, who is 6'9 (!) is standing over her bloodied, screaming; 5-foot form, she looks for the world like she's 10 years old again. And although I had almost no feeling for her new character, I still had enough left over for Jamie Lloyd to care when she was in peril.
On the other hand, I had no residual feelings for Kristina Klebe, as Laurie's other best friend, Lynda. But she plays her part well, which is more than it asks for.
She also looks good naked, which is precisely what it asks for.
Laurie is played by Scout Taylor-Compton, seen in the middle below between Harris and Klebe. Taylor-Compton is appealing, but given too many grim things to do.
An alternate ending available on the second DVD of the set may not be scarier than the (Chainsaw Massacre-inspired) one Zombie eventually went with, but it is more interesting. I wish he'd stayed with it for that reason.
Final word: The new movie is bloodier, though probably not unrealistically so, than the original. But nowhere near as full-blooded.
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