1. Halloween
Halloween is more than a Horror film for me. It's one of my favorite films of all time. I love everything about it and watch it endlessly every Fall. The score plays on loop on my ipod and terrifies me whenever I walk anywhere. And I love it. I can't count how many times I've seen the film. So naturally, you'd think I would be vehemently opposed to rebooting my favorite Horror franchise of all time. Deep down, that'd be the truth, but I've come to accept the inevitable when it comes to Hollywood; it doesn't matter what I want or how much I care about films, Hollywood's going to do whatever they want to make a buck. Having come to terms with that, all I can do is hope that when the inevitable is done, it's done well. Rob Zombie's Halloween remakes were gross bastardizations of the franchise in my opinion. He gave us a few solid moments in the first, I didn't mind exploring Michael Myers' childhood and motivations slightly, but outside of that it was just lame spectacle. Halloween 2 was one of the most painful movies I've ever had to sit through. Nomad Michael wandering around with his half mask and angel mom? Yeah, sure, okay "Rob". Every character in Zombie's movie is so gross that they simply can't be liked. And I mean literally gross, like it seems as if they don't shower and that not a single person in one of his films drinks water. The tap seems to floweth over with bourbon in the Zombie Universe, and it's frustratingly stupid. All that ranting done, Zombie was responsible for driving the best Horror franchise into the ground. Recently, head Storyboard Artist and Animatics Supervisor at Marvel Studios, Federico D€™Alessandro's pitch for his version of the rebooted franchise was released online. (You can check it
here.) It's a pretty solid shot at breathing new life into the franchise. But what Halloween needs more than anything is to get in touch with what Carpenter did best in the original; suspense. My favorite thing about Halloween is it takes nearly an hour for anyone to die. It's not overly gory and not desperate to get to that punch, so what it spends its time doing is making Michael Myers the creepiest guy you've ever seen. He follows little kids home from school in his dirty car while wearing a nasty Halloween mask. Doesn't get more creepy than that. What all reboots think they need these days is amped up action, more blood, and more guts. Wrong. That has its place in certain films, but what Horror reboots need most is to give fear a reason. Fear for the sake of fear isn't fear, it's just shock value. Shock settles fast and becomes forgetful. The Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Texas Chainsaw reboots relied heavily on trying to just blend into the massive genre that has become Horror. Lots of blood and screams and then the credits roll. But that doesn't stick with you. What sticks is the constant looking over your shoulder expecting someone to be there, watching you, stalking you, just waiting to make their move. The anticipation of death makes that death far more unsettling than just, "Surprise! You're murdered. And we're done here." Halloween pioneered the slasher film. But as a slasher, Michael Myers is more than that. There was always that potential glint of humanity, maybe, somewhere in there. He was motivated not by mystical things, but by something else deep inside him. Halloween H20, though others may have mixed emotions, I thought was an epic sequel which did the original justice. It took it's time and had heart. That's what this franchise does best, it takes its time. Michael isn't as savage as Freddy or Jason, he's fairly methodical and he gets his rocks off by stalking the heck out of people. Let's not forget that, as far as the original goes, Michael isn't remotely supernatural until the end. (Even then I don't think there's any mysticism present.) Every ounce of the original Halloween is plausible and real. Sure there's cliches, but this was the film that invented those cliches. But scary isn't just hicks and mutants eating your family. At the end of the day you're not seriously afraid of the monster under your bed. What you fear most is your neighbor who may be watching you, watching and waiting for the right moment. That's Michael Myers and that's Halloween and it's what, not only the Halloween reboot but the Horror genre is in desperate need of. It isn't over the top, it's real. You could be living next door to Michael Myers and not know it...until it's too late.