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Halloween (2007)
- Review Date: December 16, 2007
- R
- Genre: Horror
- 2007
Common Sense Media says
Teen slasher flick remake is brutal and bloody.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that director Rob Zombie's "re-imagined" slasher flick leaves no blood, gore, or sex to viewers' imagination: It's all here in spades. Savage stabbings and slayings are presented in ugly close-up. Most (though not all) of killer Michael Myers' victims seem to be sexually active teenagers, and viewers see female characters in various forms of undress, including nearly full nudity. Characters -- including kids -- swear robustly ("f--k," "s--t," etc.).
What's the story?
Early on, it seems like director Rob Zombie's Halloween is trying to do for Carpenter's blank-faced mass-murderer Michael Myers what Hannibal Rising did for fiendish Hannibal Lecter, showing viewers his upbringing and explaining how he came to be a monster. Michael starts out as an innocent-looking, blond-haired 10-year-old (played by Daeg Faerch) living in a family that includes an exotic dancer, her abusive live-in boyfriend, and a hyper-sexed sister. Bullied at school near Halloween, Michael ambushes and fatally batters a classmate (though that's not his first victim -- he's already killed plenty of small animals as practice). And then, after trick-or-treating on October 31, Michael slices up his stepfather, his sister, and his sister's boyfriend, sparing only baby sister Laurie. Police lock up the maniacal kid, who claims to remember nothing, in an institution. The plot then skips to 15 years later. Michael's mother has killed herself, and his longtime psychiatrist, Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) has given up on him as a hopeless, unreachable psychopath. The adult Michael (Tyler Mane) is a hulking, silent figure obsessed with wearing masks. Near the October anniversary of the murders, he escapes, slaughtering several guards and even a gentle orderly who befriended him. Dr. Loomis believes Michael is heading home to kill again on Halloween, and he guesses the target is his surviving sister, Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton). Now a teenager, Laurie was adopted into a stable family years ago -- but she still has plenty of sex-minded girlfriends to hang around with, providing Michael with a plethora of victims as night falls.
Is it any good?
Horror fans claim, not without reason, that the original Halloween wasn't just a sicko slasher movie that caught on, but an artfully suspenseful masterpiece that expertly played on viewers' nerves. You barely see any real violence or blood -- you just think you do. Not so much this time around. This graphic HALLOWEEN remake from rock musician-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie is positively drenched in blood and carnage, along with smashed faces, impalings, bashings, strangulation, crude sex, and vile language, all in shaky-camera close-up. In other words, it's full of everything that original director John Carpenter merely hinted at, letting our dread and elemental fear of a lurking marauder in the dark fill in the blanks. There have been worse slasher movies than the original Halloween (the first Friday the 13th, for one): Carpenter's finesse with the film's uncluttered, low-budget plotline made it look so easy that all kinds of hack moviemakers (many lacking even Zombie's level of directorial acumen) filled theaters with knives and butchery throughout the 1980s. The 2007 Halloween, besides pushing the gore to dare-you-to-look extremes, seems to want to cadge some sympathy for the ghastly Michael, making his victims (at first, anyway) foul sadists who deserve no mercy. But then characters who are inoffensive -- and even kind -- to Michael die just as gruesomely, so what's the point? Probably the dollar figures brought in by the combined earnings of some seven or eight (depends how you do the counting) Halloween sequels -- that's the point, and this movie's open ending leaves the door open for further installments. Judging by the movie's record-setting opening weekend, there will be an audience. Ugh.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about which types of horror movies are scarier -- ones like this, that show all the gruesome details, or those like the original 1978 Halloween, which left more to the imagination. Why? Why do you think audiences are drawn to gory movies in the first place? Is it fun to be scared at the movies? Why? Families can also discuss whether this movie makes killer Michael Myers sympathetic in any way. Are any of his crimes rationalized or explained? Why is that significant?
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AGE
Finally, we see the man behind the famous mask.
This film is much more violent than the original film, with about 3 times the sexual content. Characters in this film are stabbed, beaten with baseball batts, had their throats slit, etc. Full female nudity is shown, upper nudity is shown, there is basicly lots of sex. However, besides the content, this film is actually (in my oppinion) better than the first, for multiple reasons. For one, we see into Michael's past. We see what led up to his "snap". Two, Michael isn't mindless, he has a soul, and us as an audience get to see it. We see way more than what was shown in the whole series.
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AGE
Ok for a slasher movie, tons of blood and murderings are extremely graphic too. Throats are slit, Michael stabs people, beats people, etc. There is one very disturbing point in the movie where Michael tries to kill a woman while she is looking at a picture of her daughter. She then smacks the picture out of his hand and he breaks her neck. You hear the snap and hear her scream. Sexual content is pretty bad tons of nudity and this is also extremely graphic. Overall it is a pretty good movie despite the content The plot line is interesting
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disappointing
The origianal version was better, this just has more gore and sex.
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well made cinema
well made remake, creative and a different take on the story. Its a horror movie, so obviously lots of violence. very well made
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AGE
*headdesk*
Insulting to the Halloween name. Instead of the good, smart role model Laurie Strode was in the original, they completely butcher her into the "stereotypical" teen girl (I use that term loosely, since no one acts like that). The backstory on Michael Myers starts right from the beginning, but unlike the original they overexplain everything, so we basicly know everything about the character, making him seem a lot more boring and less scary than ever. Over the top gore and sexual content, to the point where nobody could ever enjoy it. All the suspence is gone, replaced with other crap that no one wants. I can't even really think of any scary parts in the film, with only 2 jump scares that weren't even that scary. STICK TO THE ORIGINAL!!!!!!!!
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AGE
I watched when I was thirteen and it was okay
It is the best horror movie made out there !!
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uggggg...
...Another horror movie that commonsensemedia has completely destroyed. Yeah theres nudity, sex, violence, and lots of language, but seriously who cares. You'll kids will hear the language in it in school. Sex will happen eventually, ur kids have been on the internet, so they know what nudity is:P and the violence in this movie isn't as bad as commonsense makes it out to be. It overall was a really good movie, but they did get one thing right. It isn't meant for like 10 year olds. i suggest 13 and up.
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AGE
Scary Movie Not For Kids Or Teenagers!!!!
This Movie Is One Of The Most Violent Movies Then The First One And Micheal In One Scene Trys To Silt His Father's Throut With A Knife Blood Is Seen Coming Out And Then He Kills A Bully Walking In The Woods With A Branch He Hit's Him In The Leg's With It And Of Course Kills Him Right After And Then He Kills The Sanatorium Guards By Strangling Them And Throwing Them Against The Walls Hard And Then Hit's Them Again And Blood Fly's Out Very Violent Micheal Goes To Find His Baby She Isen't There And Then He Kills His Brother By Putting A Knife In His Throut Very Graphic Micheal Also Kills His Grandma And He Breaks Her Back In A Brutal Violent Way No Blood And Then He Strangles A Girl That Is Wearing Nothing And Her Eyes Turn Violently Outside Her Head Violent Content And Micheal Tries To Kill 3 Sanatorium Guards And He Kills One Of Them With The Chains Which He Breaks Quite Disturbing And Then He Comes Home And One Day Kills His Mom She Is Seen Yelling And Screaming And She Is Prusumbed Dead One Day And Micheal Kills His Pet Rat And Other Animals And The Pictures Are Shown To The Police Of Micheal's Animal Murders Scary Also He Kills A Girl By Violently Pulling Her And Hitting Her Head Out Of A Police Car Graphic Also He Kills Laurie By Attacking Her Violent He Also Attacks Dr Samaul Loomis By With A Knife Blood Is Shown Splattring On His Shirt And It Has Sex And Langage And Drugs!!!
18+
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| Studio: | Weinstein Co. |
| Director: | Rob Zombie |
| Cast: | Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon-Zombie, Tyler Mane |
| Genre: | Horror |
| Run time: | 109 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | August 31, 2007 |
| DVD release date: | December 18, 2007 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity and language. |
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