Well, I just got back from finally seeing this.......
Now let me preface this by saying that I liked
House of 1000 Corpses and thought that
Devil's Rejects was a truly harrowing examination of derangement and the effect of screen violence on an audience. Played together, they're a neat trick: the former is the family's story from their warped perspective, the latter a brutal b-side that exposes all the glamorized carnage of the first for the acts of depravity they truly are. They convinced me that Rob has some chops as a filmmaker and could have a promising career ahead.
Which makes his take on
Halloween all the more frustrating. Yes, there are flashes of brilliance throughout. When Loomis is speaking at his book reading, the cut from the blowup of Michael to his own eyes when he references a psychopath is inspired. And the exploration of Michael's mask obsession is interesting.
And it would've been even more interesting if Zombie hadn't chosen to completely (pardon the pun) bludgeon the audience with the device. His screenwriting skills seem to be stuck in neutral, as he relies on more stock white trash characters to fill in the margins of the story, their dialogue horribly stilted while it tries to be gritty and authentic. Giving Michael such an unredeemable family does nothing for his character; you're hit over the head with their cartoonish repellence right off the bat, as the film gives you no chance to attach to anyone.
The first half is an interesting concept, but once Zombie fastforwards fifteen years it's like he feels obligated to rush through the highlights of the original film. I enjoyed Scout-Taylor Compton's verve as Laurie, but I knew almost nothing about her before the carnage began. Part of the beauty of the original is that the audience gets to live with Laurie a bit before all hell slowly breaks loose. Trying to make Michael the quasi-protagonist is a major misstep, as it reduces most of the other characters to cyphers (and not even Charles Cyphers!), helpless passengers on the meat train.
Malcolm McDowell as Loomis? Well, there was a potentially interesting slant on the character, but we're only given glimpses of his megalomania and failed obsession. Perhaps if Zombie had included more of his character development and less bathroom scenes with Ken Foree things would've turned out better. Even though I hate most of the original's sequels, I've always enjoyed how they develop Loomis's mad fixation, transforming him from a slightly off hero in the original to a driven maniac by his last turn as the character. This version should've been about Michael and Loomis and their twisted bond, but that didn't happen.
Oh well. At least it wasn't the
Dawn of the Dead remake. I'll close on a positive (or at least funny) note with this pertinent link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxI83FQ0gW8
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