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The HALLOWEEN Franchise: Remaking the Remake

Sometimes one wishes for the winds of change to come but instead are greeted by a gentle breeze that translates into remakes and reboots. With this topic being butchered to death over the past few years we won’t bore you with another rant about how originality is dead and Hollywood only cares about money. That story has been written. What we do want to talk about is the remaking of remakes.



Which oddly is something that we aren't sure any of us expected so soon. What do we mean by that? We’re not naive in thinking that if a film can be remade once that somehow puts it into an untouchable category that makes it off limits for future attempts at remaking the same movie. We just didn’t think it would happen for another 10 to 20 years. Obviously our heads were in the clouds because Hollywood is remaking remakes and the trend seems to be in an infant stage. One that will only grow no doubt and be built upon. With comic book movies seeing the remake of the remake treatment with films like Superman, The Hulk, and Spider-man, is it really that far fetched of an idea that horror movies are next? Texas Chainsaw Massacre was what many conder the start of the horror remake boom and talks are hot and heavy to reboot the franchise once again.

So are we long creativity here? Has Hollywood lost its touch? The answer is no. Creativity is at an all time high and with technology gaining access into an ever growing number of homes and buness any Joe Schmo with an internet connection and half a brain can write a screen play that would probably rival half of the dreck that makes it to the lver screen these days. So with creativity not lacking why aren’t we seeing new ideas and brand new ideas flourishing on the screen, in games, and even in the muc industry? The answer lies in the bottom line. The almighty dollar.

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A proven franchise is not only less risk but guaranteed money. If you slap the name Friday the 13th on a film or Halloween you're guaranteeing 20 million at the box office right off the bat. Why not take the easy path? If you had a few million dollars to spend on a project would you want to take a gamble on (insert cheesy movie title here) or a franchise that has millions of fans? It’s a no brainier and who are we to argue with Hollywood for doing something each and everyone of us would do if we were in the same place. We would take the safe bet. Most of us would anyway. It’s those few of us that wouldn’t that will push the envelope and create art and a new fan base. The sad fact of the matter is for every 30 films those creative artists make, 29 will fail and loose money. It takes all the stars to lineup perfectly to create another Halloween or Friday the 13th. It isn’t something that just happens. Many chase that dream never to realize it.

Where are we going with this you ask? We’ll we’ve mentioned the film Halloween. We’ve seen Rob Zombie take the film and re-imagine it. Some loved it and others loathed it. Regardless of your feelings, he certainty put his own flare on the series. Something that we can applaud for the mple fact that at the very least he created his own vion. But that also has us thinking. With Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2 not performing well at the box office, the Weinstein Brothers reported that Halloween 3 in 3D would be in the development stages. That news broke on the weekend Rob’s H2 came out. It took many of us in the industry by surprise but it also made sense. It gave fans that hated the film something to hang their hats on, hoping that the series may once again take a different turn. The director and writer of My Bloody Valentine 3D, Patrick Luser and Todd Farmer, were gned on and the film was all but a done deal. Fast forward a week or two later and the project was canceled. It left many of us scratching our heads wondering why the fast axe? Fast forward to present day. We know that H3D has quote been "green-lit" and is supposed to be released in late 2012. But no other facts have surfaced. We have no idea the director other than the 3rd installment will "follow the lines John Carpenterbuilt in the original. "



We go back to where this story started…remakes. How unlikely would a remake of the Halloween franchise for a second time be? Not that unlikely and we feel strongly that something might just be in the works. Again Rob Zombie gave the Halloween series a shot in the arm that it needed. A different look and feel. A very gritty, dirty look and feel that only Rob Zombie can do, and do well. He created his veron of Halloween but that was his vion. Michael Myers is a character that was built in the suburbs. An old fashioned 50’s mid western setting with fall leaves blowing in the wind and kids carving jack-o-lanterns on the porch. Something so innocent. A time that many of us remember as a child trick or treating or at the very least picture in our mind when thinking of the holiday. But that fun and exciting time turned so brutal when the character of Michael Myers was unleashed and started terrorizing Haddonfield, his home.

It was that contrast that we feel the fan base may be longing for again and something they may be wanting to reinvent. Instead of trying to continue Zombie’s gritty style we see the studios remaking the franchise taking it into an entirely new direction, one where nostalgia meets brutality. It will have the Halloween stamp on it. It will cause fans in droves to go see it. It will continue on one of the greatest horror icons in history and most importantly it's a safe bet, it will make money. Again, you have to think of the dollars at the end of the day.

So with that being said, how would you feel to see a reboot of a reboot? Do you welcome the idea or does remaking something so many times tarnish the originality that still exists? Isn’t there a point when an idea becomes so used up that we as an audience just grow tired of it? Will that happen to Halloween and when is too many remakes too many? If we are rebooting a franchise every 5 or 10 years when does it stop? A lot to think about Bidites. We want to hear your thoughts on this topic. Let us know where you stand not just with Halloween (our example) but with remaking remakes in general. It’s time to be heard, Hollywood is listening.

Although the thought of remaking a remake seems interesting, I would much rather see a new idea on screen. There is no reason to try and remake Halloween with more of a Carpenter style.

Here are some reasons amongst many, for one thing it will come off as a failed attempt to recreate the original, secondly the fact that I own the original and have the ability to watch it whenever I please is a huge factor, and above all else we all have our own vion of the Boogeyman and it is still and always will be the converted William Shatner mask wearing Nick Castle from the 1978 original. He didn't walk a certain way on purpose, he just walked.

I like it and I dont.....ok reason why i do....They can unfuck what rob zombie fucked up....

Reason why I dont....starting over with anything sucks...specially when Halloween fans can recite the fist clasc in there minds ...seeing that story told diffrent a 3rd time sounds alittle boreing...but in the end we the Halloween fans win cause we do get our movie....

Sticking to the 'Halloween' topic first, I'll say that I too feel why try to recreate a brilliant film when it already exists?!!! John Carpenter did something so amazing and sadly yes remakes, reboots, and so forth are a part of Hollywood and that isn't going to change. However, the smarter audiences know what they are getting into when seeing such rehashed storytelling.

Regarding Myers and his legacy if they are to do anything at all with the franchise, honestly I would much prefer a definitive film to end the ORIGINAL series. People seem to forget that Michael Myers of the 1978 series is still alive and kicking somewhere in the film reel. I have been tting on a finished screenplay nce 2002's unfortunate birth of 'Resurrection' and trust when I say it would have audiences mouths watering!!! I know I am not the only person who feels this way in that the more recreations that are thrown at us the more it waters down what we originally loved about 'Halloween' and Myers.

Which brings me to Rob Zombie's attempt at re-inventing the story; and I will mply say that while I can appreciate when someone tries to do such a thing as make it their own, for me it just did not work. If you'd like a much deeper explanation as to how and why I feel this way, click or copy and paste the following link:



http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_reviews_7210.htm

- That was my review of his 2009 sequel and I discuss his vion there. In the end I did not care for his take on Myers at all. -

Touching on the topic of Reboots etc etc... As a writer I definitely support indie work and am all for new ideas clearly, however I do understand Hollywood's fascination with sticking to what works. I may not always agree with it but I understand it. That being said in the end I'd have to say at this point I am more excited with the upcoming 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' reboot-reboot-sequel than I am at the idea of 'Halloween' reboot-reboot-3D. On that note I'll leave it at that but must reiterate that "Halloween" is my all time favorite franchise in the genre, but I do hope that myself and others like me will someday have our chance to have the bloody torch passed down to us and reignite clasc and terrifying storytelling. :-)

I think this series should be left alone for awhile.

I'm so tired of remakes and do overs.

If every time you missed a period in a book you redid it and re-released it, wouldn't that get seriously old very quick?

Why do we think its okay to undo films?

The first Zombie Halloween was okay, I can't remember what I really think of it, I suppose that says something.

I enjoy the Myers psychological aspects, but then it just turned into lots and lots of annoying screaming.

The sequel is a complete joke!

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So Bad I mean bad is bad woefully!

Halloween 2 (2009) – My husband rarely derides a film, and he called this one ‘a disaster’.

Goodness, this Rob Zombie (House of 1,000 Corpses) sequel was horrible beyond belief.

From the ambiguous dream sequence beginning to the stupid and obvious end (or vice versa), everything about this film is ill conceived.

Scout Taylor Compton (The Runaways) is annoying as hell with her postmodern grunge look, curng therapist rage, and all out screamfeast.

Brad Dourif (Lord of the Rings) and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) do the best with the material they are given, but it’s as if they are playing different men from the characters established in the 2007 remake.

Margot Kidder (Superman) also deserves more than a cameo as a seemingly anine therapist who doesn’t get poor Laurie.

Not that we could see any of this drivel thanks to the dark camerawork, hair in everyone’s face, and more gore gore gore- nor could we hear any of the serious dialogue for all the explove effects and expletive language.

And my goodness did Zombie create this dream vion of Michael’s mother ala Pamela Voorhees just so he could keep his wife Sherri Moon in the sequel?

Despite these being the best-filmed scenes, it all looks like something out of another movie called nepotism.

What else is the point of this overlong waste?