Directing
I have to hand it to Rob Zombie, he directed the shit out of most of Halloween. Say what you want about his script (which I will in a moment), but there is no doubt that Zombie has his own unique directing style, and he makes it work in the remake. The only thing that holds him back is his over-reliance on duplicating scenes (some shot-for-shot) from Carpenter’s original in the last half of the film. Zombie did have a daunting task though: stay faithful enough to the original film to satisfy purists, yet still somehow make the film feel fresh. It’s clear that Halloween II is really the movie that Zombie wanted to make, but he leaves enough of his mark on Halloween to the point that you can tell it’s a Rob Zombie film. The extreme close-ups on the actors’ faces during moments of dialogue, the almost grainy look to the film and the editing in the film are all trademark Zombie. Overall, the direction is a mixed bag, as it partly feels like a Rob Zombie film and partly like a pale imitation of John Carpenter’s original. It’s also odd to start the film off with a quote from the character in the film:
That being said, the below shot is pretty nifty and shows Zombie completely in his element:
Carpenter, on the other hand, was working from an original script (that he also co-wrote with Debra Hill) and with a budget of roughly $325,000 (compared to Zombie’s $15 million budget). What he was able to accomplish with such a small amount of money is nothing short of amazing.
The camera slowly tracks the girls and stalks them, just like the film’s main villain does. Carpenter is also a bit more skilled in his camerawork than Zombie was in 2007, and one has only to look at the GIF below, featuring the slow reveal of Michael in the darkness behind Laurie.
Carpenter has yet to make a film as important (or, frankly, as good) as Halloween, which just goes to show how high he set the bar.
