History Film / Halloween2007

A 2007 reimagining of Creator/JohnCarpenter's ''[[Film/{{Halloween 1978}} Halloween]]'' (1978) and the ContinuityReboot of the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series written and directed by Music/RobZombie.

After the critically ''and'' financially dismal performance of 2002's ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'', the execs thought it be a good time to kickstart the franchise again by taking on the [[TurnOfTheMillennium 2000's]] Hollywood reboot craze, and thus ''Rob Zombie's Halloween'' (also dubbed ''Halloween '07'') was made.

This time around we're shown more about Michael Myers's childhood in Haddonfield: his more than dysfunctional family, his deranged behavior, the murders he commits on Halloween, and his time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis (Creator/MalcolmMcDowell). Then, fifteen years later, he escapes from the asylum and starts making way to Haddonfield, where one Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) prepares for her babysitting gig on UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. She, and her unfortunate friends, will soon find out just what kind of nightmare they have found themselves in.

While financially successful at the box office, its reception among critics and fans was very mixed, with some praising its originality, and some preferring to believe it [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain never happened]]. Some consider the film more of a reboot than a remake because of the drastic change in direction of the story. Regardless, it was successful enough to spawn [[Film/HalloweenII2009 a sequel]] two years later.

* ActorAllusion: This ain't the [[Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers first]] [[Film/Halloween5TheRevengeOfMichaelMyers run-in]] Creator/DanielleHarris had with Michael.

* {{Jerkass}}: It's a Rob Zombie flick, so there are a handful of characters who are as violently unlikeable as possible, namely Ronnie, Judith, Michael's bully, and the nurse who insults Michael's relation to his baby sister and rapist orderlies in the director's cut.

** Annie's boyfriend Paul is an exception, and even Michael's bully is an attractive young man.

* WorldOfJerkass: A lot of the people in Michael's life, to put it bluntly, are ''not'' nice people.

* DeathBySex: Any teenage girl who isn't [[spoiler:Laurie and Annie.]]

* FreakOut: Laurie has a massive freakout after shooting Michael at the end of the film.

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Bob being pinned to the wall with a knife, just like in the original film.

* WouldntHurtAChild: Evil as he is, Michael brutally kills anybody who gets in the way of his getting to his sister, with the exception of Tommy and Lindsey, whom he doesn't even touch despite having ample opportunity to do so.

* AlphaBitch: Lynda

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Judith, Ronnie, Michael's bully, and in the director's cut, the nurse who insults Michael's relation to his baby sister and the psych ward orderlies. Judith's partner Steve could also count depending on whether or not you hold him accountable for not speaking up when Judith bailed on trick-or-treating with Michael to sleep with him.]]

* DeathBySex: Any teenage girl who isn't Laurie and Annie.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:With her son becoming increasingly psychotic, losing her first-born at the hands of said son, and pretty much having her life ruined irreparably with the stigma therein, Mrs. Myers [[AteHisHandgun takes out a handgun]].]]

* HappierHomeMovie: Mrs. Myers watches one [[spoiler:as she kills herself]].

* SexinessScore: When Lynda sleeps with her boyfriend he "has a cramp" and ends up [[SpeedSex finishing early]]. When he asks her to rate him OnAScaleFromOneToTen she [[LousyLoversAreLosers promptly gives him a "0" and he has the gall to act shocked]].

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Annie.]]

* MsFanservice: The movie features quite a bit of fanservice from Hanna Hall (Judith), Sheri Moon Zombie (Mrs. Myers), Kristina Klebe (Lynda), and Danielle Harris (Annie). In particular, we're treated to a full frontal shot of Klebe as she's being strangled by Myers, and Harris is shirtless during Myers's attack on her, which turns into FanDisservice.

* IgnoredExpert: Subverted. Sheriff Brackett initially doesn't take Loomis seriously concerning Michael, accusing him of demonizing Michael in order to sell books (which may or may not be partly true), but when he doesn't hear from Laurie' s parents and later realizes that she was adopted from Michael's family, he gets on board with Loomis.

* TooDumbToLive: And the [[Website/DarwinAwards Darwin Award]] for "Practically Suicide" goes to the orderly Noel and his cousin Kendall who, in the Director's Cut, put their two collective neurons together and decide to gangrape a female patient in Michael's room''...with Michael himself still inside''. And to top it off, they mess with his masks which they've been clearly told is his biggest no-no. Drinking on the job where you constantly deal with mentally unstable people one-on-one is no excuse.
** To a lesser extent, this might also go for Nurse Wynn. She [[BullyingADragon teases Michael, an extremely disturbed and violent boy]], who is eating lunch with ''a metal fork'' and than '''turns her back''' on him and just assumes he won't do anything. [[SlashedThroat He does]].
* TragicDream: Michael just wants to meet Laurie and live happily with her. However, with Michael being a violent sociopath, it ends rather how you'd expect it to end.

** Annie's boyfriend, Paul is an exception.

* WorldOfJerkass: Most of the characters in the film, to put it bluntly, are ''not'' nice people. The few that are could practically be counted with one hand.

** After killing Judith, young Michael hides his infamous mask underneath some floorboards, which he retrieves 17 years later after escaping Smith's Grove. However, by this time, the mask is severely deteriorated as a result of being left untouched for nearly two decades and exposed to major changes of the weather, including extreme heat and cold. The mask rots even more over the events of the film due to Michael's usage of it, getting shot in the head while wearing it, keeping it in a bag for roughly two years, exposing it to even ''more'' harsh elements of the weather, and ''then'' using it once again. The mask gets so fragile, that one of Michael's victims manages to rip part of it off.

** Michael successfully kidnaps Laurie and brings her to the dilapidated Myers house, placing her next to the [[FanDisservice nude, strangled corpse of Lynda]]. When she wakes up, Michael tries to tell her that they're siblings by pointing to a picture. Laurie naturally has no idea what Michael is trying to say; all she knows is this psycho killed her friend, brutalized her other friend, and has her in his clutches. She then distracts him by telling him to take off his mask, stabs him, and tries to get out of the house.

* SelfInsert: Some have interpreted Rob Zombie's version of Michael, both young and old to be vaguely based off Zombie himself mainly considering they have similar appearances, they're both metalheads, etc.
* SingleMomStripper: Note to [[KidsAreCruel cruel kids]]: Do not tease Michael Myers about how his mom is a pole dancer.

** After killing Judith, young Michael hides his infamous mask underneath some floorboards, which he receives 17 years later after escaping Smith's Grove. However, by this time, the mask is severely deteriorated as a result of being left untouched for nearly two decades and exposed to major changes of the weather, including extreme heat and cold. The mask rots even more over the events of this film and the sequel due to Michael's usage of it, getting shot in the head while wearing it, keeping it in a bag for roughly two years, exposing it to even ''more'' harsh elements of the weather, and ''then'' using it once again. The mask gets so fragile, that one of Michael's victims manages to rip part of it off.

* MistakenForGay: After Michael won't stop knocking on the door of his cubicle at the truck wash, Big Joe Grizzly seems to reach the conclusion that he's cruising for sex.

* MsFanservice: The movie features quite a bit of fanservice from Hanna Hall (Judith), Sheri Moon Zombie (Mrs. Myers), Kristina Klebe (Lynda) and Danielle Harris (Annie). In particular we're treated to a full frontal shot of Klebe as she's being strangled by Myers and Harris is shirtless during Myers attack on her which turns into FanDisservice.

** Michael's coveralls are dark green, a nod to a little known fact that coveralls used in the original film and its 1981 sequel were green too, specifically "spruce green".
** Annie tells Laurie that she set her up with a date with Ben Tramer, like in the first film.
** The nurse who Michael shanked in the neck is named Nurse Wynn, a reference to Terrence Wynn, Sam Loomis' colleague in the first film.
** Dr. Loomis' outfit in this film seems to draw inspiration from his classic outfit (the beige trenchcoat) and his outfit in the sixth film (the black turtleneck sweater).

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Ismael Cruz, the only security guard in the institution who ever showed Michael compassion and stopped the others from bullying him, is given an over the top and painful death. Note that this is ''not'' the case in the work print version of the film, [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe where Michael does not kill Cruz during his escape]].
* OnceIsNotEnough: Laurie stabs Michael in the neck and makes a run for it. Unfortunately, this is Michael Myers, and he is soon chasing after her.
* OrderliesAreCreeps: The two orderlies who decide to rape one of the patients in the asylum.
* RetroUniverse: Downplayed. The movie's assumed internal timeframe with respect to its real world release date vaguely places the first 40 minutes in the early [[TheNineties 1990s]]. However, there are major influences of TheSeventies here and there from Mrs. Myers' wardrobe, [[SeventiesHair the hairstyles]] with Loomis' bob cut and the trendy long hair among a few male characters; nods to Nazareth (the band), Music/BlueOysterCult and Music/{{KISS}}; as well as the rather retro-looking cop cars. The rest of the film jumps then to the [[TurnOfTheMillennium late 2000s]] with no retro aspects whatsoever.
* RightForTheWrongReasons: Loomis thinks Michael is here to finish the job he started, killing his whole family. Yes, he is after Laurie, but this film isn't set in the Thorn Timeline; Michael just wants to be with his sister.

* {{Metalhead}}: Michael is one, also, it was filmed by a [[ShamelessSelfPromotion metal musician]].

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Judith, Ronnie, Michael's bully, and the psych ward orderlies in the director's cut. Judith's partner Steve could also count depending on whether or not you hold him accountable for not speaking up when Judith bailed on trick-or-treating with Michael to sleep with him.]]

** Ronnie. Good God, Ronnie. [[spoiler:To the point where his death is listed in the ''Awesome'' sub-page.]]

* HumanShield: Patty tries to blast Michael with a shotgun during his escape from Smith's Grove. Michael grabs an earlier downed guard and uses him as shield.
* IconicAttributeAdoptionMoment: The adult Michael Myers wears filthy pajamas and paper-mache masks during his time in Smith's Grove. Upon escaping, he murders a trucker in the bathroom for his coveralls and boots, then heads to his childhood home to receive the kitchen knife he used in his first kills as well as his iconic white mask, which has become dirty and cracked from 17 years of disuse.
* IgnoredExpert: Subverted; Shierff Brackett initially doesn't take Loomis seriously concerning Michael, accusing him of demonizing Michael in order to sell books (which may or may not be partly true), but when he doesn't hear from Laurie' s parents and later realizes that she was adopted from Michael's family, he gets on board with Loomis.

* {{Jerkass}}: It's a Rob Zombie flick, so everyone is as violently unlikeable as possible. When the ''least'' awful people around include Creator/BradDourif and Creator/DannyTrejo, you know things are bad.
* JitterCam: Used throughout the whole movie, but most notably in Michael's childhood and the killing scenes and where Michael is chasing Laurie.

* LightningBruiser: In the theatrical cut, Michael escapes prison by beating several guards to death. During this time, he's shown as quite fast for someone of his size.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler:Judith, Ronnie, Michael's bully, and the psych ward orderlies in the director's cut.]]

* BerserkButton: Don't tease Michael Myers about how his mom is a pole dancer, or touch his masks. Also, don't touch his picture of him [[spoiler: and baby Laurie]]. Actually, it's best to just not be around him at all.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Michael practically dotes on his baby sister, Laurie. She's the only one (along with his mother) he doesn't kill during his killing spree and he holds onto an old picture of them together while he's in prison. When he escapes from prison, his main goal is to find her so that (presumably) they can be a family again.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: According to Loomis, there is no soul in Michael's eyes, only more evil.

* BloodierAndGorier: Compared to the original. By the time the main events of the film begin, Michael has amassed a body count equaling that of the entire [[Film/Halloween1978 original film]].

* CampingACrapper: Michael attacks Joe Grizzly in the public bathroom for his clothes.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Dr. Loomis is talking about Michael in his book in a high school, the same high school where Laurie Strode attends, [[spoiler: who is also the girl formerly known as Angel "Boo" Myers]], who Michael proceeds to stalk along with her friends...
* CreepyChild: ''Holy shit'', young Michael. The original young Michael (Will Sandin) was almost angelic-looking, but there is something wholly disturbing about this one (played by Daeg Faerch). Apart from the whole murdering numerous people and animals thing, that is. He's very obviously a severely unbalanced child with emotional problems, and that cold, blank stare of his...
* CurbStompCushion: The only character in the film who even comes close to going toe-to-toe with Michael is Big Joe Grizzly. Despite being quickly overpowered and stabbed, he does get one solid punch in on Michael.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Arguably even more so than the original with the killings being a lot more gruesome and visceral, plus depictions of rape, animal cruelty and suicide, as well as just having an overall slightly more disturbing tone.

* {{Demonization}}: Considering how sympathetic Michael is in this version of ''Halloween'', Dr. Loomis' description of him as basically "pure evil", shown in this page's title quote, sort of falls flat on itself and is heavily implied to have been invoked by Loomis in order to drive up his book sales. However, Loomis appears to genuinely believe in his assumption about Michael, as shown in the scene where he's trying to convince Sheriff Brackett about how much of a threat Michael is; still, while Michael isn't the monster he is in the first two film continuities, he's no less the dangerous person he was in the original series.
* DisproportionateRetribution: It can't be stated enough that wronging Michael in even the slightest way is a death wish.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:With her son becoming increasingly psychotic, losing her older daughter and pretty much having her life ruined irreparably with the stigma therein, Mrs. Myers [[AteHisHandgun takes out a handgun]].]]

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Michael is quite fond of his mother. He even starts his killing spree with the kid who insulted his mom.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Michael loves his little sister and mother very much. They're the only people he would never think about killing. He actually wanted to reestablish his relationship with Laurie once he broke out of the institute. [[spoiler:Too bad she's terrified of him after he's killed her friends.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Michael refuses to harm children.
* TheFarmerAndTheViper: A variation. [[spoiler:For 17 years, Ismael was possibly the only employee at Smith's Grove who gave Michael virtually nothing but respect and humanity. So in return, Michael crushes his head with a television set during his breakout]].

-> ''"These eyes will deceive you. They will destroy you. They will take from you your innocence, your pride, and, eventually, your soul. These eyes do not see what you and I see. Behind these eyes, one finds only blackness, the absence of light. These are the eyes...of a psychopath."''

This time around we're shown more about Michael Myers' childhood in Haddonfield: his more than dysfunctional family, his antisocial behavior, the murders he commits on Halloween and his time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis (Creator/MalcolmMcDowell). Then, fifteen years later, he escapes from the asylum and starts making way to Haddonfield, where one Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) prepares for her babysitting gig on UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. She, and her unfortunate friends, will soon find out just what kind of nightmare they have found themselves in.

While financially successful at the box office, its reception among critics and fans were very mixed, with some praising its originality, and some preferring to believe it [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain never happened]]. Some consider the film more of a reboot than a remake because of the drastic change in direction of the story. Regardless, it was successful enough to spawn [[Film/HalloweenII2009 a sequel]] two years later.

* AdaptationExpansion: Michael's background -- barely touched upon in the original -- is the focus of the first half of the movie. His awful home life, problems at school, disturbed behavior and life at the asylum.
* AdaptationalHeroism: A very mild case considering all the other horrific things he does in the film, but it's worth pointing out that where in the original Michael's sole goal is to terrorize and murder Laurie, here he's genuinely trying to reestablish his [[spoiler: brotherly]] relationship with her from their youth and doesn't seem to want to hurt her.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Lynda would've been a complete bitch in this film if Laurie didn't play a part of a MoralityPet for her.
* AdaptedOut: Dr. Marion Chambers, Loomis' chain-smoking colleague from the original continuities, has no counterpart in the Zombieverse.
** Neither does Lonnie Elam or his friends Keith and Richie, the bullies who harassed Tommy Doyle in the 1978 film.

** Annie's boyfriend Paul was only a voice on a phone provided by Creator/JohnCarpenter in the original film. Here, he actually shows up... [[spoiler:and [[DeathByAdaptation dies]].]]
** The Myers house as a whole. In the [[Film/Halloween1978 original film]] it’s used as a RedHerring because Loomis believed that Michael would come back there. Here, Michael hid his mask there, it’s used as a “camping ground” by the high schoolers and in that capacity, [[spoiler:Bob and Lynda are killed there instead of the Wallace’s house]].
* AssholeVictim: Pretty much everyone is this except for [[spoiler:the kind guard played by Creator/DannyTrejo, Laurie's step parents and the two cops near the end]].
* BedlamHouse: Smith's Grove. Michael is kept chained at all times, his wardens degrade and insult him on a daily basis, and he is beaten at night. Even if he ''was'' a mentally stable individual, that sort of treatment would turn ''anybody'' into a psycho. Not to mention the female inmate that the orderlies gang-rape in front of him.
* BullyingADragon: The aforementioned orderlies get a really bright idea to go into the room of a hulking, psychopathic murderer, insult and beat him and [[BerserkButton touch his masks]]. They seemed to be drunk though.

* BadassBeard: Michael sports a badass BeardOfEvil with BarbarianLongHair to boot.

-> ''"These eyes will deceive you. They will destroy you. They will take from you your innocence, your pride, and, eventually, your soul. These eyes do not see what you and I see. Behind these eyes, one finds only blackness, the absence of light. These are the eyes... of a psychopath."''

This time around we're shown more about Michael Myers' childhood in Haddonfield; his more than dysfunctional family, his antisocial behavior, the murders he commits on Halloween and his time at Smith's Grove Sanitarium under the care of Dr. Samuel Loomis (Creator/MalcolmMcDowell). Then, fifteen years later, he escapes from the asylum and starts making way to Haddonfield, where one Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton) prepares for her babysitting gig on UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve. She, and her unfortunate friends, will soon find out just what kind of nightmare they have found themselves in.

** Though to be fair, a lot of the jerkassery is downplayed and played with in many of the characters including Laurie (who has one or two obnoxious moments), Dr. Loomis, Michael's school principal, Annie Brackett and Mrs. Myers.

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The early scenes of the movie take place 17 years before the rest of the film, but they don't necessarily depict 1990. The fashions, cars, etc are actually mostly (but not totally) 70s-influenced. However, the present day scenes mix in some 90s technology such as cell phones with (then) contemporary fashion and cars.

* BigBrotherInstinct: Michael seems doting on his baby sister, Laurie. She's the only one (along with his mother) he doesn't kill during his killing spree and he holds onto an old picture of them together while he's in prison. When he escapes from prison, his main goal is to find her so that (presumably) they can be a family again.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:With her son becoming increasingly psychotic, losing her older daughter and pretty much having her life ruined irreparably with the stigma thererin,...Mrs. Myers [[AteHisHandgun takes out a handgun]].]]

* MythologyGag: There are many references to the original even down to exact same dialogue here and there.

* RetroUniverse: Downplayed. The movie's assumed internal timeframe with respect to it's real world release date vaguely places the first 40 minutes in the early [[TheNineties 1990s]]. However, there are major influences of TheSeventies here and there from Mrs. Myers' wardrobe, [[SeventiesHair the hairstyles]] with Loomis' bob cut and the trendy long hair among a few male characters; nods to Nazareth (the band), Music/BlueOysterCult and Music/{{KISS}}; as well as the rather retro-looking cop cars. The rest of the film jumps then to the [[TurnOfTheMillennium late 2000s]] with no retro aspects whatsoever.

* UglyGuyHotWife: Pretty much every couple on-screen. As WebVideo/CinemaSins points out, are there NO attractive men in Haddonfield?

* DrinkingGame: Take a shot any time you see a Jack-O-Lantern of any kind on screen. WebVideo/CinemaSins comments on this.

* TragicDream: Michael just wants to meet Laurie and live happily with her. However, with Michael being a violent sociopath, [[RealityEnsues it ends rather how you'd expect it to end]].

* RealityEnsues:
** After killing Judith, young Michael hides his infamous mask underneath some floorboards, which he receives 17 years later after escaping Smith's Grove. However, by this time, the mask is severely deteriorated as a result of being left untouched for nearly two decades and exposed to major changes of the weather, including extreme heat and cold. The mask rots even more over the events of this film and the sequel due to Michael's usage of it, getting shot in the head while wearing it, keeping it in a bag for roughly two years, exposing it to even ''more'' harsh elements of the weather, and ''then'' using it once again. The mask gets so fragile, that one of Michael's victims manages to rip part of it off.
*** Still, [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality the film takes some liberties with the mask's decaying]]. In real life, a rubber latex mask would most likely get melted and fuse to itself due to heat from the summer or become brittle and disintegrate from the cold of winter.
** You should ''never'' mock a mentally unstable patient, especially when the patient has a history of violence, ''including murder.''
** Michael successfully kidnaps Laurie and brings her to the dilapidated Myers house, placing her next to the [[FanDisservice nude, strangled corpse of Lynda]]. When she wakes up, Michael tries to tell her that they're siblings by pointing to a picture. Laurie naturally has no idea what Michael is trying to say; all she knows is this psycho killed her friend, brutalized her other friend, and has her in his clutches. She then distracts him by telling him to take off his mask, stabs him, and tries to get out of the house.