Rob Zombie's take on 'Halloween'

By Steve D. Stones

John Carpenter’s classic film Halloween literally took the box office by storm in 1978. It was immediately hailed as “the new Psycho of the 1970s” and remained the highest grossing independent film for more than 20 years, despite a budget of only $320,000.

It ushered in the “slasher genre” of the 1980s, and remains a classic of the horror film. Its influence can still be seen in many horror films of today.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the film’s release. Rob Zombie’s 2007 reworking homage to Carpenter’s film is also a real treat for the horror film aficionado. Zombie concentrates on giving the audience the point of view of the Michael Meyers character, his childhood, and the transition he makes from a child’s clown mask to the iconic Michael Meyer’s mask that has become so familiar to moviegoers and horror fans.

This time we see a more human side to the Meyers character and less of the supernatural characteristic that defines Meyers in the Carpenter film. The Meyers family can be defined as the typical dysfunctional, middle-American family, with a divorced mother, Deborah Meyers, who works as a stripper, played by the director’s wife Sherrie Moon Zombie, and her deadbeat lazy boyfriend who constantly argues with Judith and avoids the children.

The Meyers home is in constant chaos, which drives Michael to trapping and killing animals in the home bathroom while wearing his clown mask. Zombie makes many of the same references that Carpenter makes in his film, such as a scene of Howard Hawks’ 1951 film The Thing playing on the television, and the music of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper.” Young Michael Meyer’s even wears a KISS T-shirt to school.

The one reference that got my attention immediately is a scene of a young couple having sex in the Meyer’s rundown house while they play the punk rock song “Halloween” by The Misfits, which is sung in Latin. Zombie has also kept the eerie Carpenter score from the original film intact. Zombie spends more time showing the audience the interaction that takes place between Dr. Samuel Loomis, played by Malcolm McDowell, and Michael Meyers as a child. Dr. Loomis records his thoughts into a tape recorder while videotaping young Meyers in his handmade masks.

Meyers spends his time at the sanitarium making paper mache masks. His obsession grows to a room full of masks covering every inch of wall space in his cell. Another major difference between the two films is that the Lori Strode character in the Carpenter film is a virginal, bookworm babysitter who avoids boys out of complete shyness. Lori Strode in the Zombie film is at times a very sexual, nasty teenager who isn’t afraid to use foul language and talk about boys. She appears to be more confident about herself, and enjoys participating in the normal behaviors of a teenage girl.

From a complete visual standpoint, I found this film to be very well made, with genuine scares that kept me on the edge of my seat. Zombie manages to make horror films that combine bizarre visuals and rapid montages that work well with his choice of sound and music. Like his music and live performances, you will walk away from Halloween feeling very entertained and genuinely frightened.

I highly recommend this film to any horror film buff and fan of Zombie’s music. Two thumbs way up on this one!!!!!

A Plan9Crunch podcast -- Two Thousand Maniacs

Today, in our second podcast, Plan9Crunch cult movies expert Steve D. Stones tells us all about the wonderfully gory, deliciously comedic "Two Thousand Maniacs," Herschell Gordon Lewis' classic follow-up to "Blood Feast." The movie was made in 1964 and produced by David Friedman.

DVD Review: 'The Mishaps of Musty Suffer': Why is Harry Watson, Jr. so unknown?

For this post, we thank Joe Gandelman and hi wonderful blog, The Moderate Voice, for this review of classic, silent comedy. "The Mishaps of Musty Suffer" is cross-posted here. We urge readers to check out Joe's blog.

By JOE GANDELMAN

Let’s say it now: generations of film historians and the media OWE a too-belated apology to one Harry Watson, Jr., a comedy genius who starred in a 1916-1917 series of comedies way — and, oh, do I mean w-a-y – ahead of their time.

How many of you ever heard of him?

YOU SHOULD HAVE.

In the case of poor Fatty Arbuckle, Arbuckle was a huge (figuratively and literally) silent comedy star who most historians now agree was a)framed in massive scandal b)eventually exonerated by a jury c)made a political scapegoat by being blacklisted by an industry caving to government and public pressure to set an example to those rich, indulgent Hollywood entertainer types. His work was almost lost but some of it has been brilliantly reassembled, remastered and preserved so that fans of comedy, students of comedy, film historians, and aspiring comedians can “discover” his shamelessly suppressed genius. In other words: no matter what, many people have at least HEARD of him.

Which takes us back to Watson, Jr.

How you do you describe these comedies? The DVD’s website says:

The Mishaps of Musty Suffer is a cartoony and surreal silent comedy film series produced in 1916 and 1917. Wildly popular during its release it has been oddly overlooked and neglected ever since. Chronicling the misadventures of put-upon tramp Musty Suffer, who lives a slapstick version of the Story of Job in which he bears the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, the series was an American descendant of the zany and anarchic early European comedies of Pathé and Gaumont. Its star is the equally forgotten Harry Watson, Jr., a very popular stage clown and who had graduated from vaudeville and Ringling Brothers’ Circus to become a headliner of the early Ziegfeld Follies, where he rubbed elbows with legends like Fanny Brice, Bert Williams and Leon Errol.

But that still doesn’t explain what you see.

You see impeccably restored copies, preserved by the Library of Congress, with utterly wonderful new piano scores by silent film accompanist Ben Model, painstakingly pegged to the action on the screen.

You see special effects including a foreshadowing of Mary Poppins’ magically putting all the toys away. You see dark humor: an arm getting cut off — even one comedy ending with the hero committing suicide.

It’s a foreshadowing of the zany Max Fleischer, Tex Avery and Warner Brothers animated cartoons that emerged during the sound era — and of late 20th century and early 21st century dark humor. You also see early silents that clearly relied at least partially on a script. Unlike the Mack Sennett comedies where the silent comedy master decreed lots of action action and action and ad libbing, many of the Musty Suffer comedies with their zany set of superb actors were clearly carefully thought out in terms of the gags and story line.

The fact these DVDs are being released is due to some highly dedicated folks. The website again: “The DVD was curated by Steve Massa and Ben Model, and was produced for video by Ben Model/Undercrank Productions. The project was funded by a Kickstarter campaign of 126 backers.”

Reviews on Amazon and other sites show people hugely impressed and surprised, who find these comedies hard to describe. No they aren’t. The humor is WAY ahead of most of what was produced in 1916-1917 in terms of scope, gags, scripting and special effects (realize they had severe limitations in that department). Watson, Jr. is an incredible role model for those interested in clowning, physical comedy, and how to communicate smoothly and visually.

Here’s the trailer for the release of this disgracefully unknown comedy genius’ work and the work of his extremely talented filmmakers:

And here’s one short from the DVD posted on You Tube from 1917:

Sadly, having worked in the media and being a vacuum cleaner of books on entertainment, I doubt if film historians and others will give Watson, Jr. the credit he deserves. Historians read other historians. And guess who isn’t mentioned in most of these accounts?

History often perpetuates the work of future historians — even incomplete history.

But make no mistake about it: many of the 8 shorts on this DVD (a total of 30 were produced) show someone who should have been mentioned along with the greats of his era.
Could film historians kindly now give Harry Watson, Jr. the respect he most assuredly deserved??

Available at Amazon here. And Volume 2 is here.

ALSO RECOMMENDED: The definitive Fatty Arbuckle collection. Since his films were left to rot, a major worldwide effort ended in this collection — finding bits and pieces from collectors, or restoring old prints. It starts with the chaotic Sennett comedies, then you see him develop in shorts with more plot and character. He brings in his protege Buster Keaton and the two became a superb, early film comedy team. Then, sadly, at the end, you see a film never released in the U.S due to the scandal — one that ran in Europe, which indicates he had nailed the concepts of character and pathos and could possibly have achieved his dream of being mentioned in the same breath as Charlie Chaplin: Buy here.

A Plan 9 Crunch podcast! The Raven and Bela Lugosi

 Today, Oct. 20, is Bela Lugosi's birthday. To honor the screen's "Dracula" we offer our first podcast, musing on one of Lugosi's greatest roles, the mad genius Dr. Vollin in "The Raven," from 1935, from Universal. Listen: