Halloween (2007) > Halloween (1978)

Rob Zombie's Halloween is better than John Carpenter's--HEAR ME OUT!

I know I’m gonna catch flak for this but . . . Halloween (2007) is better than Halloween (1978).

I realize Rob Zombie’s take is nowhere near as influential or iconic as John Carpenter’s. Zombie’s won’t go down in history as helping to propel horror cinema into the mainstream. It won’t be heralded as starting a new trend of slasher films. But it’s a better movie. At least as far as the PHEMSA scale is concerned.

Right off the bat, the gore is far better in the 2007 version, which is something one expects from Rob Zombie films. Indeed, the exploitativeness is more pronounced all the way around, with more violence, blood, and nudity than Carpenter’s. Obviously, this aspect plays into the PHEMSA rating system. But it’s not enough on its own to overtake a classic horror movie.

One of the things Halloween (1978) is often credited with is giving birth to the slasher film movement. While it certainly had a huge influence in that direction, this isn’t entirely accurate. The Texas Chain Saw massacre, while not a traditional slasher, came out in 1974. The Town that Dreaded Sundown, which is a traditional slasher, was released in 1976. It wasn’t even the first slasher to incorporate a holiday—that would be Black Christmas in ‘74. So Halloween (1978) doesn’t get as many points for originality as one might think.

Something that’s often decried about Halloween (2007) is the Michael Myers backstory. I absolutely love this about it. People say that in the original movie, Michael Myers is simply pure evil, that he didn’t need a fucked-up childhood to become who he became. He is Evil in its purest form. Personally, I think that’s an assumption based on the lack of backstory in Carpenter’s version. The backstory in Zombie’s, for me, adds to the evil that is Michael Myers. That first scene, where we see young Michael at home with his fucked-up family, is a truly terrifying scene. Can you imagine growing up in a household like that? The most horrifying thing is that people do grow up in that environment, and it’s not too crazy to think they might become very violent people.

By contrast, the opening scene of Halloween (1978) is pretty bland. Michael watches his sister through a window, kissing her boyfriend. They go upstairs to have sex while Michael grabs a knife. Then like two seconds later, the boyfriend is coming back downstairs, apparently having blown his load in record time. So Michael goes upstairs and kills his sister in a pretty lackluster sequence.

Halloween (1978) is the scarier of the two films. The building tension is executed perfectly. And Carpenter’s iconic music for the film is absolutely perfect. But on every other metric, Halloween (2007) equals or destroys the original.

Okay, Jamie Lee Curtis is a better scream queen than Scout Taylor-Compton. But Malcolm McDowell is better than Donald Pleasence as Loomis. Daeg Faerch as young Michael is simply brilliant. And the rest of the cast for Zombie’s Halloween is a wish list of horror movie heroes.

Here’s how the scale breaks down . . .

PC3’s Horror and Exploitation Movie Scale of Awesomeness!

Gore - (1978) - 5, (2007) - 9

Special Effects - (1978) - 4, (2007) - 6

Nudity/Sexuality - (1978) - 5, (2007) - 7

Wow Factor - (1978) - 3, (2007) - 8

Acting - (1978) - 7, (2007) - 7

Fear Factor - (1978) - 8, (2007) - 5

Story/Plot/Originality - (1978) - 6, (2007) - 6

Cinematography/Atmosphere - (1978) - 8, (2007) - 8

Sound/Music - (1978) - 10, (2007) - 8

Fun Factor - (1978) - 5, (2007) - 8

TOTAL: (1978) - 61, (2007) - 72

With side-by-side PHEMSAs, Rob Zombie’s Halloween defeats John Carpenter’s Halloween pretty handily. I’m not saying it should go down in history in the same way or that Halloween (1978) isn’t the quintessential slasher. Carpenter’s version is deserving of its impact on horror, without a doubt. But for this fan of horror, Halloween (2007) is more fun every single time.

What about you?