Directed by Rob Zombie

I remember when Rob Zombie was first announced as the director of the Halloween reboot back in 06'. Most of us were cautiously optimistic after he refined his abilities with The Devils Rejects. What none of us expected was that Zombie would take his love of trailer trash characters and infuse them into his vision of Halloween. While the first film manages to squeak out a cool moment here and there Zombie's Second installment rapes the franchise of any dignity it might have had left.

Halloween 2 starts out with a title card explaining to us why we're about to see a big White horse throughout the movie. We then see the new young Michael, who's terrible, receiving a white horse from his mommy while he was in the mental hospital. Then we jump back to the end of Halloween 1 with Laurie having just killed Michael and wandering down an empty street. Laurie is shell shocked and rushed to a hospital where she is promptly stalked by Michael Myers. This hospital sequence is actually very good! Laurie is forced to run away with her leg in a cast as she stumbles upon body after body of hospital employees. It's a very energetic scene and plays well, However we're soon completely let down by finding out this is but a dream and never really happened.

Instead Laurie now has gone from just being a irritating teenager to a raving bitch with post traumatic stress disorder. She's living with Sherriff Brackett and Annie from the first film. Laurie spends most of the films running time crying, complaining about how no one understands her and screaming "Fuck" over and over again whenever possible. She is extremely unlikable. Laurie treats Annie like shit basically telling her that she can't relate to what she's been through even though Annie was nearly killed by Michael in H1. Then she goes from that scene to her therapist where she blames herself for what happened. Its like Zombie can't decide how Laurie should act. Meanwhile Loomis is now an insufferable prick and has written a book about his ordeal with Michael from H1. Malcolm McDowell sleepwalks through the role like never before.

Michael is soon back in Hobo form and starts taking out trailer trash and teenagers as he makes his way back to Laurie. Now you may be asking yourself, why? Why does Michael have such a hard on for killing Laurie? Well Leave it to Prof. ZOmbie to feel the need to explain this with a white horse and a ghostly Mrs. Vorhees.. er, uh I mean Myers. That's right Zombie has basically pulled a page from the Friday the 13th playbook. Michael runs into his dead mother, a white horse and his younger self a few times throughout the movie. She tells him that he must kill Laurie in order for them to all be together again. Awesome. This all leads up to a final confrontation with Michael, Laurie and Loomis that you couldn't care less about by the time it happens.

H2 is bizarre. I don't know how else to put it. The story seems to have been written on the backs of napkins as a series of "cool" scenes by a 14 year old who likes to say "Fuck" a lot. The characters are the same trailer trash characters you've seen in every other Zombie film and it seems like their dialogue was pretty much written on the spot. Taylor Scout-Compton turns in an even worse performance than the first film. Apparently her idea of being dramatic is to just scream her dialogue as loudly as possible. There's absolutely no one in this movie to root for. You just sit there waiting for Michael to come in and stab people 50 times or more. Which leads me to my next gripe, Michael seems to "Rage-Kill" everyone in this movie. He beats faces to pulp, stabs people till their pretty much hamburger and grunts while doing it. When he comes after Annie, for the second time, Michael see's his mother and she tells him to "have some fun". Later when Laurie finds Annie she's completely nude, suggesting that Michael raped her!? There's also a scene that seems to be there just to explain how Michael eats! Did we really need that explained? But it's the white horse and ghostly Mommy Myers that truly is the biggest problem with this movie. The whole affair just feels like a reason for Zombie to have his wife back to reprise here role as Michaels Mother. Shari Moon Zombie looks very silly here in her white dress and bleach blond hair with a white horse in tow.

So, is there anything good about Halloween 2? I truly didn't know what to expect next in this movie. With all its bad acting and characters, it still kept me in the dark as to where it was heading. The dialogue in this one is actually a slight bit more palatable than H1 so you know, it's got that going. Brad Dourif, back as Sherriff Brackett, is the best actor in the film. He brings his "A" Game and gives a better performance than the movie deserves.

It can be truly said that Zombie broke out of Carpenter's Halloween and made his own movie. Even with all that's wrong with this movie I still think Zombie is a decent director. There are some beautiful and surreal moments in this movie that are at least interesting to watch if nothing else. There's one moment featuring a banquet with these bizarre Halloween characters sitting around a table with Laurie lying, seemingly dead in the middle, all while this dreamlike snow falls over the scene.

The DVD adds some scenes and extended cuts to the theatrical version. Blooper reel, actor auditions and commentary from Zombie. The commentary doesn't offer a ton of insight into what Zombie was thinking. He never explains some of his bizarre music choices, including the terrible intercutting of a Moody Blues performance during the hospital scenes. He does admit that the white horse was just a "cool idea" he had on his way to set one day. I think that pretty much sums up Zombie's story telling ability. A series of cool ideas with little to hold them together.

I've always been a fan of Carpenter's Halloween and liked some of its sequels but I can't say I'm a die hard fan of the character or Myers. I feel like Halloween fans have really gotten kicked around over the years. There's been bad sequels, a "Re-imagining" that destroyed what Myers was really meant to be about, and now there's going to be a generation of Halloween fans that think Carpenters version is the slow boring one. Being a fan of Carpenters Halloween has got to be pretty tough. Zombie has made the character his own, no more boogey man, no more moody stalking scenes. Myers knock off's like Jason have gotten the 4 star treatment by comparison.

Its been reported that there will be a Halloween 3D written by Todd Farmer and Directed by Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine 3D). However this has been put on hold for the time being. I'd like to see Myers "Rebooted" back this his original character. Michael was always meant to be a kid from a middle class family that just snaps one night. We're meant to wonder if Michael is possessed by something evil or just a psychopath. Weather anyone can bring Michael back and do it right remains to be seen.

Perhaps someday Rob Zombie will make a movie that he had no hand in writing and do something that will win horror fans back to his side. Until then keep him away from our childhood boogeymen!

2 out of 10 bloody axes

- Henry Northrup

For those too young to remember to who weren't even born yet, Silent Night, Deadly Night was the movie that the parents hated! The commercials and poster featured and Ax wielding Santa that simply enraged parents groups. There were protests all over the country which is pretty shocking to think about today. Our society has become so desensitized that I doubt a killer Santa film would garner so much as a raised eyebrow today.

Once you get past the hype the Silent Night, Deadly Night is one of the best Christmas Horror flicks made but its also has a by-the-numbers slasher plot. As a boy, Billy and his family are visiting his grandpa at a retirement home. Grandpa seems non-responsive to the world around him until he's left alone with Billy and then he goes ape shit crazy ranting about how Christmas is the scariest night of the year because Santa is coming to punish the bad kids. Billy is now Understandably worried now about seeing Santa but promises his Grandpa that he'll be a good boy. But fate has other plans for Billy and his family.

On the way home the family come across a broken down car in the road driven by a man in a Santa suit. Of course this is the same Santa that just finished robbing a liquor store and killing the sales clerk. Billy starts to freak out telling his parents to drive on but they don't and Santa kills his parents while Billy runs away and hides in the bushes watching. Only Billy and his baby brother Ricky survive.

Fast forward to years later and we find Billy & Ricky are living in a orphanage and Billy is still terrified of Santa. It doesn't help that the Mother Superior tries forcing him to sit on Santa's Lap or that he's witness to the Mother Superior beating two kids for having sex while she screams about how naughty they are. The filmmakers at least make an attempt to make the killing spree he goes on later in life seem plausible.

Billy gets older and finds a job at a local toy store and everything seems perfect. In a bad 80's montage with horrible Randy Newman type music, we see Billy stocking shelves, cleaning up, helping little kids reach things, smiling at customers, and getting to know the store hottie. However Christmas finally comes to the and Billy is asked to play Santa for the kids. He reluctantly does it and tells the kids that squirm or complain that if they're not good he's going to punish them while their parents look on and comment how great he is with their kids.

Christmas Eve arrives and the store closes for a little Christmas party. Billy, still dressed as Santa, see's the hottie he's had a crush on get attacked by one of his co-workers and he snaps. He kills everyone that works at the store and heads out on the town. We're given some decent creative kills here Billy does decapitations, antler impaling, and some bludgeoning, All the while screaming "NAUGHTY!". Christmas morning Billy heads back to the orphanage to kill Mother Superior but is stopped by a local detective before he can finish the job. The ending leaves a lot to be desired and there could have been some more killings in there too but for a typical 80's slasher film it's still pretty good.

Silent Night, Deadly Night has really become something of a classic Christmas horror movie even with all its failings. As with many slasher films of the time it became a franchise spawning 4 sequels. The second film is horrible by any standard but features a bizarre killing spree by Billy's little brother Ricky. He's ridiculously sarcastic and says really stupid things before shooting people while walking down a suburban street. It may be worth the watch just for that. Parts 3, 4 and 5 have been out of print for some time but were just a week ago reissued on DVD. I'll be reviewing them next week for HauntedHouse.com.

5.5 out of 10 bloody axes

- Henry Northrup

REVIEW: The House of the Devil
Directed by Ti West
Starring: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov , Greta Gerwig , AJ Bowen , Dee Wallace

Ah the 1980's! The era of big hair, happy non-threatening metal bands, tight jeans, and satanic panic! Back in the 1980's I can still remember the panic over anything that seemed satanic. whether it be music, movies, or people the parents were all over it like white on rice. Even in my home town we had the usual rumors that every small town no doubt had about satanic cults that met under bridges, in cemeteries, or in the darkness of the woods. Looking back on it now 20 years later it seems really surreal that we actually worried about that kind of thing. The Satanic panic fizzled out in the 90's and is pretty much dead today. For all the rumors and speculation there was little to no proof that such practices in worship of the devil ever occurred anywhere. Nor that anyone was ever hurt or killed because of it. Its in this world that Ti West (The Roost, Trigger Man) has set his latest film, House of the Devil. A film that captures the look and feel of every satanic panic film from the period so well that it you might thing its a long lost gem from the 80's!

Ti West's latest independent film 'The House of the Devil takes us back to the early 1980s and the height of the satanic panic that gripped communities all over the country. It's the early 80's and Samantha, played by Jocelin Donahue, is a college student looking for a new place to live off campus. She finds the perfect house but has to come up with the $300 to move in before the following Monday. Luckily a babysitter position out in the middle of nowhere turns up on a campus bulletin board. Samantha's friend Megan (Greta Gerwig), worried that she might be walking into a horror movie, offers to drive Samantha to the house and make sure its ok before leaving. Of course everything is far from ok. Upon arriving to the Victorian home, Mr. Ulman, played by the always creepy Tom Noonan, explains that the job isn't babysitting a child but rather a invalid woman who's bed bound and hardly a bother. Samantha's reluctant to stay but is eventually won over by the offer of $400 for one nights work. Megan tries to talk Samantha into leaving but she refuses. Mr. Ulman and his wife leave for the evening and then strange things begin to happen.

Ti West's films have always been an acquired taste. Films like the Roost and Trigger Man have been throwbacks to previous decades of cinema and they burn slowly. House of the Devil is no different. Samantha spends much of the films running time creeping around the house and discovering bits and pieces of the mystery to keep things moving. Do the Ulmans really live in this house? Are they who they say they are? How does the lunar eclipse play into the evenings events? All these questions are eventually answered but only after a slow build up. The events of the night manage to pull you to the edge of your seat ever so slowly as the dread mounts. But, many may find that the films finale doesn't quite match with the level of build up and it feels like a bit of a letdown.

One could argue that that House of the Devils conclusion is true to many of the Satanic Panic flicks of the 70's and 80's and I tend to agree. I grew up watching these kinds of films and rarely did they end any bigger or explain things as well as House of the Devil. The film works because of the setting. Even though it takes place in the early 1980's it doesn't dwell on the time period trying to make a statement or poke fun at it. Instead it just happens to be a story that takes place in that time period. Everything from the performances, the wardrobe and even the credits of the film will make you feel like you watching a lost film from the 1980's. I'm convinced if you saw this without knowing what it was on TV one night you would assume it was made in 1983.
In Jocelin Donahue, West has the perfect 1980s heroine. She's equal parts Margot Kidder and Karen Allen. Her portrayal of Samantha and her journey is what the whole film is built upon and with a lesser actress House of The Devil could have been a disaster.

Unfortunately I doubt most modern horror fans would get what the movie is even about or would find it boring. For fans of grindhouse cinema, devil films from the 80's, or just those who want to take a trip back in time, House of the Devil is a great trip down memory lane.

8 bloody Axes out of 10

With the Holiday season now in full swing we wanted to kick things off in style. HauntedHouse.com will be presenting trailers, news, and reviews of holiday horror films in the build up to Christmas day. To start thing off we present a short horror holiday flick called TREEVENGE

TREEVENGE is directed by Jason Eisener Jason Eisener and independent film maker from Canada who gained a bit of notoriety for his excellent "Hobo with a Shotgun" trailer he created for in a contest for the film GrindHouse. Watch his latest brilliant opus TREEVENGE below. Definitely NSFW.

Being a fan of Sam Raimi from the first time I watched Evil Dead I was very excited to find out that he was finally making another horror film. I imagine most of today’s generation know Raimi for his Spiderman films and little else. Of course he started in horror and became a very well known director for his wicked sense of humor and visual style. When Drag Me to Hell hit theatres I quickly started hearing good things from horror fans and confused and negative comments from Spider Man fans. After finally getting the chance to watch the film I’ve found they’re both right.

Drag Me to Hell is about a young woman named Christine who works as a loan officer, has a great boyfriend and she’s holding out hope for a job promotion. However her boss, Played by the great David Paymer, informs her that the assistant managers position is between her and her back stabbing co-worker Stu. In order to show her boss she can make hard choices, Christine denies an extension on the mortgage of an old gypsy lady who in turn puts a curse on Christine. From this point on the film follows Christine as she tries to rid herself of the curse while fighting off evil demons while trying to make a good impression at work and with her boyfriend’s parents.

Drag me to Hell has moments of wicked splatter-stick comedy I expect from a Raimi horror film and moments of outright terror. However the comedy bits often don’t go far enough and feel like Raimi was trying to restrain himself some. For someone who has never seen the Evil Dead series I can see how they would think Drag me to Hell is stupid or silly. The film sometimes feels like it can’t decide whether it should be funny or scary. The attack by the old gypsy goes from being laugh out loud funny to serious in the blink of an eye and this is a common theme throughout.
This is a PG-13 movie and it is pretty light on the gore we’ve come to expect from a Raimi horror film. However he still manages to put his star Alison Lohman through a lot of abuse using, body fluids, mud, and water.

However, even with its sometimes unevenness Drag me to Hell is still a lot of fun which is a lot more than I can say for most horror films this year.

Everything you've heard is true! Michael Dougherty's long awaited, studio mishandled Trick R' Treat is the best Halloween Movie to come out in 30 years! How this movie went direct to DVD and is not in theatres right now scaring the crap out of huge audiences is still a mystery. Did the studio really not no how to market this Halloween gem or was there another reason? I doubt we'll find out anytime soon. But what is clear is that they mishandled one of the most original horror films I've seen in years.

By now you probably know that Trick R' Treat is a horror anthology like Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt by way of Pulp Fiction. Its a simplistic way of describing it but is somewhat accurate. There are 4 intertwining stories here featuring serial killers, monsters, urban legends, and even people with no Halloween spirit who get their comeuppance. All the stories have the common thread of being in the same small Ohio town on Halloween night with each story affecting the other in some way. Then of course there's the child like character of "Sam" that makes its appearance in each story as if directing the action.

A lot has already been written about the stories of Trick R' Treat so I won't go too far into talking about them other than to say that they all work and work well. Dougherty has crafted a very polished story that gives a fresh take on a horror anthology. The character of Sam that makes an appearance in all the stories is the closest thing the film has to a host but he has his own story where he is the main character as well. The stories themselves look at Halloween from several different age perspectives. There's the spooky Halloween legend that brings together 5 young trick or treaters, the sexually charged Halloween tale of 4 college girls looking for dates, the middle aged man passing the traditions onto his son and finally the old man who hates Halloween and the demon that comes to torment him.

Trick R' Treat is a Halloween movie where Halloween is the focus, not something happening in the background while a slasher kills teenagers. The stories all involve the rules of Halloween or the legends surrounding the holiday. I was reminded of being a kid at Halloween and tramping through darkened streets begging for candy dressed as a zombie or ghoul of some kind. There's something that's almost magical about Halloween when your a kid and Trick R' Treat captures it better than any film I've ever seen. However don't be fooled into thinking this is a kids movie because its not! It has violence, buckets of blood, dead kids, and even nudity.

Michael Dougherty, a fellow Ohio native, has created what will become, a Halloween masterpiece! Beautifully shot and directed by someone who truly loves the holiday, Trick r' Treat is a Halloween fans wet dream! I suggest instead of going out and seeing another horrible installment of the Saw series this Halloween you stay home and watch a true holiday horror film that will live on long after people have forgotten the saw movies.

Alice Cooper wants to keep Halloween Alive! Find out how you can help by watching the following video: