The 2007 movie timeline makes no sense

[superstaff]

Originally Posted by Cowabung-Gal

It’s about as confusing as the “Halloween” franchise, IMO.

Originally Posted by Leo656

Nah, nah, almost nothing is THAT bad.

Maybe it's because I love those dumb movies, but I don't find the Halloween franchise confusing at all. They're just splintered off.

Basically, there's three separate timelines:

H, H2, H4, H5, H6 (sometimes people include H3, trying to tie in the Silver Shamrock Corp to the cult, but...eh, up to viewer to decide, I guess)
H, H2, H20, HR
H, H2018, HK, HE

That's the basic gist of it. Mostly three separate continuities that are tied by the original for the most part, plus some spin-off stuff that few care about.

Oh, and there's the Rob Zombie sh*t, but those are definitely not connected to the '78 movie, and suck so much that fans pretend they don't exist.

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by superstaff

Oh, and there's the Rob Zombie sh*t, but those are definitely not connected to the '78 movie, and suck so much that fans pretend they don't exist.

They're fine with me. II was weird.

I didn't grow up with the originals so they're not sacred to me, nor are the... "reimaginings" (I hesitate to call them "remakes", they're not really playing the same sport) blasphemy to me as they are to some. I just look at 'em in a vacuum as "just horror movies". They're "fine".

[superstaff]

For me, I felt the first Rob Zombie one was just a photo copy remake with some dumb edgy stuff added in like Michael having crackhead parents which...I felt wasn't necessary.

Then II was weird like you said. A little too weird, in a way I didn't like.

I don't think Zombie understood the point of the original movie either. I'd delve into it more, but most of the time, people just tell me to stfu because they're just stupid horror movies. And they are, but...there is some depth to the original (and I think 4 'got' it too, actually).

[Leo656]

I actually disagree, I think he totally "understood the point" of the original, and decided that rather than try and do an "actual remake" in the same vein - a guaranteed losing battle - he just decided to do a completely different take on the material altogether. Same name(s) but entirely different approach. Which is allowed.

There's an old saying in film that "You can't out-Hitchcock Hitchcock" and I suspect that was always on his mind when he did these. To even go anywhere near the original's style or sensibilities was only going to invite even more comparisons than the movie's title already did. So, absent of that, it makes sense to go into completely different territory and not even try to do anything the original did.

They're very much "Rob Zombie Movies" and people can like that or not - he's always hit-or-miss, with me - and people can forever argue whether something like Halloween ever "needed" to be remade in the first place, by anyone just in general. But I do think that removed of any and all expectations that being called "Halloween" inevitably carries with them, they're Pretty Good Horror Movies.

But see, I only saw the first one, of the original series. I find in talking to people that to really get anything out of the Zombie ones, most people have to be able to completely compartmentalize them. Human nature being what it is, that's not something most people can bring it upon themselves to do, let's just be honest. But it's easy for me to look at them in a vacuum because I have no other point of reference for the series, aside from the original which I saw WAY too late in my life for it to have any significant weight. It's a fine horror movie, don't get me wrong, but I saw it when I was, like, 30. So whereas most people speak of the original movie with a lot of reverence, it just isn't really possible for me to do that, even though I like the movie.

It's like Star Wars; you see that for the first time past a certain age, it's "just a movie", whereas to other people who saw it younger it's a whole life-changing thing. I'll never be as attached to the Halloween franchise as people who are "really" into it, so when I watch any of them, or the Zombie remakes, there's a whole level of detachment that affects the entire experience.

I mean, after all the caterwauling, I honestly expected to hate them and was a little surprised when I didn't. A lot of that has to do with how I wasn't comparing them to anything else, and at least some of it has to do with the fact that after hearing for ten years how they were "terrible, awful, worthless movies", when I finally saw them I realized that was some pretty strong hyperbole, and that I could easily rattle off about 500 horror movies that were way worse than those two.

So... yeah, I'unno.
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Allio was also right before, though; the Texas Chainsaw timeline is WAY more screwy, but I'm even less involved in THAT franchise and didn't even like the original much, so I try and tune those out.