Horror fans have a choice this weekend: stand up to Michael Myers or face an unseen force in THE (yes, “The”) FINAL DESTINATION!
The normally unstoppable Michael Myers will likely take a back seat as a broader audience should pay to see what has been billed as the final installment in the successful FINAL DESTINATION series. While neither film has screened in Atlanta for this critic, from the lengthy HALLOWEEN II trailer that was shown for us before INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, it appears that Michael Myers will be spending a lot of time slicing and dicing in what looks like a cruel and bloody motion picture.
The normally unstoppable Michael Myers will likely take a back seat as a broader audience should pay to see what has been billed as the final installment in the successful FINAL DESTINATION series. While neither film has screened in Atlanta for this critic, from the lengthy HALLOWEEN II trailer that was shown for us before INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, it appears that Michael Myers will be spending a lot of time slicing and dicing in what looks like a cruel and bloody motion picture.
And let’s face it, HALLOWEEN II does not even look as exciting as THE FINAL DESTINATION, a movie that should pull a few high octane G’s on viewers hanging on safely to their stadium seats. Frankly, HALLOWEEN II just looks unpleasant and exploitive. Horror fans took heart when rocker turned director Rob Zombie took the reigns of the 2007 HALLOWEEN reboot, but were largely left scratching their collective heads when the film was finally released. To be fair, any director charged with re-envisioning the 1978 John Carpenter classic had a thankless task and all the blame for the film’s ultimate short-comings can’t fall exclusively on Zombie. But in an interview, I talked with Zombie by phone prior to the 2007 unveiling of the movie, and he struck me as someone who really wanted to be directing something else. The conversation was problematic because the studio had elected not to screen the film prior to the interview, which always isn’t a good sign.
Zombie’s talent is obvious and his vision for the look and feel of rough and tumble lower budget horror is unique as we saw in 2005’s minor hit THE DEVIL’S REJECTS. But a larger budget and a more traditional studio setting has not lifted his work. HALLOWEEN in 2007 had a budget of $20 million and after a very good opening weekend went onto to a decent but not earth-shattering $58 million in domestic box office. The budget for the sequel was reportedly a little less coming in at $18 million. And with the weekend competition in the DESTINATION film, it is likely that the box office returns for HALLOWEEN II will not reach that of the first movie. In fact, one of our frequent horror critics told me that he won’t even see HALLOWEEN II, opting to sit this one out. Many hard core horror fans may do the same.
That leaves THE FINAL DESTINATION in the cat-bird’s seat. Directed by stuntman turned director David R. Ellis, who directed the second DESTINATION movie, this FINAL film will appeal to a much larger audience than HALLOWEEN II. Ellis directed the 2006 cheesy flick SNAKES ON A PLANE, which had a comparatively large budget of $33 million and went on to disappoint a little with box office of $34 million after a huge SOAP Internet marketing campaign.
Both horror films coming out this weekend are rated “R” and ironically, the ad campaigns for both might help feed a large turnout of younger viewers who may have not been satisfied by last weekend’s talky Tarantino offering. But when those viewers are standing at the ticket window, look for guys and their dates to pull the lever for broader and light-weight DESTINATION. It just looks hipper and more fun. And who wants to be assaulted by the lurid appearing Michael Myers sequel when you can go on the ride that will be DESTINATION?
One final note: Hopefully, Rob Zombie will move away from the HALLOWEEN series having done everything he could do within the box he was put in. From IMDB, he has a film in pre-production called TYRANNASAURUS REX, about a boxer turned underground fighter. That film, reportedly set in the 1970s, sounds like something worthy of Zombie’s time and unique talent.
