Fridae

The first Halloween film was made in 1978. That was the first time moviegoers got to experience the shocking gore and gratuitous blood-letting in a horror film which soon became the trademark of almost all commercial Hollywood horror films.

Halloween became such a hit that it spawned several sequels which were mostly produced by the same man, Moustapha Akkad.

Now, nearly three decades later, Moustapha has passed the torch to his son Malek, who has hired the sultan of splat Rob Zombie (The House of 1000 Corpse, The Devil's Rejects) to remake his father's original production. And the results, we are happy to say, are just as gross, shocking, sickening and stomach-turning as the original � which is a good thing, right?

Unlike the original, the new movie delves deeply into the psyche of serial killer Mike Myers when he was a boy (played by Daeg Faerch), living in a dysfunctional home where his stepfather constantly bullies him. On Halloween night, the boy snaps and embarks on a killing spree that lands him in a nuthouse. Many years later, Mike manages to break out and return home to look for the remaining member of his family he didn't kill...

At the recent press screening, several people walked out during the intensely gruesome scenes. But the horror fans who stayed on were as pleased as punch. Judging by their smiling, laughing faces afterwards, you'd think they'd just seen a comedy.