I'd write a longwinded review on this movie or i could just completely quote Variety, because it is exactly what i was thinking. i saw the movie, saw that tons of fanboys were praising it and then read Variety. Variety's opinion was on point. the only reason i gave it 4 points, as im sure the same reason that variety gave it 10x my score is that, well, Sherri-Moon Zombie is a fuckin babe. minus her, this movie blows… Expand

Legendary producer and studio head Samuel Goldwyn never uttered wiser words than when he advised Hollywood to, rather than remaking hit movies and trying to make lightning strike twice, instead redo their flops until they get them right. However, two recent terrific remakes (or perhaps more accurately, reimaginings) of legendary works prove that even the best of us aren't right 100% of the time: last year's Casino Royale, in reinventing the James Bond saga (but keeping it present day rather than returning it to a Cold War time capsule) made 007 far less superhuman and more vulnerable, and thus much closer to Ian Fleming's original conception. And while nobody loves and reveres the 1933 King Kong more than Peter Jackson (who has often admitted in interviews that it's the movie that inspired him to become a filmmaker in the first place), his brilliant 2005 take didn't shy away from correcting its two sorest points: the original's inherent racism and Fay wray's frustrating refusal to acknowledge the big guy as something other than a scary best, much less treat him with even the slightest iota of kindness, let alone affection. It would be nice to report that Rob Zombie's ambitious meditation on John Carpenter's seminal 1978 horror classic joins this worthy duo, but--and this is putting it VERY kindly--the talented horror auteur fails to pull off the hat trick. In trying to flesh out amorphous mad slasher Michael Myers (whose unmasked face is only glimpsed twice onscreen in Carpenter's original) and explain what happened in his childhood to make him the remorseless, unstoppable killing machine he beacame, Zombie succeeds only in trivializing his source material. Fans of this previous efforts, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects (count me in) will not be surprised to learn that Mikey's troubles germinated from being brought up by a group of foulmouthed, subhuman white-trash rednecks, but they'll be hard pressed not to consider that Zombie's creative well is getting more than a little parched: might I suggest to Zombie that his next horror thriller feature no male characters with hair longer than that worn by Spencer Tracy in any movie he made in 1938? Equally predictably, the scenes that work the most effectively are the ones that most directly parrot Carpenter's original staging (and admittedly his legendary electronic music score sounds dynamite in Dolby stereo!) but Zombie shoots, stabs and amputates his own foot by adding astonishingly unpleasant ultrarealistic carnage and gore to a property that Richard Corliss accurately described in its original run as having as little blood onscreen as an anemic ant...which helped Carpenter, despite the body count, to deliver a wonderful campfire ghost story that was a delicious bit of fun escapism. Even Zombie's most likable characteristic--his frequent casting of 1970s and 80s actors he admires (Sid Haig, Leslie Easterbrook, etc.)--goes for naught; his distasteful, nihilistic use of Dee Wallace, who was so memorably sympathetic in E.T., The Howling and Blake Edwards' 10, made me genuinely angry. Zombie has too much imagination and far too distinctive a voice to be lumped in with all the current torture porn directors, and his apparent intention to unflinchingly depict the psychological and physical pain beneath the surface of Carpenter's original is certainly unique, but to this mind the only viewers who can possibly enjoy two hours of child abuse, unrelenting viscera and Michael's victims pleading with him to finish the job are those who, like Michael himself, cause their neighbors to keep their household pets locked up. The closest thing to a compliment I can bring myself to offer Zombie's Halloween is that it's one of the rarest of birds: a movie whose intentions are intriguing--maybe even honorable--but whose realization of same is so relentlessly scummy and repugnant that many who have experienced it will not want to go six blocks or less near a theater showing it (or, in the near future, a Blockbuster Video renting the DVD) without wanting to take three long hot showers and undergo a thorough delousing afterward.… Expand

Maybe it's true of "The Devil's Rejects" as well, but here, this unnecessary but not altogether pointless remake of the John Carpenter "classic", unmistakably has that David Lynch touch(one man's misogyny is another man's realism) of unerotic female nudity(an instance of a topless corpse and then there's the girl who's topless and bloody) and overstylized regional-situated dialogue. "Halloween" owes a debt of gratitude to "Blue Velvet". The bloody and topless girl who gets in the way of Michael's warpath is comparable to Isabella Rossellini's full-frontal stagger across Kyle McLachlan's lawn. There's breasts on the screen but you want to look away. In a slasher pic, you accept the blood, you accept the screaming woman in peril, but you shouldn't accept something that looks straight out of a snuff film. What "Halloween" has going for it, however, is the weird white trash energy of Michael Myers' family. Sheri Moon is a very underrated actress.… Expand

Horrible job by Rob Zombie. I dont know much about Zombie's life, but is he white trash or was his upbringing like that? Honestly, after 3 movies now, You would think RZ could come up with something different. The start and end of the movie are horrendous. And why does the dialogue have to be so bad? Every other word is a curse and some of it is so bad, you just gotta laugh. Honestly, everything we loved about the original, the character buildup and the suspense of Myers is completely gone. To each his own I guess.… Expand

After watching so many greatest horror movies of all time, I heard that this remake was made and I haven't even seen it in theaters besides other great movies in 2007. Later, I decided to watch this on Youtube just to look at it. When I saw Michael Myers' parents arguing at each other, I was like, "Did that happen in the 1970s version?", and waited to see Michael kill her sister Judith Myers(just like that other movie), but When I saw his mother kill herself after seeing Michael killing another person, I stopped watching it and went on to something else.

I hate to say this, but Rob Zombie just simply failed to put some charm from the original. I mean, some of the scenes have reenactments from the original and Malcolm Mcdowell was the right actor for Dr. Loomis, but the storyline was very confusing, so uninteresting, and boringly dull. I'm sorry, but Rob Zombie would've at least try to make this remake good.

This movie may not be the worst ever, but its just forgettable.

At my highest hopes, this one deserves a 4/10 thanks to its reenactments and Malcolm Mcdowell.… Expand

When I watched the original Halloween I just remember thinking "this needs more boob and blood." Oh wait no I didn't. One thing thats been lost on the horror genre is that we as an audience don't need to see everything. We all have our imaginations and most of the time that can be a whole lot scarier then anything that can be put on screen. I don't need to see every single gory detail of the murder just the person being killed by the killer can be scary enough. Also why did we need the rape scene. It did nothing to further the plot except in telling us that Michael got out while two red necks were raping a girl. The theater version didn't have the rape and I didn't have any issues with how he got out. The only positive from this movie is that it does a good job of giving a back story too Michael. But the truth is we didn't need a back story, again no back story is almost scarier. Watch the original its a much better film.… Collapse

The first 45 minutes is brilliant with Zombie creating psychological backstory but as soon as we hit the "15 years later" section, it's as if he had no ideas left and the movie stumbles hopelessly. You set up Myers as a complex sociopath and the world Zombie creates is very believable. How can we then expect to believe that after being shot multiple times and stabbed in the neck Myers can shake it off like an annoying mosquito bite?… Expand

It succeeded at being disturbing and suspenseful, which is Rob Zombie's forte. But after the first 30 minutes, the storytelling became dull, contrived and poorly delivered. The deaths are toned down, and several pairs of boobs are thrown in for good measure. Zombie's fails at his challenge to portray Michael Myers' perspective after the character grows from a kid from a broken home to the legendary silent sociopath we all know.… Expand

Probably the best in the series since the original but that isn't saying much. The opening scene was just painfully to watch. I haven't heard that much dialogue without anything remotely important being said since QT's Deathproof. The problem with this movie is the backstory of Myers doesn't work. The original had one scene a boy holding a bloody knife that left so much to the imagination that we personally made what we thought his creepy story was in our heads. The story is not important but the image is. Less is more especially in this movie.… Expand

This movie had the potential to do justice to the original Halloween. It starts off promising, giving us a thorough examination of Michael Myers psychology, but things nosedive soon after that. The ending is a major disappointment and as many others have noted, there is little suspense involved in the murders. The cast does a decent job of delivering some terrible dialogue also. It all just seemed over-the-top.… Expand

This is the biggest disappointment of the summer. Rob Zombie showed such promise with The Devil's Rejects, and here, he loses all that. The film is disjointed, plays around too much with the Halloween myth, and worse of all, isn't scary or suspenseful in the slightest. By giving a back story to Michael Myers, he strips away what truly made him frightening, his unrelenting evil. A faceless, voiceless monster who has no rhyme or reason to what he does. It had potential, but Zombie should've focused on something here. Anything really. Either a prequel or a remake, not both. The final half of this film is so dull and pointless, I kept looking at my watch. Something I didn't even do during Halloween 6. Rob, please, make a better movie next time.… Expand

This film is terrible. Everyone giving it a high score is doing it simply because they're a rob zombie fan. I like rob zombie. I love the Halloween series. I hated this movie.

Rob Zomie shouldn't made this classic. He just destroyed it. First of all, Danielle Harris (Annie Brackett, Jamie Lloyd in Halloween 4 & 5) shouldn't been in the movie. She played Jamie Lloyd in Part 4 and 5, and decided not to play in "The Curse of Michael Myers" and now she is back in this one.. Second, this movie is nothing like the original one. This movie was like a 30 minute fireworks show; a little bangs here and there and then the finale at the end where everything is in one.… Expand

Very disappointing. There was NO suspense....no "hold your breath" moments waiting and wondering what will happen next. This movie was NOT scary....it was merely GORY. There was an economy of talent, performing a plodding story that simply laid everything out on the table, leaving nothing to the imagination. The back story idea could have been a real gem, and could have begun a sense of mystery and suspense. Instead, it played like an over-the-top Saturday Night Live made-for-TV segment. Throughout the movie, cute was too cutesy, and vile was shouted instead of whispered. This could have been a great horror movie. It SHOULD have been a great horror movie. Instead, it was a poorly written, poorly acted, poorly directed, suspense-less and horror-less flop. I give it a "3" rating based solely on the idea behind the back story and the unrealized potential for a modern horror classic that lurks beneath the surface.… Expand

Imagine a second grader taking three or four of his favorite toy dolls and play-acting out the original "Halloween" at the kitchen table. Yeah. It's kind of like that.

Ruined, smoted, and torn asunder by the incompetence that is Rob Zombie. He's my "an hero."

Horrifically brutal, unoriginal, topped with a poor script and cast, Halloween is one of the worst remakes to hit the horror genre yet. It is hard to watch not only from the gore, but also from every other individual aspect. Pass on this one.

Really disappointing. This film is not only meant to be a remake of the brilliant horror film Halloween from the 70s but it is also meant to explore and explain how Michael became the brutal killer that he is, but this film fails on both fronts. It doesn't really explain why he is a murderer, instead we just see Michael killing people as a child and by the time the film reaches the classic Halloween premise with Michael returning as an adult, the film just turns into completely mindless gore and violence that quickly stops being scary. There's just nothing clever in the horror, the only things it has to offer are its jump scares and its gore. There also seems to be a number of completely pointless events to get a reaction from the audience, such as a random rape scene...I'm not joking. This film had potential but it has sadly failed to give us anything more than just a few mild scares.… Expand

this movie was trash its so pathetic how zombie actually thinks hes a director and having the first 15 minutes being about Micheal as a child was probably the worst thing about this movie the worst movie of the summer by far!!

Mr. Zombie, I love your music, but I think you should stay out of the filmmaking business. The remake of Halloween is really not much more than an exhibition of repulsive characters dropping f-bombs all over the place. Lost are the suspense and terror of the original Halloween, only to be replaced with buckets of profanity, nudity, and gore. A good movie requires some actual substance, not over-the-top trash. I guess that fits in nicely with the type of horror movies we are getting these days though. I found myself stifling yawns during this movie when it was almost an hour in and Michael Myers still had not even escaped from Smith's Grove. Just FAR too much time spent (or wasted) on explaining why Michael Myers turned into a brutal killer. What really should have been the main event in Myers returning to Haddonfield turned into a rushed bloodbath with all of the main characters introduced and promptly swept under the carpet. This movie pales in comparison to the original, and used copies will quickly start showing up in droves at Movie Stop, etc.… Expand

This movie is one word: BORING! Virtually no suspense like the original and the camera shakes so much that you can't even enjoy the gore! And it's a horror movie!!! Where are the frights??? One lame jump scene and that's it! Rob Zombie is just okay as director, but a terrible writer and the combo makes for a real snooze-fest. Very disappointing.

nice try, good production values, earnest effort - but it is neither shocking nor suspenseful, looks like a remake made for TV. No fun whatsoever and absolutely no scary scene.

Awful, awful, awful. Terrible script. The dialogue is awful and the filmmaking is often times, inept.

I've watched and re-watched this movie despite myself, trying to find some reason not to finally and conclusively write off Rob Zombie as a one-note hack... and I simply can't do it. Not only does he fail to capture any of the style and essence of John Carpenter's source material, he can barely make this movie stand on its own legs. Don't be fooled by the vastly improved production values

Really pointless movie. Everyone I was with hated it too. I love horror movies, but this one sucked. I can't believe all the 9's and 10's.

It's a Zombie film so I expected what I saw in the first twenty minutes of the movie: rednecks cursing and unlistenable rock music that takes away from the cinematography. After this it's pretty much a who's-who of B-movie legends and dialogue so bad even Tarantino wouldn't use it. It felt more like a ninety minute promo for WWE's Summerslam than a real movie.

awful. why remake this? a typical slaughter fest by the numbers.

Why did this get remade?

Pathetic movie. No suspense, no real scares. This movie bludgeons you over the head until you're ready to just walk out. If this is supposed to be a reimagining of the original, then I think it's safe to say Rob Zombie has no imagination.

This has even worse camera work than Bourne Ultimatum. There was too much cropping on characters. Zombie didn't think focus was important. Shaking is everywhere... while cropped. There is so much cropping that many times I didn't get a feel for the surroundings. Zombie was just filming people and a house on another part of town could've been two houses over for all I knew. It was like I was watching the movie through a tiny box that kept shaking left and right. This made my eyes tired half way through the movie. I couldn't look anymore - it was torture. It's not like the camera is filming at 60fps. How about doing some real filming? This really ruined the movie. I was more interested in this movie than Ultimatum, but ironically, there was worse camera work here. My other thoughts: Myers was more mysterious in the original; Jamie Lee Curtis' vocal chords were missed; Many scenes were just too amusing, ruinning the terror in climactic parts. That last one really hurts the movie because it distracts from the reak drama that influienced Mike's life of inflicting pain to others.… Expand

Wow. I can't believe that people enjoyed this film. It left nothing to the imagination and created absolutely no suspense. Much of the beginning and end were totally uncalled for and made the movie drag on. The cinematography would have been ok for a 4 minute music video but not a feature film. The soundtrack was also retarded, you would think rob zombie would do better. waste of time.

an absolutely horrible movie in every aspect...extremely poor acting, uninspiring writing and cinematography. the 'prequel' portion of this movie does not clue you into why Michael Myers came to be...it is just a little kid carrying out the same pointless acts of violence as in every other Halloween. the entire story is poorly sequenced with pointless characters and dialogue...this movie is so bad zombie could have taken it into the ridiculous realm of a no-budget Grindhouse b-movie...but he doesn't. you couldn't pay me to watch this movie again.… Expand

A movie so utterly devoid of tension, it desperately tries to make up for it with T&A, gore and constant action. Athough it delivers all of the latter, it never comes together and every scene seems like it was smacked on just because the director needed the actors to have somewhere to go so he could film 'm. Will definitely not be known as a classic, not a cult horror nor even an amusing B-horror movie. It is just plain bad.… Expand

I hated this movie. I know he wanted to expand on the idea of the sibling relationship and explore Michael's childhood, but honestly who cares? All I could think was how I wanted it to get to him when he was older. The simple story that the first Halloween portrayed was utterly ruined.

I don't understand how movies this offensive have become so popular - much less even get made at all. WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO WITNESS TRAUMA FOR ENTERTAINMENT? THIS IS NOT HEALTHY. It's not that the film is violent per se, its the fact that it so torridly and careless brutalizes women in a way that is not acceptable in ANY context - real or imaginary, horror film or otherwise. Stay home and watch softcore porn - it would be far more tasteful than this revolting metnal poison. If you enjoy this film, please search your own soul and go see a psychiatrist immediately.… Expand

This movie was horrible. It is not scary, just disgusting and disturbing. The people who create these kinds of movies have deranged minds creating graphic, violent, bloody movies for anyone to see and to get ideas from

The is the worst movie I've seen in a long while. I only went because I won free tickets to an advanced screening and me and my friend walked out halfway through. The violence was extreme and gratuitous. The plot totally predictable, no suspense whatsoever. The dialog sucked and there was no rhyme or reason for the killings, just senseless brutal killing. Do people actually think this is entertainment? Sad.… Expand

What an ugly movie this is. In the first 5 minutes of the movie two adults are arguing, firing off f-bombs and every crude anatomical reference -- all in front of a baby, one who is caused to cry on two occasions due to the tension and violent noise. Subjecting a child to this ugliness for entertainment is abusive. So foul and heedless to any respect for humanity. As for the rest of the movie, no style or intelligence. The original Halloween is 100x more terrifying and creepy than this garbage, which was not either of these in the least. Don't waste your time and money.… Expand

Hideous !! How is it possible that this trash wasn't slapped with an NC-17 rating based on the fist 20 minutes alone, the very part of the film where the youngest members of the cast are put through its most violent sequences !?! What stinking hypocrisy ! Forget the inane plot deviations from the original. They're worthless.. What stays is how depraved Zombie's clear reverence for this monster is and the slow, clinical butchery of people with no concern for any attachment to the victims. They are there to be slaughtered as a demonstration of the monster's satanic beauty. Scream, baby. Chop slice. So animalistic.… Expand

One need not be a fan of the original to be extremely disappointed by this film. I had to walk out after an hour because it was so ridiculously bad. I have to wonder about the people who claim to have loved this movie or even liked it - the acting and casting were atrocious! Zombie's sense of pacing is extraordinarily poor and there wasn't a scary moment to be found. Just because someone can make a murder scene look real - that doesn't make it frightening or even horrifying. Everything that was suspenseful about the original - or the genre, in general - is missing in this "re-imagining." Watching a guy walking around killing people when he's in plain sight the ENTIRE TIME isn't frightening. It's boring. The dialogue is some of the worst I've ever heard, made worse by really bad acting. Michael Myers' family -- a stripper mom, a slutty sister, and a foul-mouthed boozer father in a wheelchair -- don't explain why he becomes a serial killer -- they do a better job of explaining why he might get an STD. That "family" looks like they met the day they started shooting and decided to use the first take of every scene. I've never seen a less convincing group of actors in my life. And what sense does it make for the cops to leave Michael ALONE in the car after he's butchered all those people? Or for Dr. Loomis to wait 15 YEARS to finally give up on him... yet still call him his "best friend"? As for the critics who gave this a decent rating, I have to think they're older folks who want to try to be cool by liking a director with a cult fan base... despite having little talent on display in this movie.… Expand

Horrible insult to the original. Doesn't have the suspense or scare factor of the first, just zombie's typical gore.

Wow, this is by far the worst and most boring horror movie I have ever paid money to see. It was poorly shot and laughable. I literally fell asleep twice in the movie and was only woken up by the laughter of other people in the theater. Avoid at all costs!

What is with these movies. over and over again. its soo sooooo soooooooo boring to see this charater. John C oringal was a masterpiece of new age horror, but these squeals only destroy and tranish its brith. Rob Zombie is a completly incombatent flim maker and musican. I still can tell the difference between any of his songs *(or atleast the so called 'hits'" this is terrible. The one thing this film does in spades, and the others like it, is show us everything that is wrong with our culture and entertainment taday. More of the same is NOT a good thing at all. So, shame on all of the money making producers (that some how makle money from this crap) and shame on Rob Zombie for taking nothing but our time and money, while still making his wallet much heavier.… Expand

I really like these how some of you are posting 10s for this disaster of a movie. It is complete, utter garbage! Rob Zombie cannot write or direct a movie if his life depended on it. How someone in hollywood even allowed him to make and eventually screw up a classic is beyond me. I thought this movie was going to be "his" vision. Not some direct to DVD version, which is what the movie really is. No suspense, crap dialogue and a horrible plot to top off. What he should have done was stick to the basics of the story and forget about all the young michael garbage and focus more on his stay at Smith… Expand

Oh my god. Just download this crap if you must....it's really lousy. Not scary....just foulmouthed, too literal and poorly acted, written and cast. I went with an open mind.

Zombie can call this film whatever he wants, it's still a remake. An awful one at that. He completely missed the point of the original film, and instead, turned this into a raunchy, two hour Jerry Springer episode gone terribly wrong.

If you have any respect for the original, avoid this travesty. Zombie inflates the first ten minutes of the original Halloween to nearly an hour, giving Michael Myers a ridiculous caricature of a white trash family and a cliched psychological development that seems to have been gleaned from the back of "Abnormal Psychology for Dummies." The remaining hour is spent ineptly and unsuspensefully butchering the original film. The only thing that prevents this from being a total waste of time is that it's so poorly conceived and crudely executed that it's often hilarious. Also, seeing this might make you appreciate those last few Halloween sequels that previously seemed so awful.… Expand

Just as I began to believe that this summer's arbitrary comedies ("Who's Your Caddy?", "Chuck and Larry") were offensive, this ridiculous sequel places any of my complaints about those abominations in unprecedented silence. The new "Halloween" is about little more than hideously revolting, ravenous, gruesome, and repugnant wanton violence against children, animals, and anything else that claims an insignificant existence inside the frames of this despicable film. Even by low standards, "Halloween" disappoints.… Expand

First off, I am not particularly bothered by profanity, but when the movie is just "F this" and "F that", it's just completely stupid and over the top and is nothing more than a distraction. Nice job of "modernizing" Halloween. The acting in this movie was inferior across the board compared to the original, and the time-consuming, heavy-handed Michael Myers back story left little time for the Haddonfield part of the story, which should have been the main event, but if felt very rushed and artificial. It was almost like Zombie realized after he was done with the Myers backstory "Oh, I still have to write the Haddonfield part of the story!" and threw something together. This movie was very dull (Unless you like the F word). Total crap.… Expand

This is the worst film I have ever seen. Even with low expectations, the reality of how bad this film was is simply appalling. It's boring. VERY boring. Rob Zombie appears to think that the more blood and f-bombs he puts into a movie, the better it will be. The genius of the original was that it wasn't bloody. The failure of this remake was that it has to stoop down to the lowest level possible. It's not a smart horror film as the original was. It's like the school bully copying off of the school nerd on a homework assignment and misspelling all of the words. Simply put, this movie is offensive to my sensibilities as a movie fan.… Expand

I was really excited about this movie and dragged out my girlfriend to come with me. Being that we are both pretty big Horror fans I thought he would deliver the goods and produce another stand up movie. But I was dissappointed. It was basically the firt Halloween all over with just some T.ts and Ass thrown in. I found the movie to be super boring with way to much filler installed into it. Sorry Rob but you failed your biggest challenge....Trying to make a classic.… Expand

Shame on you, Mr. Zombie. In a better world, a movie like this wouldn't be enjoyed by anyone. In a better world, a movie like this wouldn't be made because no one would go see it. Ugly, repulsive, unforgivable. How this movie didn't receive a rating of at least NC-17 is beyond me. AVOID.

I walked into this movie without much prior knowledge of the series or what I was about to see; which was my first mistake. This movie is the antithesis of films like 1408, having not the least bit of intelligence or atmosphere, it is and unrefined, clumsy mess of a bloodbath. It wasn't scary, it wasn't horror and it certainly wasn't enjoyable in any sense of the word. Don't get me wrong, I like movies about sociopaths- seven was great and Silence of the lambs is one of my favorites- but what makes these movies good is their delicate tact and eloquence, observing the characters from an objective point of view; as opposed to reveling in the bloody carnage they create. One common mistake made during the creation of films like these is the inclusion of background stories, which tend to ruin all the mystery and intrigue of these psychopathic antagonists, such as Hannibal Rising did. Well this movie is no exception, since after the first hour of getting to know little Mikey, not only was I bored and offended, but I knew there was nothing left to show aside from a bloody string of murders committed by this newly and fully realized monster. Honestly, there isn't a whole lot left to say, after that it was a gore fest that never created tension, suspense or any sense of emotional attachment. The sheer fumbling of the films execution earned this movie a 0, everything after that takes it into the negative zone. Just plain out, unrelenting, unremorseful and unforgiving torture porn that is bent on making you feel uncomfortable. Judging by the rest of these reviews, I intend to see the original Halloween with hopes that this travesty is simply a horrible misrepresentation of a once great series.… Expand

Seriously, this movie was absolute garbage. The dialogue is achingly terrible, there is not one actual scare in the entire film, and the murders are not even effective in their purpose. If you enjoy watching a 5th grader being beat to death for minutes on end until your stomach turns, then this might be your movie. Doesn't even hold a candle to the original.