WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- After sequels one and two, one of the original co-writers of the 1978 classic Halloween prophetically explained why she and legendary director John Carpenter would not continue the horror franchise: “We really have no place to go with the story.”

In any other place besides Hollywood, this “re-imagination” would be considered plagiarism – and poor plagiarism at that.That disclaimer should have been scrawled at all entrances to director Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween remake – the ninth (and hopefully, but unlikely, last) film in the series.

Ironically, the premise for Mr. Zombie’s “re-imagination” of the supernatural serial killer Michael Myers’ Halloween-inspired rampages was to tell the killer’s untold story: the 15 years between the six-year-old Myers’ massacre of his 17-year-old sister and the point he escapes from a mental institution to return home to Haddonfield, Ill., to continue his killing spree.

Instead of giving insight into Myers’ past, Zombie’s adaptation embellishes a life and, in the process, chips away the allure of a classic cinema character.

Unlike the original, in Halloween IX, Myers is a 10-year-old adolescent growing up with his trailer trash family (minus the trailer). He is a pariah at school and faces even worst berating at home by his stepfather and older sister. This, apparently, is what drives young Myers crazy, predictably leading him to slaughter his sister, her boyfriend and his stepfather (though Myers, who is already well-versed in slaughtering, torturing and then photographing innocent dogs, cats and rats, spares his baby sister, whom he coddles on the front porch after his rampage while waiting for his mother to arrive home).

He then goes to a mental institution, where he kills some more, escapes, kills again, yada, yada, yada and you know the rest. Before the end of the movie, the audience begins to realize that they’ve learned nothing new about Michael Myers.  

This isn’t a “re-imagination” of Halloween. It’s a reinvention.

The real Michael Myers came from what appeared to be a well-adjusted, upper middle-class nuclear family. It was the idea that this adorable six-year-old unmercifully stabs and slaughters his own sister without reason or remorse that made the adult Myers so frightening.

Rob Zombie, on the other hand, makes Michael Myers out to be just another mold of the everyday serial killer, who tortures animals and came from an unbalanced environment.

In any other place besides Hollywood, this “re-imagination” would be considered plagiarism – and poor plagiarism at that. The attempt to apply reason to the Myers madness just creates more questions. For instance, why would Michael Myers, who, in the Rob Zombie version, kills innocent animals, not also be so devoid of human emotions or the sense of right and wrong to the point of slaying his younger sister instead of coddling her? This act of mercy, in effect, humanizes a character that is supposed to be the epitome of evil. Michael Myers’ body count in this film is five times as high as the original but with half the suspense and even less of the intrigue.

We, the audience, don’t need to know the reason behind Michael Myers. It was his inexplicable lust for murder and mayhem, even at the age of six, that added to his allure, as well as the mystique and the horror of Halloween.

Zombie’s Michael Myers may wear the mask and wield the knife, but he’s not the real Michael Myers.