“The best that can be said about Rob Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ remake is that he makes it his own, though the considerable alterations only flatter John Carpenter’s 1978 slasher-pic template,” writes Variety critic Dennis Harvey in the first review of the horror re-boot starring Malcolm McDowell that opens Friday. “In contrast to that spare, suggestive genre classic, this bloodier, higher-body-count version leaves nothing to the imagination: Michael Myers is always right there in plain sight, committing mayhem sans suspenseful buildup or mystique. Brand recognition should initially help combat a recent downturn in horror B.O., but pic might as well cash in its DVD chips by the time actual All Hallow’s Eve comes around.” The Weinsteins are not showing this in advance to critics in the U.S., never a good sign. But it is being screened as part of the Montreal World Film Festival. And Filmstalker is reporting that bootlegs of a “Halloween” work print are already widely available on the ‘net.