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I have never previously watched CSI, but I saw that Henry Thomas was the guest star. You may remember him from "E.T." (1982), "Legends of the Fall" (1994), "Suicide Kings" (1998) or "Gangs of New York" (2002) among others. He plays a man who has spent 18 years in prison and now wants a new trial to claim innocence.

There is suspense in this episode and a lot of technical sequences where detectives go through evidence. Helgenberger and Fishbourne do good work, as does the dependable Thomas who doesn't get enough chances to shine on film in major projects. On the basis of the show, I may be inclined to view it again from time to time.

The original Halloween was fresh and different, and it remains an entertaining film. I can understand why years and years of sequels and imitations have diminished its effectiveness for some people. The newer generations are used to slick CGI and big-budgeted gore-fests that move at break-neck speed and don't develop their characters. So maybe they feel that "Halloween," "The Omen," "Psycho," "The Birds" and the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" lack action or feel "dated." I disagree with them on that point, as I think if you watch any of those without dwelling on when they were made or how CGI might look in them, you know with a fresh attitude, most people would come away having enjoyed them. Not all of those films were masterpieces, but each one was a true original that inspired countless imitations over the years. The influence of each of them has been felt for decades in the film world and in the popular culture.

The real problem with Rob Zombie's remake is not that it is a remake, or "reimagining," but that it doesn't tell us anything very interesting about its characters. Did we really need to know what Michael Myers' childhood was like? No. Dr. Loomis tells us a lot about him in the first movie. Why do we need a visual of every move Myers' made? That is the why horror movies don't really work anymore. There is no mystery. Every detail is explained and seen; every drop of blood has to be shown, and every thought each character thinks has to be spoken out loud. It's all so unnecessary.

What happened to suspense? What happened to shadows and the hint of something sinister? The first "Halloween" movie, the only true original in the entire series, played with our fears and our expectations. It used a relatively small, make that incredibly small, budget to great effect by being creative. The bigger budget for this latest merely makes the makeup effects and the sets a bit slicker.

I will credit Mr. Zombie with knowing his way around technical details of film-making, but all his effort has gone into a completely pointless remake. We learn nothing new worth knowing about Michael Myers or his world. There are minimal chills. It fits snuggly into the mediocre pile of sequels that followed the 1978 film. It may be slightly better made than some of them, but feels just as stale as Part II or IV.