Rob Zombie's Halloween II

[CKO]

Source Bloody-Disgusting.com
Rob Zombie is packing up and heading back to Haddonfield for H2, the sequel to his remake of John Carpenter's classic film from 1978. While other horror websites patronized us for reporting the story broke by Shock, it appears the egg is in their face as Zombie will return to both write and direct the sequel to HALLOWEEN for Dimension Films. Read on for the official news and full details on the deal. What do you guys think? Where should Zombie take the sequel?

Dimension Films and Rob Zombie are teaming for another chapter of "Halloween," and he's racing to scare up the pic for release in October.

Zombie will write and direct "H2," the sequel to his 2007 reinvention of the John Carpenter horror classic. Production will begin in March.

The new film picks up right as the first remake ended, following the aftermath of Michael Myers' murderous rampage through the eyes of the sister he hunted.

Zombie said it won't resemble the original second installment, as the "House of 1000 Corpses" helmer continues to take the franchise in different directions.

Zombie took Carpenter's original and stamped it with an original storyline that treated Myers as a clinical psychopath. The film grossed $60 million domestically in 2007.

Zombie had told Dimension chief and TWC co-chairman Bob Weinstein he wanted nothing to do with a sequel. But just like the franchise's villain, Zombie was compelled to come back.

"I was so burned out. (But) I took a long break, made a record and I got excited again," Zombie said. "Now, we'll be hauling ass, and that's the problem making a movie called 'Halloween': If you come out Nov. 1 or after, nobody cares. If it was called anything else, I'd be fine.

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[Y 2 Jake]

I was sceptical about the first one, at least it wasn't a straight remake. It was fine if you like rape in popcorn films.

This...looks just as bad. I get the impression Zombie thinks he's some sort of Tarantino. The difference being that Tarantino understands what he's doing and makes a well crafted homage that's better than the genre films he's emulating.

 

[jmt225]

I am a big fan of Rob Zombie. His music is great, and I thought both House of a 1000 Corpses and Devil's Rejects were very good, fun films. So when I heard he was the one doing the Halloween remake, my distain turned into excitement because I was sure he would do a great job.

But while it was enjoyable, I ended up being really disappointed with his remake of it.

I always liked the idea of this middle class, suburban kid just killing his family one day for no reason. However, Zombie wanted to explain why Myers is the way he is. That killed the mystique of the character, in my opinion. Carpenter was playing off the fear of most middle-class families that wholesome, white Americans don't just suddenly decide to kill. Plus, Zombie with this remake is turning into a one-trick pony with his evil, depraved rednecks deal.

The other problem with the film is that Zombie is proving to be overly reliant on scoring his films with popular music. "Don't Fear the Reaper" fit for obvious reasons. But "Love Hurts" and "Tom Sawyer"? Um, what the fuck? Those were both inserted in such a way to make the scenes laughably bad, especially with the Nazareth song.

That said, the movie wasn't bad. Zombie is actually an incredibly talented director. He's just a shit writer who produces bad dialogue and shallow characters. If you need evidence of just how bad his writing can be just watch the first five minutes of the film. It's really terrible. He also wasted a great character actor in William Forsythe as Myers' abusive step dad, a character we really didn't need. I also liked some of the big gaps in logic like Loomis somehow being able to steal a cop car.

Probably the biggest criticism I have for the movie is that it's two movies compressed into one. You have Michael becoming the monster, and then Michael the monster. They aren't strung together well, and they don't actually work together. The first half was entirely unneeded because it destroys the Michael Myers character, and the latter is rushed through so quickly it feels pretty ridiculous. The ending is also quite lame. Why kill the Loomis character when Malcom McDowell is the only actor in the movie bringing anything resembling class?

But yeah, I didn't hate the film. Zombie made it look good. As a director, he definitely has a gift. He just needs to let someone write for him. If he did have a good writer, Halloween 2 would most likely be fantastic. And while I will definitely be seeing this for sure, my hopes won’t be high for it like the first time around.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I've known about this for quite some time, and I have ambivalent feelings about it. On one hand, I really enjoyed Rob Zombie's remake. Like jmt225 already said, the last part of the film did feel rushed; after recently watching House of a 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects again, I've noticed that this is a flaw in all of Zombie's films. But, I think that Zombie's distinctive style at least partially makes up for this flaw.

On the other hand, before Zombie came back to the Halloween franchise, H2 was supposed to be directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, the duo behind the ultra-gory and suspenseful French horror film, À l'intérieur/Inside. Judging by the trailer you posted, it looks like this film will mostly take place inside of a hospital. Given the relatively closed environment of a hospital, Bustillo and Maury could have worked wonders with H2. In fact, I think they would have done a better job than Zombie.

Nevertheless, I will be going to see H2 on opening weekend. Here's to hoping Zombie knocks it out of the park.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

Meh! The first one wasn't good, so i doubt the second will be any different. If it follows the same trend as Rob's previos original movies, his second Hallowe'en will probably be worse than the first.

House of 1,000 Corpses = Great!
Devil's Rejects = Shit
Hallowe'en = Not great
H2 = ?

 

[Mrs Sexy]

I thought Zombie's remake of Halloween was really good. Yeah, it looks thrown together for the most part, but to me it was still really good. Mainly because he made the movie look unique. I agree that he ruined the mystique of Michael Myers. But it was also neat to see his view on why Myers did what he did. Therefore, I'm interested in seeing H2.

Now, House of 1000 Corpses I didn't like. That doesn't make Zombie a shitty director, but to me that movie was horrible. I wouldn't mind seeing Devil's Rejects though. Not every movie he makes is going to be bad, and not every movie he makes is going to be good.

 

[X]

Rob Zombie is a curious director. Between flashes of genius, he always seems to throw in these awful movie cliche's that have your head twisitng, trying to understand why he would do such a thing. Case in point being the entire white-trash backround laid out for Michael Myers in the remake. Not only was it pointless to change Myer's backround from happy suburbia to white-trash cliche central, but it really just alienated people from the movie.

That being said, I did enjoy the remake overall. As an avid horror and slasher movie fan since I was a little kid, I know how to spot a good popcorn slasher flick, and Zombie's Halloween is exactly that. Is it a quality film of intelligence and creativity? Sorry Rob, but no. What it is however is a perfectly enjoyable slasher movie with thick slices of nostalgia of the original dealt out to keep you connected to the story enough to actually give a shit. Plus whenever you've got Brad Dourif and Malcolm McDowell on the same set, you're always entitled to some high-quality acting. I'd rate the movie about on par with one of my favorite 80's cheesy slasher films, The Burning.

With all of that said, upon viewing the trailer for H2...I felt like I wanted to vomit. I get the feeling I will no longer be able to defend Zombie after this abortion of a film is made. The second I saw his wife (Michael's mother) in the trailer as some sort of ghost/apparition egging little Mikey on to wreak havoc for Mommy, my heart sank. I know you love your wife Rob, and she is extremely hot, stop trying to force her into your movies. She didn't belong in the original Halloween remake, and she sure as fuck doesn't belong in this one as basically an excuse to just have her on film.

I'll definately see it, because the Halloween franchise is number one in my heart, but I'm getting the distinct feeling that I'm going to fucking hate it.

Probably the second biggest looking disappointment set to come out this year, the number one belonging to the semi-sequel to Donnie Darko, S. Darko. That movie actually makes me want to riot in protest over how fucking stupid it is to make a sequel to a film like Donnie Darko, not involve Richard Kelly, and make it look like some sort of pseudo-Final Destination type film.

 

[Cowboyfromhell]

While I enjoyed the remake or reimaging or whatever they were calling Zombie's Halloween I did have problems with it. It did feel crammed together, trying to show Zombies vision on why Michael does what he does and then trying to redo the original. It was really 2 movies in one. And while part of me did like finding out why he kills, finding that out took all the fun or creepiness out of it. In the original he killed for no apparent reason than he was pure evil. In Zombies he was a mentally disturbed child from a disfuntional white trash family. And if you read about past serial killers the family life is usually not a traditional upbringing. Not all the times, but most. Childhood trauma can be a trigger for emotionally disturbed people. So I get that but it almost made me feel sorry for him, which is not what I want from a Halloween film, my favorite of the slasher movie franchises.
I am curious to see what he plans on doing in H2. I read somewhere, maybe a blog from his myspace, that while the beginning is in a hospital, it is just briefly and then the rest of the movie goes off elsewhere. He is not redoing the original Halloween 2. Zombie apparently is excited that he doesn't have to redo someone elses movies, that this can be his own vision. So that hopefully will be good but I am worried.

 

[horrorfan_1986]

Judging by the trailer you posted, it looks like this film will mostly take place inside of a hospital.

I had the opposite impression. Based upon what little parts of the story I know, I assume the movie will start out at the hospital and will quickly leave to tell the story of Laurie later on. Unless they somehow bring Laurie back to the hospital, I really see no reason to stick to the hospital. If Rosenthal's Halloween II taught us anything, it's there isn't enough story to keep the story going through another film.

I'm really looking forward to the film. Zombie has really come into his own as a director and I've been impressed with all of his movies. If there was one problem with the remake, it was that Zombie had certain limitations on what he could do. With this sequel being totally unrelated to the original II, Zombie is able to make his own movie instead of his version of a previous movie. With how fantastic The Devil's Rejects was, I have full faith in Zombie that he can put together a quality film with his characters and his own story.

The only thing I am worried about are the scenes with Sherri Moon Zombie. I do not want to see her in a lot of scenes. Having her be a consent voice in Michael's head would make Myers too Jason-like. We already have one popular killer killing in the name of mommy, we don't need another. However, if all she's doing to do is pop up in a scene or two and tell Michael to kill, I'll be fine with it. It goes back to the last film with Sherri telling Michael to live it up that night (Halloween) because tomorrow they were going to make things all better. In Michael's messed up mind, he thought killing was what his mom wanted him to do. Making that distinction will be enough to separate Michael from Jason killing because his mom actually wanted to see people killed.

 

[ShockTheMonkey223]

I was kinda looking forward to Zombie's T-Rex but his Halloween remake was amazing so I'm sure H2 will be as well. Actually, it will most likely be better 'cause this one is going to be completely his film, so the by-the-numbers Slasher feel of the second half of the remake will be gone and there will be more storytelling and character development. The thing I hate about the original is that there's no story, it was simply made for shock value (and that shock has cleary worn off). Rob's said that this film will be nothing like the original series and that really has me excited.

 

[LayneStaleyLives]

YAY! I love Rob Zombie films! Hahaha needless to say, they put a lot more on the table than what WWEFilms ever did, not saying that without reason because I wonder what a Rob Zombie remake of See No Evil would be like? hahahaha.

Anyway, Im definitley going to see this! Like the last guy said, his Halloween remake was amazing! Rob never seems to dissapoint - he's got a quirkily sadistic, but enjoyable scent to his movies...

 

[X]

Right. First off, the people thus far in this thread who have raved about the Halloween remake...sorry, but you're all morons. The remake was good strictly as a popcorn flick, and nothing more. Aside from that, it was an insult to the original, and entire Myers childhood sequences were just absolutely terrible. Michael Myers with a white trash family and a stripper mom? That's the lamest fucking thing I've ever heard, and was absolutely painful to watch. The remake wasn't the worst I've ever seen, but it was most certainly not a good film, and it definately wasn't "awesome" as some of you seem to think.

Now, onto the new film, which looks both awful and intriguing at the same time. The first trailer that came out, with the bits about Michael seeing his mother's ghost? Fucking awful. Nothing more than an excuse for Rob Zombie to stick his wife in another film that doesn't need her in any way.

However, the second trailer that came out and has been playing lately makes the film look alot better and has me actually excited for the new film, as opposed to the dread I was feeling for it monthes ago. I'm still a diehard Halloween fan though, so I will always end up seeing the movies. If I was able to sit through Resurrection, I can sit through anything.

So, anyone else excited over the new film? Think it looks awful? It's only about a month or so away from release, so I figured it's about time we got the hype machine rolling. Anyways, here's the recently released new poster for this film. Pretty shitty poster if you ask me, what happened to subtlety? Pretty hamfisted if you ask me.

 

[Nerotheory]

Gotta agree with yah on most of what yah said man. The remake was horrible in every way right up there with the Texas Chainsaw remake. The childhood stuff i actually liked thought it added to Micheal and made you understand why he became creepy. Outside of that pure shit. Now i will see H2 only cause i saw the first and it actually looks like a better movie then the first.

 

[Cowboyfromhell]

I like the potential of the second film only because he is not remaking anything, which he was trying to do with the first one. So it will be his own vision, I just hope it is smart and creepy and not just over the top gore.
I wouldn't say the first one is awesome, it was a popcorn flick and that's all I expected, so I enjoyed it. I try not to compare it to the John Carpenter classic because the original was revolutionary, nothing else like it. No matter what Zombie did it wasn't going to be as good as Carpenter's or have the impact on the film industry that the original had. That said, as a film on it's own, compared to other horror films of today, I liked it.
I am conflicted over seeing Michael's childhood. While I liked seeing where he came from it took away from the evilness of the character. In Carpenter's Michael killed for no explained reason, which to me is scarier than he had a shitty childhood.

 

[X]

I like the potential of the second film only because he is not remaking anything, which he was trying to do with the first one. So it will be his own vision, I just hope it is smart and creepy and not just over the top gore.

I actually think the gore that Zombie brings to the films is one of the things that helps them. The original Halloween is not only the greatest horror film ever made, but is one of my Top 5 movies of any genre. That said, there's zero gore whatsoever in the first film, and that's fine. But I like the fact that Zombie brings a bit more violence to the films, to showcase the brutality of Michael Myers. Zombie is great at creating realistic violence, and not the nearly cartoonish slasher-violence that the later Halloween sequels were prone to.

I wouldn't say the first one is awesome, it was a popcorn flick and that's all I expected, so I enjoyed it. I try not to compare it to the John Carpenter classic because the original was revolutionary, nothing else like it. No matter what Zombie did it wasn't going to be as good as Carpenter's or have the impact on the film industry that the original had.

I know I probably gave off the impression that I completely hate the remake, but I actually enjoy it. It's not a very good film, but by slasher definitions it works remarkably well. It helps to have someone as gorgeous as Scout Taylor Compton playing the lead, and it really helps to have Danielle Harris back in the fold. Without Danielle, my enjoyment of the film would have gone down tenfold. Malcolm McDowell helped as well, he's literally the only actor I can think of that can step up to the role of Dr. Loomis. He'll never match Donald Pleasance, but he still does a great job. Really though, like I said, I enjoyed the film. It's certainly better than the majority of horror films that are released nowadays.

And anyone who was going into that film expecting it to live up to the original was being foolish. Zombie himself said that the film shouldn't be judged against the original, it's simply unfair.

I am conflicted over seeing Michael's childhood. While I liked seeing where he came from it took away from the evilness of the character. In Carpenter's Michael killed for no explained reason, which to me is scarier than he had a shitty childhood.

THANK YOU! That has always been my main complaint with the remake. The entire childhood thing could have been done very well, but Zombie absolutely fucked it up big time. Michael Myers is NOT supposed to be a sympathetic character, he's not even supposed to be considered a human being. He's supposed to be a representation of pure evil, not a victim of an unfortunate upbringing. Plus the whole white-trash stripper-mom thing was just completely unauthentic and really downright painful to watch. I know you love your wife Rob, but stop making excuses to put her in films. She'd better not have more than two minutes of screen time in the sequel (or her "ghost" if you will).

 

[X]

So we're quickly approaching the release of H2, it's released into theaters this Friday, or 6 days from now. I for one am extremely excited to see where Zombie goes from here. For all of the criticism his remake faced, the fact is that this film is going to be a completely unique film by Zombie and NOT a remake has me extremely excited. Remember the last film Zombie gave us that was an original work of his? It was The Devil's Rejects, and it was a modern horror classic. I've got faith that Rob can give us something good here, better than the first film.

Anyways, this trailer that Rob himself compiled originally for the marketing campaign has leaked onto the 'net. The marketing department at Dimension though decided instead to produce the shitty trailer that's been airing in theaters and on TV for months now, that has turned alot of fans off. This trailer is SO different from the one's we've seen thus far, and the way that Zombie utilized The Moody Blues song "Nights in White Satin" fits it perfectly. This is a great trailer, and Zombie is right to be pissed off that they scrapped it in favor of the generic slasher film the new trailers market it as. We'll have to see how true this new trailer is to the feel of the film, but it's given me a whole lot of hope that this could infact be a great movie.

​

 

[Cowboyfromhell]

As a huge horror movie fan I am also very excited for this film to be released this weekend. I think this has the potential to be very good, not like the cookie cutter crap everyone else puts out. I think Rob get a lot of undeserved shit for his movies because he does do things differently and for that reason I believe this will be good. I like originality, he has the balls to do it where others won't put themselves out there or the film company won't let them because the lemmings won't enjoy something unconventional. So bring it on Rob.

 

[X]

As a huge horror movie fan I am also very excited for this film to be released this weekend. I think this has the potential to be very good, not like the cookie cutter crap everyone else puts out. I think Rob get a lot of undeserved shit for his movies because he does do things differently and for that reason I believe this will be good. I like originality, he has the balls to do it where others won't put themselves out there or the film company won't let them because the lemmings won't enjoy something unconventional. So bring it on Rob.

I completely agree with you about Rob getting too much shit. I've been highly critical of some of his work (actually mainly just House of 1000 Corpses), but no one can deny that the man has his own unique vision, and he doesn't give a shit about what anyone else thinks. When he saw what the marketing department did with the campaign for H2, he personally sent them a letter to tell them he "fucking hated them".

The thing to remember is that his remake of Halloween was just that: a remake. It wasn't as personal of a project as something like The Devil's Rejects was, which I consider to be a modern classic in the same vein as Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer or Last House on the Left. To know that H2 is going to be mostly a completely original idea from Zombie has me excited to see the results. The inclusion of his wife in the film again though has me a bit worried.

Glad to see another horror fan on here who's looking forward to this Cowboy.

 

[Cowboyfromhell]

House of 1000 Corpses may be a pile of steaming dog dung but I look at it like this. It was his first movie, he was still figuring out what works and what doesn't. Kind of like how you have to date or marry some crazy people before you figure out what makes someone special. Rob quickly figured out what makes movies special as Rejects was his second venture into film making. And I liked his Halloween considering he was working under the constaints of trying to be himself while recreating someone elses film, but it's not a classic.
I know you touched on it a few posts back, but I really enjoy how he uses music in his movies, from White Satin in the leaked trailer to Freebird in the conclusion of Rejects. There are other instances obviously but you get my point. He actually uses the music to tell his story, it's not just background noise.
You mentioned Last House on the Left, I assume you mean the original? I just rented the remake for viewing later tonight or this week. Is it good or will I did my eyes out with a spoon?

 

[X]

House of 1000 Corpses may be a pile of steaming dog dung but I look at it like this. It was his first movie, he was still figuring out what works and what doesn't. Kind of like how you have to date or marry some crazy people before you figure out what makes someone special. Rob quickly figured out what makes movies special as Rejects was his second venture into film making. And I liked his Halloween considering he was working under the constaints of trying to be himself while recreating someone elses film, but it's not a classic.

I agree with you here. For a first film, HO1KC is a good start, and there are some very good bits and pieces in it, but overall it's always come off to me as a third rate TCM ripoff with Rob trying to show us things that are supposed to "disturb" us and fail at that. It's not a bad film overall I guess.

I know you touched on it a few posts back, but I really enjoy how he uses music in his movies, from White Satin in the leaked trailer to Freebird in the conclusion of Rejects. There are other instances obviously but you get my point. He actually uses the music to tell his story, it's not just background noise.

Don't forget how they use "Midnight Rider" in the Devil's Rejects, or even how he used "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" in HO1KC. Zombie is great in how he uses music.

You mentioned Last House on the Left, I assume you mean the original?

Of course, the original is a classic.

I just rented the remake for viewing later tonight or this week. Is it good or will I did my eyes out with a spoon?

It's not terrible. It's actually quite good in some parts. The acting is surprisingly good, and some of the kill scenes are very good. But overall, it's not a very good remake. The ending will have you either laughing your ass off, or angry as fuck. Let me know what you think when you see it (there's a thread in the Bar Room called "Bullshit About Movies" for stuff like that).

 

[X]

So finally, after all this anticipation this summer (as many of you know I'm a huge Halloween fanatic) for the latest installment of the Halloween franchise, I come out of the theater with mixed feelings, but a sense that I had really seen something that was very, very different from the norm. Quite frankly though, I liked that approach. I'm a huge lover of the old cliched standard slasher film system (The Burning, The Prowler, etc), but if there's one thing that I enjoy about Rob Zombie's reboot of the franchise, it's that he takes a unique approach. A breath of fresh air is always appreciated.

The first 15 minutes of the film are simply fantastic. Every review has said this, and damnit if they weren't right. I really can't describe just how awesome that first fifteen minutes is. Laurie walking around the empty hospital, and Michael Myers arriving to raise hell is damn exciting, and for once in a long time I thought to myself while watching this film "Good lord, Michael Myers is frightening again!" The way Zombie uses The Moody Blues "Nights in White Satin" against the hard rain is simply breathtaking as well, Zombie once again shows that he has a great eye/ear for matching up music with film.

One of the things that really sets this film apart is Zombie adapting some surrealist filmmaking tips with a few scenes that one can describe only as "trippy", in a very good way. The vision of Michael's mother and the white horse is absolutely Lynchian, like an outtake from Twin Peaks or something. There are many dream sequences like this, the best of which features some truely grotesque looking "Pumpkin Kings" I guess is the only word to describe them. Laurie screaming in rapid motion inside of a glass box actually sent a chill down my spine, a rarity when I watch horror films anymore (when you've seen as many as me, these films stopped scaring you years ago). These scenes are absolutely wonderful.

Another big plus to this film is the violence. Whereas the first film was prone to over-editing and quick cuts, the sequel here really focuses on just how brutal Michael is. This brutality is the one thing above all that gives Zombie's re-imagining appeal to me. He's got a great eye for gore, I don't think anyone can argue that. Michael goes all out in this film, absolutely crushing heads, destroying faces, decapitations, slit throats, broken skulls, he's absolutely at his most violent in this film, and I loved it.
Some of the scenes with Michael's mother and the vision of a younger Michael are good, but several of them are pointless and pretty bad. If they had just kept it to a minimum, it would have been much more effective when we did see Sherri Moon Zombie again.

A few scenes were also definitely unneeded, and basically served for Michael to go kill a few random townsfolk. One of these scenes is actually quite good, but they really don't serve any purpose. For a fan of slasher films though, it'll be enjoyable.

In the end, I really did enjoy this film. It's not a great movie by any measure, but it's a very enjoyable one, with flashes of absolute brilliance, as well as quite a few of it's pitfalls. One thing you can definitely say though is that Zombie really made his movie here, and I give him all the credit in the world for making such a different film.

Rob gets the nod of approval from me on this film. Just slightly. Definitely worth your time if your a fan of Halloween, horror, or Zombie.

If you want to read a much larger and in-depth review I've just done for this film, GO HERE: http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?p=1351799#post1351799