I don't know about you but when it comes to writer-director Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN films, the clear choice for the better film is HALLOWEEN II. A ton of horror fans will argue this point all day, every day, but I stand by my statement that HALLOWEEN II is pure Rob "f*ck it" Zombie, but his first HALLOWEEN was half mess, half semi-interesting. And, wouldn't you just know it, it turns out that we have word today via SFX Magazine that Zombie himself prefers HALLOWEEN II to his original reboot (yep, just typed THAT). Here's what he told the magazine specifically about not only his love for H2 but his honest thoughts of his HALLOWEEN films in general.
Rob Zombie on HALLOWEEN II:
To be honest, I would rather be doing my own thing anyway. But I am still proud of both Halloween movies. I prefer the second one, which might surprise people, but the problem is that when you do a remake you can never get a true judgement on what it is you have done. I think it’s the same deal when someone remakes A Nightmare on Elm Street or anything else – it’s just too hard to completely break the formula. Everyone knows Michael Myers and a lot of the fans want the same thing again, but maybe with a small twist – like when they did the eighth one and he’s part of a virtual television programme or something [laughs]. One thing that I got a lot of was, ‘This is what it should have been,’ or, ‘He should have done it like this,’ but if that is the barrier we set then you cannot ever do anything. I really wanted to rework what Halloween was.
On his version of Laurie Strode:
I think Laurie Strode from my Halloween was a bit boring. I mean, she is supposed to be the all-American nice girl and, to me, that is just dull [laughs]. That is why when we did the sequel I made her this really damaged person – because that is infinitely more interesting and cool to explore.
On his original HALLOWEEN flick:
There was so much stuff in the old films I wanted to avoid. They had already made eight Halloween movies – all of different quality – by the time I came along and I took a completely different approach. I wanted to do a new take on the whole series and that is why my Halloween was more of a serial killer movie – we got to look at this troubled kid’s childhood in more detail and what made him Michael Myers. I wanted my version of Halloween to feel a lot more real because the previous films had done everything except for maybe sending him to outer space.
He continues:
It was still the story of this guy searching for his sister. But the guy was definitely more real… I didn’t have him appear and reappear in the movie like in the Carpenter film. I wanted to avoid people thinking he was supernatural. But it was not an easy movie to make. I kept being asked, ‘Hey, should we show this to Carpenter or so and so from the original and see what they think?’ And my response was just, ‘What the fuck do I care?’ When I get asked what my advice is in this business I tell people to just focus on what they want to do because if you start worrying about what other people think you are screwed [laughs]. I am oblivious to all that. I love Halloween and I wanted to do my own thing with it. Whether people like my Halloween or don’t like it is irrelevant to me. At least it has my own personal stamp on there.
Again, I have nothing but love for Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN II, so I dig most of what the man says here. But what do YOU think of Zombie's comments – and his HALLOWEEN films in general? Let us know below! HALLOWEEN II was written, directed, and produced by Rob Zombie and starred Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Brad Dourif, Danielle Harris, and Scout Taylor-Compton.
Snag a copy of HALLOWEEN II on Blu-ray over on Amazon RIGHT HERE.