Rob Zombie Interview - Halloween II

Rob Zombie mumbles about his lowest common denominator films with Jordan Hoffman.

By Jordan Hoffman at 3:25 PM
August 26, 2009

http://www.ugo.com/movies/rob-zombie-interview-halloween-ii

When Milt and Ida Zombie sent their son Robert off to grade school, surely they turned to one another and said, “that boy is going to make us proud.” After a successful career grumbling like Cookie Monster over techno-metal in the band White Zombie, Rob Zombie has carved (ha!) himself a profitable vocation in the horror movie biz.

His remake of John Carpenter’s Halloween took the splendidly framed and elegantly paced white-knuckle original and replaced it with baseball bat bashings and Malcolm McDowell. The cash registers didn’t stop ringing. Two years later, Mr. Zombie is back with a follow-up.

I had the good fortune to speak to the man over the phone the other day. Here are the highlights.

Jordan Hoffman: Hey, man. I hear this is your last interview of the day.

Rob Zombie: Yes it is.

Jordan Hoffman: After this you can do what ever you want.

Rob Zombie: Maybe jump out a window.

Jordan Hoffman: Pour yourself a nice drink. What is your go-to drink?

Rob Zombie: Coffee. Hot coffee. Even when it is hot out.

Jordan Hoffman: All right, listen, I need to be bold with you. I have a bone to pick. I was not allowed to screen your film prior to this conversation - a bit of an anomaly for this sort of thing.

Rob Zombie: Yeah, no one has seen it. We only finished it 24 hours ago. It isn’t just you.

Jordan Hoffman: Ah. So it isn’t that “they aren’t showing it to people.”

Rob Zombie: We just finished mixing the sound. They haven’t even struck a print. Hauling ass to the last possible second.

Jordan Hoffman: Happy with the result?

Rob Zombie: It’s awesome.

Jordan Hoffman: What will people get in #2 they didn’t already get in #1?

Rob Zombie: New characters I’ve created. I mean, some are technically John Carpenter characters, but I’ve twisted them around so much that with this movie it is like we’ve never seen them before. And with as many Halloween movies as are out there – I don’t feel they’ve ever really followed one up that well. This has the same director, same cast – and that’s unique.

Jordan Hoffman: The original Halloween II is “later that night” and then continues on to the next day. Where does your version branch off?

Rob Zombie: It continues with that night, then jumps ahead a year. So the bulk of the movie is one year later. We establish how that night wraps up, then we see Laurie Strode and Sherriff Brackett putting back together their messed up lives.

Jordan Hoffman: When you are doing a kill scene, when do you know it is too gross?

Rob Zombie: Editing. When shooting, well, there’s a gut feeling of when something works. But editing with sound effects and music. Sometimes on set something looks just ridiculous, but in editing you say “wow, this really works.” But I never say, “this has gone too far.” I mean – it is all fake. You can’t go too far.

Jordan Hoffman: Do you play music on set? To keep the ambiance?

Rob Zombie: No. Never. I know some directors do that, but I don’t.

Jordan Hoffman: Halloween III, if it happens, would you work the Silver Shamrock commercial into it in some way?

Rob Zombie: I won’t be doing a Halloween III if there is one. These two say all they need to say for me.

Jordan Hoffman: I’m told Haverhill, Mass has a really thick accent, but you don’t have one. How’d you lose it?

Rob Zombie: I never had it. My parents do, but I never did for some reason.

Jordan Hoffman: Robert Rodriguez is turning his Grindhouse trailer Machete into a full length feature. Do you see yourself doing Werewolf Women of the SS?

Rob Zombie: I think it could be really cool. I would like to shoot that under the exact circumstances that a movie like that should be made. Really low budget. 3 weeks and be done with it. I don’t have any plans to do it, but if I did, that’s how I would do it.

Jordan Hoffman: What are your favorite non-horror movies?

Rob Zombie: It’s funny. Most of my favorites are not horror movies. My favorites are A Clockwork Orange and Taxi Driver - these are not considered horror movies.

Jordan Hoffman: You shot Halloween and this new one, correct me if I’m wrong, on Super 16mm stock. Do you have an aversion to the new crop of movies on video?

Rob Zombie: No. I mean, sometimes you really can’t even tell the difference. The way cameras and lenses are now sometimes 35 looks like video because it is so clean. I chose Super 16 because I want it to look dirtier with more grain, much like how films looked to me in the 1970s. More grit.

Jordan Hoffman: So your love for the 1970s classics – you mention A Clockwork Orange - what if you were to wake up tomorrow and learn that they were making a remake of A Clockwork Orange? Or reboot it onto a TV series?

Rob Zombie: I really would not care at all. Who cares? It would only be a crime if when they remade a movie they gathered up all the copies of the original and destroyed it. But, I don’t care. They can do whatever, you never know.

Jordan Hoffman: You just wrapped up post-production. What do you do next? You have a little bit left of summer. What does Rob Zombie do with his free time?

Rob Zombie: I don’t know. I haven’t planned it out.

Jordan Hoffman: Halloween II comes out the same day as The Final Destination. Little bit of some box office battle there. Any thoughts?

Rob Zombie: It is what it is. I don’t care. You have no control over what movies people go see, so you can’t really worry about it. Whatever is gonna’ happen is gonna’ happen.

Jordan Hoffman: What was the coolest movie you saw in 2009? Other than your own.

Rob Zombie: 2009?

Jordan Hoffman: That’s the year we’re in now.

Rob Zombie: Uh. I don’t know. I don’t know. Can’t really think. I lose track of time.

Halloween II is in theaters Friday, August 28th.