Rob Zombie is taking his second stab at Halloween with Halloween 2 that is out in theaters now. This Halloween feels more like a Rob Zombie film than the first one and he told us at The Weinstein Company press day that he felt this one was more his, “This film to me is more of a logical follow-up to the Devil’s Reject’s, where as Halloween the first one seemed like a weird side step that because it was someone else’s material. It kind of messed with me. I made the first half of the movie more my thing and the second half of the movie, I felt well I should bring in more of the John Carpenter beats because that is what the people are going to be expecting. But as soon as I started doing that, I don’t think I had the same enthusiasm of the film when it was new stuff. Because the fun of it creating your world and you’re going Annie Brackett, and Laurie, well these are someone else’s characters. That’s why in this movie, I tried to flip them all upside down and make them my characters.” He definitely made these characters his own. I have to admit it took me a while after seeing Halloween 2 to absorb what he did with Michael Meyers and the movie. After listening to him in the above interview, I understood him and the direction he took the movie in even more.
He explained to us when he was first approached about doing the H1, they didn’t know what they wanted, so he watched the original one again and realized we didn’t know much about his past and he decided to expand on that. That is the thing with so many of these slasher films, we don’t find out what made them the way they are. It wasn’t only Michael we got to know better, but if he gets his director’s cut for H2 it will also be a much different Laurie Stode we will get to know. He told us, “There’s another version of the movie that is very very different. That will probably be the Director’s Cut. There was two ways we could cut the movie. The way we cut for theatrical is sort of like Laurie Strode’s character is sort of holding it together, getting her life together, it starts spiraling downward, but in the other version she’s an incredible mess and gets worse. I mean she never has any good moments. She’s just messed up. She’s lashing out at everybody. She’s horrible. She’s like messed up on drugs. She’s completely spun out throughout the whole movie. Which makes for a really challenging movie to watch and I feel like, I don’t know if the fans would embrace so much darkness around her.” He added the rest of the movie is the same, but “her relationship with Annie is horrible. They’re like at each other’s throats through the whole movie. Which they are not in the theatrical.” I really hope this version gets released because it sounds like it could be really powerful yet more haunting as compared to scary.
When it comes to the theatrical Meyers we get in Halloween 2 that is out now, he is one of the most disturbing killers I have ever seen in any movie. He is so cold and unremorseful, that you walk away from the movie uncomfortable, which is what a good horror movie does. I can’t explain it, but the kills are so realistic and that is what Zombie and Tyler Mane, who plays Michael Meyers, were going for and accomplished. If you are a fan horror, I highly suggest seeing the movie. If you are squeamish, I hate to say it but beware of this one. The male reporter sitting next to me sat through most of the movie covering his eyes with the productions notes because the movie scared him that much. I have to say seeing him do that cracked me up!
All in all I have a whole new respect for Rob Zombie’s movies and the man himself just because of his attitude about it all. He is just so f*cking cool and lax about it and there is absolutely no BS coming out of his mouth that it is really refreshing. I seriously can’t wait to see his next movie The Haunted World of El Superbeasto when it comes out on September 22nd. Here is how he sold it to us, “That’s an animated movie. That’s a comedy. That’s totally different than anything I have ever done. It’s kind of like X rated Scooby Doo. It’s ridiculous, It absolutely ridiculous. It’s like part musical, part comedy. Absolutely crazy.” Sounds fun, no?
DJ AM was found dead in his apartment today according to TMZ. The 36 year old Adam Goldstein was discovered after a friend went to check on him because he hasn’t been seen or heard from in days. TMZ reports that prescription drugs were found in the apartment, but cause of death, as of now, is not known. DJ AM survived a serious drug addiction over 11 years ago and last year’s plane accident with Travis Barker, but he did not survive whatever took him today.
A few weeks ago I was at the TCAs and he was promoting his show Gone Too Far that was slated to begin airing on October 5th. Here is what I wrote about what he told us that about the show dealing with interventions for 18-25 year olds.
DJ AM is coming to MTV with a new show called Gone Too Far which is about 18-25 year olds who are the end of their drug ropes and he is going to try to help them get sober. DJ AM has been sober for 11 years and he said that he is able to remain clean by helping others.
When he was asked about his drug use, he said he was the only 300 pound crack addict. One day he realized that he had Gone Too Far and sought the help he needed and now he is allergic to the drugs and alcohol that once controlled his life. He feels he had a second chance and now he is taking that chance to help others get their.
Seeing him there day, makes today’s news that so much more shocking.
I remember at the The TV Critics Association day, there was a stupid older reporter who said he didn’t know about the plane accident and not only asked him one question about it, but also a follow-up asking how serious it was. I remembering wanting to go up to the reporter and saying, “Dude, shut the f*ck up and do your research before you ask another stupid question.”‘ I wonder if he ever did.
I guess the physical scars might’ve healed from that night, but the emotional ones didn’t.
At this time, they are not saying who the friend was that discovered him. But Travis Barker is touring with Blink 182 and was in Pennsylvania yesterday, he had today off and was due to play Connecticut tomorrow. I hope he is not the one who found him.
This death totally saddens me and leaves me with such chills because he survived that GA plane accident.
Before Rob Zombie wrote and directed Halloween 1 and 2, he was in the noise rock band White Zombie. How cool is it to see the 23 year old performing at that 1988 gig.
The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office has ruled that Michael Jackson death was ruled a homicide according to CNN.
“The drugs propofol and lorazepam were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson’s death,” said a news release issued Friday by the coroner.
“Other drugs detected were: midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine.”
At this point it is not known if Dr. Conrad Murray will be charged, but with the ruling I think we might find out something really soon. It is so sad that Michael Jackson was taken away from us too early because of stupid drugs. It is so sad how accessible prescription drugs are to celebrities today and that there are doctors who are feeding it to them to the point of death. Really f*cking sad.
Craig Perry, who produced all 4 Final Destinations talked to me about what might be the final one in the franchise at the Warner Bros premiere for the movie that is out now. When it comes to The Final Destination, I think they might have saved the best for last…if it really is the last?
What makes this FD4 so different than the other 3 is this one include 3-D. Craig told me how adding the effect changed the feel of the series, “Working in 3-D is really fun, it’s really interesting to apply to a movie like Final Destination….It’s not just about character, it’s not just about dialogue, it’s not just about the suspense; it’s about making the audience feel like they are literally living that moment, they are immersed in the scene.” Seriously he is not kidding you really feel immersed in the scenes. Final Destination is my favorite horror franchise in the last 10 years largely because the deaths are so slow and so suspenseful and the way they played out in this one they are even more so because of the 3-D effect. I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat covering my eyes throughout most of the movie because the way things are jumping off the screen at you. It totally freaked me out, but in a really good way. Saying that I had to ask him how they come up with all the freaking awesome deaths in the series and here is what he told me, “The death sequences really do stand out because we set them arenas you or I might find ourselves in…our bathrooms, our kitchen, maybe a grocery store and if you can take the mundane and invest it with a real sense of malevolence, you have the opportunity to create a sequence that will absolutely be a show stopper.” The opening premonition in this one is a real showstopper. It is the the most gruesome and spine tingling one of them all that you are so full of excitement watching as each person will die only to be saved for a short while…unless they can break death’s chain. This multiple death scene that sets it all off takes place at a NASCAR event and after seeing this movie, there is no way you can get me to go to a race. Which is exactly what Craig was talking about when he said they were creating sequences that are real showstoppers and check out the interview above to see which other deaths he considered the ones he remembered most. I have to say it is appropriate that opening death sequence took place at a racing event because this movie is so fast you feel like your in car on the speedway going over 130 miles an hour from the beginning of the movie until the credits.
Not being spoilerish, but there was also a 3-D movie scene in The Final Destination which was kind of cruel to do the audience, but also quite brilliant! So how did the Final Destination get to the big screen so it could kill off people watching a movie on one? Here is how, “The concept for the original Final Destination was generated by a guy named Jeffrey Reddick. And he actually worked at New Line, the studio that released all these movies. He was an employee. He came up with it based on a failed X-Files script that he wrote and he said I could make this into a feature.” And the rest is movie history. In short, X-Files loss was our gain, but for how many more films?
Is this really the last one? I just had to find out if there is any hope we might be able to get a fifth one??? And here is what Craig told me, “If we have an opportunity to make another movie, it will only be because the audience had so much fun with this one that we have earned the right to talk about it. And I hope we have that right.” I can tell you I had so much fun watching it last night, I say hands down they earned the right to talk about it. So run out and see The Final Destination this weekend for a movie that will frighten you with suspenseful and gruesome gory deaths. We really have to let them know we are not ready to see death stop taking those who thought they could cheat him.
But before we get a fifth one what is up for this producer whose hand I just had to shake after interviewing him? He is working on The Pet for Disney and The Seminar for CBS Films. I will be there on day one for both films!!!
Thank you so very much to Cynthia at Warner Bros for inviting me to cover the premiere and Monica for having an extra ticket so I could see the movie at it!!!
