“I don’t like the word remake”, Zombie said with an actual straight face. Also, he said it as if he was dignified. “I don’t like the word cult”, said the leader of Heaven’s Gate. “I don’t like the word war,” said President Bush. “I don’t like the word WMD’s,” said Kim Jong Il to the UN. There’s always some stupid spin people will believe willingly. I love how directors directing a remake actually approach these films with a dignified attitude almost as if their product will be beyond what a remake is.
Especially Rob Zombie who’s presented his remake of “Halloween” with a rather cocky stride, almost as if he’s beyond this. Fact is, Rob Zombie, the man I respected, the man I loved in both solo music, and in White Zombie, the man who created one hell of a movie called “Devil’s Rejects”, is a sell out. Pure and simple.
Sell out is a word used loosely, I’ll agree with that. But Zombie is a sell out. I don’t give a s**t if Carpenter backs him, I don’t give a s**t if Debra Hill gave Zombie a check before she died, I don’t care if Mustapha Akkad came to Zombie in his dreams and gave him the green light, Zombie is a sell out pure and simple. And the man who has boasted early in his career that he sought out to make films outside the Hollywood system, is a sell out.
Read his interviews concerning the Halloween sequel, and the Halloween remake and you can tell he’s had training. Someone trained the schmuck! They taught him how to work around the fans! They taught him how to use spin! They taught him how to speak half truths like a political chimp! He’s a sell out!
His statement concerning the new Halloween sequel was “I Will not be working on the Halloween sequel”. Now, re-examine that sentence. He never said he wasn’t doing a Halloween movie, and he never said he wasn’t doing the feared Halloween remake, he just said he wasn’t doing a sequel. Spin and half-truths! The Weinsteins got to him! Cheney got to him! They taught him, they coached him, and he doesn’t even seem to mind!
A person approached me with a response to my anger with: “Come on, you know if you had a chance to be given a lot of money, you’d sell out too. Give me the strings Weinsteins, I’ll be your puppets, and you’d do it too.” No. You may laugh and scoff and think about how hypocritical I am, but I’m not a sell out. I will never be a sell out. Zombie is a sell out. Everyone has a price tag these days, and I intend on not having one. Zombie apparently sold quickly.
One of the funnier statements in response to the remake announcement was:
“Zombie loves the “Halloween” franchise, he’s obviously not doing this for the money.”
Not doing it for the money?! Who in the name of god in the Hollywood system never does anything for the money? Hollywood loves money, they crave it! They lust for it! People kill for money! Zombie sold out quicker than anyone! Sure, Eli Roth sold out at the start of his career, but Zombie put up a big act and people fell for it.
Not only is he a sell out, but he’s also a hypocrite, a phony, and he’s acting exactly like a politician. Someone taught this guy how to do interviews. Zombie is out there answering questions with half-truths, spin, and answers that don’t feel like answers. “My movie will be a semi-prequel half-remake that will follow Michael before the first film.” Yeah, yeah, keep pretending you’re a dignified artist, Rob. But I hope you’re able to sleep at night when you’re picking the bones off of Carpenter’s corpse.
This is not an anti-remake rant. Don’t misconstrue this. This is merely clarification to the fans whom are still under this assumption that Zombie is still, or ever was, this dignified rebellious director working outside of Hollywood. Those days are long over folks. The inmates no longer run the asylum. The directors are very much like the press, once working for us to keep the studios in line, and now they’re playing the studios games and snapping in line. The dignified director is gone. Everyone is selling out, and if everyone is doing it, it must be good. Or at least that’s what fans are so easily led to believe. And man, can they snap into line! I’ve yet to hear a negative response from this, and those who do dislike this notion of a “Halloween” remake are burned at the stake.
I for one am not looking forward to the remake of “Halloween”. I’m not saying it will be terrible, but how can I watch it knowing it’s made by such a phony? I can sit through a Brett Ratner or Michael Bay film because I know these guys are phonies, I always have. But I can’t sit there knowing I once was a fan of Rob Zombie’s. I had a White Zombie poster, I have his songs on CD, I love Devil’s Rejects. But now, I have no respect for him. Because he’s now no better than a sleazy politician.
I know he’s a hardcore horror fan. He’s one of the biggest of them all. But how can a director blossom into fruition with a remake? And Zombie, it’s a remake. Stop listening to the crap New Line is feeding you. Stop deluding yourself. It’s a remake, and if you had any sort of backbone, you’d admit that. And to the horror fans, stop thinking Zombie is a rebel working against the system, because he’s not. He’s just as bad as a politician. He’s feeding you spin, pure and simple. And if you think this new “Halloween” will make Michael a more vicious character, well then you’re stupider than I thought.
Horror fans are dumb. They really are. I’ve come across many brainless horror fans, and it’s sad. How do I keep doing this to myself? They’re also incredibly complacent. Example, Zombie. I feel bad for him though. I sympathize. Here’s a man who seemed to think he was going to take the horror world by storm. He tried with “Corpses” and with no avail. The movie wasn’t released until years after it being made, and Zombie had problems with it. The movie failed, and it was received with mixed reaction from horror fans.
And then there was “Rejects” which failed at the box office, didn’t have much of a release, failed with critics, but was loved by horror fans. So, instead of bucking up and moving on, and struggling like any good artist would have done, he bent over, pulled down his pants and let the system f**k him, all for an easy ride and a quick paycheck. Can you ever seriously call yourself an artist by reproducing other people’s works? Not by my eyes. And oh yes, Zombie promises his own little spin to Michael Meyers. Goody!
Hey Rob, Robby, I’d love to sit down with you and ask you what the f**k is going on. And I’d love to do it off the record and without spin. I know I’d be talking to someone who is not serious about making movies. You’re just a faded musician, albeit a damn good one, who is doing these films on his off-time, and because you had two bad experiences you sold your credibility, already?
Horror fans may not have standards, or expectations, or brains, but this horror fan has all of the above, and I’m not ready to lower my standards just because yuppies and lemmings are. Zombie, you gave up too damn quickly, and you sold your soul. Sleep easy, and sleep well. I’m still a fan of your music, and I loved “Rejects”, but you’ve lost my respect and praise. You’re a sell out. Horror fans, you’re worshipping a false idol, like you’ve done for the past ten years. When is someone going to wake you up? This one is still awake and he’s anxious for a new genesis of horror. Sadly, it’s not coming any time soon.
Where’s your integrity Zombie? Did you ever have any?
Amen Felix!!
I am glad someone had the nerve to say this!
For me, this remake/re-imagining/prequel/whatever isn’t a bother at all. But that’s probably because I don’t look at the original Halloween with the same love many others do. In fact, I’d say that aside from the first 10 minutes of the film, it’s incredibly boring. I respect the fact that it helped to kickstart the slasher genre. And I respect the fact that it launched the career of John Carpenter. However, as far as entertainment goes, I don’t have very much regard for the original Halloween.
That being said, I’m not anxiously awaiting Zombie’s take on it but I am curious to see what he’s going to do with it.
I can.
While I admit he is talented, and I’m still a fan. This was nowhere near a noble move or sincerity. He was given a big fat paycheck and bit the bait. And he’s pawning it off as an artistic statement. It’s pathetic.
And Superman Returns can’t be a remake when it’s clearly connected to the first two films even acknowleding the “night with superman” article Lois wrote. So, that argument is not really cohesive toward the subject of ZOmbie who is remaking a movie.
In the “Dawn” remake you didn’t hear the characters referring to Roger or Peter, or Stephen, and I can be sure you won’t hear a mention of Dr. Loomis anywhere in this remake.
I think Rob Zombie is a sincere filmmaker, and I think its always been apparent, in his music and films, that he’s a fan of horror, particularly the view of it that came from the 70’s. I’m willing to accept that he’s got an original take on a film franchise that he himself is a fan of (I mean, we could be having a similar conversation about Singer and Superman Returns which, for all its “I’m a sequel” is more like a re-imagining of the first film). And he’s probably making some money for it. But the man has talent as a filmmaker, and he also has a strong appreciation of the genre so… I can’t dismiss this as a simply sell-out move.
Remakes can be artistic statements. Hell Hitchcock remade a few of his films to try better.
But modern remakes are not that noble. I refuse to believe it, because they’re cash grabs by pompous con artists who have fooled themselves and are trying to fool the audience into believing that it’s an artistic endeavor when really it’s just greed.
The comment about going the extra mile to be famous/ make money is a very good point. The remakes that are worthwhile (Cronenberg’s The Fly, Carpenter’s The Thing etc.) were clearly well intentioned labors of love because they came at a time when remake-mania was not the fancy. Plus, they were remakes of films that weren’t (at the time of the remake) ‘trendy’ movies like ’70s horror is today. I could try to think of other empirical reasons why those types of remakes were obviously not band-wagon jumping cash-grabs, but I hope that most people can just tell the difference between an at heart cynical remake and a genuine artistic statement.
That’s actually a good point, but I’ve also never been asked to murder someone I despise, and I know I’ll never do it. I’m not comparing Zombie’s act to murder, but it’s an apt analogy to your statement. I think it’s more of a test of the actual person and how far we’re willing to go to be famous, even reproducing other people’s works.
I think if a person like Rob is so willing to sell out easily, they never really thought they were very talented to begin with.
I think, and this is no insult Felix, that the folks quickest to say “I’ll never sell out” are the ones who’ve never been asked…
It’s hard to get inflection into these little CGI boxes. My vote is for the original movie too, but I think most people would go for the quick easy money, even if it stinks up the joint ….
BTW If they do remake scream I’m throwing smoke bombs into a few theaters …
The original movie. It could be a hit. Nothing you can say will make me re-think my entry.
I’m just sad people like Zombie will willingly sell themselves just for money. You can sell your soul if you want, but not me.
coin for remake? shuh!! but isn’t doing anything for money what got us here in the first place?
say you were offered 30,000 to direct an original feature or 3 million to remake Scream (you know it’s coming down the pike anyway …)
what are you gonna do?
Micheal, dont start with me.
Dude. You should have had me draw a picture of Zombie. I think I could have done a pretty good job.
And if someone offered me coin to remake a Carpenter classic, consider me sold out.