Rob Zombie Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It's entirely possible I am the only one disappointed by the following news, but bear with me. The latest word on Rob Zombie's dirty lucha libre cartoon, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, is that it's headed directly to DVD and Blu-ray. That's the bad news. The good news is that after three years, it will finally see the light of day (or the darkness of night). Zombie's first foray into animated filmmaking has plenty of clever characters doing the voice acting, like Rosario Dawson, Paul Giamatti, Danny Trejo (!), Clint Howard, and Zombie regulars Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and Sheri Moon Zombie.

Zombie told IGN in an interview this past spring, "It came out awesome... That started off as this little tiny half-a-million dollar direct-to-video movie that expanded into this $10 million animated extravaganza." Except, well, it's a $10 million animated extravaganza that is going direct to DVD.

I have high hopes that it will make an appearance as a midnight movie in my local theater (and yours!) and perhaps get some attention at one of the many horror festivals like Fantastic Fest. Even though I'd like to see in on the big screen, it does look like the type of movie that would make more money on DVD than in theaters, especially with its target audience, which I can only guess is made up of fans of over-the-top cartoons, horror, heavy metal, and Mexican wrestling... or stoners. Not that they're mutually exclusive, of course.

(Courtesy of FEARNet)

James Wallace over at Gordon and the Whale had the cojones to corner Danny Trejo at CineVegas and got some tasty details from the tattooed tough guy.

Trejo confirmed that he is still starring in Robert Rodriguez's Machete as the title character, and that it's going to start filming in just five short weeks. Machete started as one of the fake trailers in Grindhouse, which was, some might say, one of the best parts of the double feature. The other fake trailer rumored to get the full-length treatment, Eli Roth's Thanksgiving, is listed as in development on IMDb, but as the other news from Trejo proves, even IMDb sometimes gets it wrong.

Although IMDb lists Trejo as a rumored cast member of Stallone's next blow-'em-up, The Expendables, Trejo told Wallace "his name was associated with the film for some unknown reason and he was never contacted by Sylvester Stallone or anyone involved with the film." Kind of a bummer -- for them!

Meanwhile, I'm really looking forward to another upcoming Trejo flick, The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, which is Rob Zombie's first animated film. Am I alone here, or what?

I'm a horror fan, but I'm not one of those demented geeks who sits in his cluttered basement wishing he could remake Frankenstein in order to explain the monster's tortured family life before he was resurrected by the good doctor. Thus I was more than a little perplexed when self-professed hardcore horror fan Rob Zombie so eagerly jumped into the director's chair to make his own version of John Carpenter's classic Halloween. What made him think he could improve on perfection?

I agree completely with Cinematical's Scott Weinberg, who recently Tweeted: "Corpses and Rejects are to horror what Epic and Date are to comedy." Of course, he was talking about Zombie's initial forays into the horror field, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. If you haven't seen them, don't worry: they're simple, fanboy pastiches of earlier, better films that influenced Zombie. Rejects was a modest improvement over Corpses, but, by all accounts, his Halloween in 2007 was a total misfire that pleased no one but the studio bean counters.

I confess, I haven't seen it yet -- my most trusted horror guru (read his review) advised me to save my money -- and the new trailer for H2: Halloween 2 does not inspire much hope for the sequel to the remake. The trailer promises that "the secret" will be revealed. Like Halloween II, the original sequel directed by Rick Rosenthal, this one features a lot of hospital footage. You can watch it over at Yahoo! (or below) and glory, if you choose, in the prospect of more Sheri Moon Zombie. Tyler Mane returns as Michael Myers, along with Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, and Danielle Harris. H2: Halloween 2 Electric Boogaloo hits theaters on August 28.

Sometimes these movie sites make me laugh: They'll absolutely trash the remake of a classic horror film like Halloween, but as soon as the sequel gets going, they race to throw up the first bit of casting news, or photos, or release date, as if the first flick never existed. They're excited all over again -- for what ... we have no idea. But anyway, Rob Zombie's Halloween sequel (currently titled H2) has firmed up a release date of August 28th, 2009, returning once again to the time of year that was very kind to it the first time around. A little unrealistic considering August is only eight months away? Sure ... but it's a horror sequel, and they can write, shoot and edit those things in like a month, tops.

Along with the release date, Zombie threw up an image of the new Michael Myers mask in its early sculpting stages on his MySpace page (check it out by clicking the image below). It should be fascinating to watch this sequel grow, since a) the first one made a whole lot of money, but b) it wasn't successful with fans at all. Could the late summer release actually hurt the film this time around? Would it do better during Halloween season -- perhaps convincing those fans on the fence to see it because it's October and they want more horror? We're sending out a feeler to see how many of you are actually looking forward to this sequel, so sound off below ...

Woohoo, let's check one horror remake off the list for 2009! Yes, I was fortunate enough to experience the 3-D splatteriness of My Bloody Valentine at the jam-packed BNAT 10 last weekend -- and while I was equal parts skeptical and intrigued, I'm pleased to opine that this is one fun little gore-fest. Feel free to check out my review at FEARnet and / or Devin's over at CHUD for some specific thoughts. (Big fan of the original Valentine? Then check out this interview re: the new DVD!) Oh, and here's the newest teaser trailer:



Hmm, what else happened while I was down in Austin? Ah yes, Rob Zombie was officially locked in to directing Halloween 2, which excites me in the same way that would Uwe Boll directing a remake of The Thing. With all due respect to Robby Z. and his legions of fans ... I just hate his movies. Despite actively trying to enjoy each flick (more than once!), each one feels like a sweaty barbecue with the world's most disgusting inbreds. Not scary, just ugly and unpleasant. And since Halloween 2 holds a strange little place in my heart, I think I'll just forget about this project until it hits the screens this October.

Hey cool: Looks like that geek-friendly Outlander flick is finally touching down on January 23. Sounds good. Also in January? Sundance and Slamdance! My red-penciled genre flicks are as follows: Dead Snow, Grace, The Killing Room, and Moon (from Sundance), plus Conjurer, I Sell the Dead, Mum & Dad, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead, and Zombie Girl: The Movie (from Slamdance). Oh, and all the dramas and comedies and such...

True or False: There is such a thing as too many Bruce Campbell interviews. (Answer: False.) And Happy Horrodays! Here's a list of cinema's ten scariest Santas! Last and probably least: Anyone out there want to see Steven Seagal as a vampire slayer? This might cure you.

The rumors were correct this time around, as it looks like Rob Zombie was convinced to return and direct a sequel to his Halloween reboot. Unlike the last Halloween, H2, not to be confused with Halloween H20, will arrive in theaters in October -- which, um, makes a lot more sense than August (even though the first flick took home a good buck at the box office in late summer).

Variety tells us the sequel will pick up right where the last one left off, and follow another Michael Myers killing spree through the eyes of his sister (Scout Taylor-Compton will most likely return). According to Zombie, this sequel will in no way resemble the original sequel (except for the part where Michael Myers kills a bunch of people). Zombie, who originally wanted nothing to do with a sequel, was talked back into things after taking some time off from the monster: "I was so burned out. (But) I took a long break, made a record and I got excited again." What's exciting is we'll have two horror sequels squaring off against one another this October: Saw VI and Halloween 2. Not a lot of time to shoot, edit and polish the flick, but something tells me time won't change what the final product looks like.

What do you think? Give Zombie a second chance here, or will this puppy bomb?

While everyone was talking about Rose McGowan's machine gun-leg and Kurt Russell's road rage ways, at least the same amount of chatter, if not more, of the buzz surrounding Grindhouse was relegated to the faux trailers. Machete made such a big impact that for months many of us were musing about a Danny Trejo-starring feature film. But what about those Werewolf Women of the SS?

According to a post put up today on Rob Zombie's MySpace blog, we'll get more of the ladies in comic book form. The blog says: "Werewolf Women of the SS is back! This time it's back as a comic book series! The wacky exploits of Commandant Hess, Lt. Boorman, Von Strasser Eva and Gretchen Krupp, Fu Manchu and even Hiltler will be coming you way. Everything you ever wanted to know about Project Pure Wolf but were afraid to ask!"

Creating an entire story for fans to drool over is certainly a way to whip up buzz and head toward feature territory. We've seen the trailer, full of Nick Cage, Udo Kier, and more -- is now time for them to grace the pages of the comic book world? Hopefully it will be with less exclamation points.

[via Horror-Movies.ca]

So we still don't quite know what Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex is. The new, somewhat profane, surprisingly artful poster for the 2009 film -- which I've placed after the jump because we don't like cussin' on our family-friendly front page -- seems to confirm the earlier notion that the plot involves a biker gang; Zombie himself has said that the movie has nothing to do with actual dinosaurs, though an image of one appears in the background. There had also been speculation that Tyrannosaurus Rex will be based on a comic book called Nailed, which was co-authored by Zombie, but the filmmaker has denied this.

All of Zombie's efforts to date have been bad in interesting ways. His latest, Halloween, was not a good film, and it pretty much defecated on the classic movie it was trying to tribute, but it confirmed his talent for creating arrestingly lurid, over-the-top milieus. His main problem seems to be an inability to settle down, chill out, and think things through -- he just attacks whatever he's working on with a brutal, untamed voracity. But I'm holding out hope that soon he'll find a project worthy of his, shall we say, distinctive gifts.

Check out the poster after the jump -- and watch for the foul language, if that kind of thing bothers you.

You know, for a movie that probably isn't the best idea to begin with, a lot of people certainly seem to be lining up to work on it. Just days after rumors swirled that Rob Zombie would be taking over the Conan remake for Millennium/Nu Image, now Doomsday director Neil Marshall has also been added to the list of possible directors for the fantasy update.

Rumors of Marshall's involvement first surfaced over at IGN, where it had also been confirmed by one of their sources that Zombie was in talks with the producers. That same source then threw Marshall's name on the list. Marshall joins John McTiernan, Zombie, and Hitman director Xavier Gens as possible candidates to direct. It has since been confirmed that Zombie will not be taking the reins, and instead is off working on the biker flick Tyrannosaurus Rex. According to IGN, Gens has also been in talks with the producers, but so was Zombie and look how that turned out.

The production has struggled since the beginning; first there were battles over the rights to the franchise, and after a few false starts, Millennium/Nu Image was left standing and they are now the proud new owners of the film. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have been allowed to work on the script during the strike thanks to an agreement between Millennium and the WGA. IGN also reports that Millennium/Nu Image will not be choosing their director until the script has been completed. By then who knows how many more names will have been added to the list. Conan is tentatively scheduled for release in 2009.

[via Comics2Film]

I'll be completely honest with you: I seriously don't know how I feel about this latest rumor. But first, the news: Bloody Disgusting says they have "confirmed 100% that Rob Zombie has been taking meetings with Lionsgate and Nu Image to get behind the director's chair for their upcoming Conan film." And yes, when we say Conan film, we're talking Conan the Barbarian (aka the re-imagining of the film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger wayyy back in the day). Rob Zombie. Conan. Crazy, right? Now keep in mind "taking meetings" doesn't necessarily mean the guy is directing the film. I'm sure a number of folks have "taken meetings" with regards to directing Conan, but Zombie's name is definitely the most bizarre thus far to come out of the Conan camp.

Don't get me wrong, if Lionsgate and Nu Image did bring Zombie onboard, they're almost guaranteed a hit at the box office. There's just something about Zombie and his "f*ck the rules" persona that excites people; gets them all jazzed up. And, from someone who doesn't care all that much about the Conan franchise, I think it would be kinda cool if they tossed in a director who no one in their right mind would ever expect. Bringing on Zombie would pretty much guarantee a "dark as all hell" Conan film; one that would almost certainly contain lots of blood and severed limbs. It could be very cool. I'd be curious to hear from you hardcore Conan fans -- is Zombie the guy you'd like to see behind the camera? If not him, then who?

UPDATE: A Cinematical commenter pointed out that Zombie did take meetings, but turned down the gig because the script was already completed. Instead, he will next direct a biker film called Tyrannosaurus Rex. STYD backs up this statement.