ROB ZOMBIE Answers The Question: Why 'Halloween'?

Rob Zombie has posted the following message on the MySpace page dedicated to latest film, an adaptation of the horror classic "Halloween":

"Well, this past weekend at Fangoria [Fangoria's Weekend Of Horrors convention in Burbank, California] I got asked the question, 'Why 'Halloween'?' I answered the question, but I really didn't go into any real depth. So I thought I would give you a little more info on why I followed up 'The Devils's Rejects' with 'Halloween'.

"After 'Rejects' I really didn't know what was next. I had been briefly attached to several projects but nothing seemed right. 'Rejects' was a movie very close to my heart and I didn't want to just jump on the next project in haste.

"So, anyway, one day I get a call from Bob Weinstein's office saying Bob would like to have a meeting. I figured, 'Okay, sure whatever. Another meeting.' I figured it would lead to nothing, as most of these things do.

"So Bob throws out the idea of 'Halloween' at me. Now I've always been a huge fan of the original, but not so much the sequels and I figure that Bob means another sequel. Well, this doesn't interest me at all. In fact none of this really interested me. I figured Michael Myers had run his course and his best days were far, far behind him.

"So, I left the meeting figuring I'd call back later and tell them I wasn't interested. Then I started to retink the whole thing. I mean, Michael Myers is a great character, a horror icon, much like Frankenstein and Dracula. How could I pass this up? But a sequel? A prequel? A crazy Freddy vs. Jason thing? No way. I had to start fresh and breath new like into Michael's old bones. I thought the only way to do this is to start over. I hate to use this word but a re-imagining was the only way to go. In the past I've hated the idea of this, but then I thought what a close minded way to think. I was basing my thoughts on remakes I hated, not the ones I loved — 'The Thing', 'Scarface', 'Cape Fear', 'The Fly' and on and on.

"And so began Michael's journey back. Only this time Michael is the star. It's all about Michael and his life.

"Many have feared that by explaining him, that you make him less scary. First of all I don't think Michael could get less scary than the way he's been treated in the last bunch of films. Seriously, do you? Besides I don't explain it. We get great insight into Michael's life, but nothing explains why he is pure evil. Nothing could. As you will see Dr. Loomis wasted most of his life trying to figure this out and he couldn't. To quote the doctor himself, 'The darkest souls are not those which exsist within the hell of the abyss, but those which break free of the abyss and move silently among us.'

"I think Tyler Mane has done an absolutely incredible job as Michael. He will proudly stand side by side with the originals. He is not here to replace them, but to join them. Who's a better Dracula? Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee? Who knows? Who cares? All I can say is thank God we got them both."

Rob Zombie's upcoming remake of the 1978 horror classic "Halloween", which stars Malcolm McDowell of "A Clockwork Orange" as Dr. Loomis and "X-Men" mutant Tyler Mane as the adult version of Myers, opens on August 31.

The first trailer for the film hit Yahoo! Movies last month.

Zombie's previous films were 2003's "House of 1000 Corpses" and 2005's "The Devil's Rejects".

Meanwhile, Zombie's first-ever live album is scheduled for release in August. The CD was recorded at several shows on last year's "Educated Horses" tour and will include a 36-page deluxe booklet of never-before-seen live pictures plus a DVD.