ROB ZOMBIE's 'Halloween' Remake Protested

Despite previous reports of delays, shooting on Rob Zombie's upcoming remake of the 1978 horror classic "Halloween" has quietly begun — as the outcry over the writer/director's vision of Michael Myers' saga grows more heated.

According to Ryan Rotten of Fangoria.com, Zombie began on Wednesday (January 24) with "some soundstage work deep in the heart of Hollywood. And reports are coming in that devoted fans of the franchise savvy enough to know the location of the 'Halloween' production offices are expressing their disdain over Zombie's re-imagining. Usually, the genre's greatest detractors who publicly voice their judgment come in the guise of religious zealots or parenting groups; however, Thursday morning (Jan. 25),picketers on Sunset Boulevard wielded signs of protest that proclaimed Zombie was 'raping' a classic, along with various other phrases that cried for a halt to the production. They've since disappeared — whether calling it a day or ushered away by security is unknown."

Rumors spread across the web last week that Rob Zombie was going to rewrite the script for his remake of "Halloween" after a negative review of a leaked draft of the screenplay surfaced on movie news site Ain't It Cool News. Just days after that review appeared, Fangoria.com published an opposing piece praising the script.

The Ain't It Cool reviewer was disappointed in Zombie's attempt to flesh out and add a human dimension to the character of serial killer Michael Myers, who is released from an asylum years after slaughtering his sister and begins a new killing spree. Zombie himself told Launch earlier this year that he wanted to further explore the masked murderer's motivations. "The biggest difference is I wanna make Michael Myers two things," he said. "I wanna make him a lead character who you sort of know about, 'cause I think that's what it'll take to make that character then again truly terrifying. So in order, in my mind, to pump the life back into him, to make that figure terrifying when he appears onscreen, is you need to know what is happening in his brain."

Zombie posted an apparent response to the Aint It Cool review at the "Halloween" MySpace page, writing in part, "I notice that so many people get crazy when someone you don't even know posts an opinion about what they think "Halloween" will or won't be. This is crazy."

Zombie's version of the 1978 horror classic is his third feature film as a director after 2003's "House of 1000 Corpses" and 2005's "The Devil's Rejects".

Zombie is also working on a boxed set for his previous band, WHITE ZOMBIE, as well as a solo live album.