Irony alert!
Horrormovies.ca led me, through various channels, to an interview Zombie did in 2002 with Icons of Fright, when he was promoting HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES.
Here’s what Zombie said in reaction to be asked what he thought of remaking TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE:
“I feel it’s the worst thing any filmmaker can do. I actually got a call from my agent and they asked me if I wanted to be involved in a remake of CHAINSAW. I said no fucking way! Those movies are perfect — you’re only going to make yourself look like an asshole by remaking them. Go remake something that’s a piece of shit and make it good. Like with my movie I have elements of CHAINSAW in it because I love that movie so much, but I wouldn’t dare want to “remake” it. It’s like a band trying to be another band.”
It gets better – or more depressing, if you like: Movies Online re: being asked to do HALLOWEEN by the Weinsteins:
“I knew it was a great opportunity but I didn’t really know exactly how it was a great opportunity. That’s when I went home and thought about it and realized that the only way I wanted to do it is if it was essentially a remake because I wasn’t going to do a Halloween 9. That would be silly. And a prequel I didn’t know if that would be something I’d really want to do either. And that’s when I thought a remake but with an hour’s worth of back story that we’d never seen before and then I started percolating on that for a while and I got an idea and went back and pitched in my head. Wayne Toth, the effects guy, we made these maquettes – one of young Michael and one of sanitarium Michael and a classic Michael and that’s where I thought it could be really something different – to create a different Michael, kind of like the Michael that escapes with the orange mask and try to bring my own stamp to this so it wasn’t just going through the same beats that already exist.”
What is especially ironic about that last part is, of course, that there is NOTHING different about the Michael who escapes the sanitarium. From where I was sitting (I was the guy leaning his sleepy-looking face into his balled-up fist), the Michael in the 2nd half of the movie has nothing to do with the Michael in the 1st half and everything to do with the Michael in John Carpenter’s film. And, of course, the beats ARE the same, just in fast-forward. (If you don’t count Zombie’s icky insistence on making the murders painful and not entertaining in the least.)
It’s only been out for a few days (little over a week if you count the leaked version) and I’m already sick of talking about this rancid movie, but I figured I’d throw this (last?) log onto the fire and spark up some more shit. All I know is Rob Zombie and Bob Weinstein are lighting cigars with $1000 bills right now, and in all probability, don’t give a f*ck what any of us think.