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Halloween 2007 Actor Says Rob Zombie Was A Pleasure To Work With

One decent rule about celebrities is that their public persona is often at odds with how they really are. For example, cuddly, wholesome and family-friendly types usually turn out to have a sinister and manipulative side (*cough* Bill Cosby), while people with a scary and evil image are usually incredibly nice. Musician and director Rob Zombie is very much the latter.

Rob zombie Halloween

One decent rule about celebrities is that their public persona is often at odds with how they really are. For example, cuddly, wholesome and family-friendly types can turn out to have a sinister and manipulative side (*cough* Bill Cosby), while people with a scary and evil image are usually incredibly nice. Musician and director Rob Zombie is very much the latter.

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The House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell director was recently praised by actor Kristina Klebe, who worked with him on the 2007 remake of Halloween. In an interview with HalloweenMovies.com, she shared two very touching experiences from the set, claiming that despite Zombie appearing intimidating, he’s a very easygoing director who pays attention to his cast:

“Rob was always so great and easy to work with. He was very direct, and he was great at giving directions, was full of praise for his cast, and sometimes encouraged improvisation. There’s a scene in the director’s cut of Halloween, where the girls are walking and I’m talking about conjugating some French with a French teacher, which I had made up, and Rob said, ‘Hey, you speak a couple of languages, right? Do something like that.’ I was like, ‘Oh my god, OK!’ Rob can pick out your strengths and he knows how to play to them.”

During the interview, Klebe also touched on the Halloween remake’s brutality. She explained that her death scene at the hands of Michael was difficult to shoot, but that Tyler Mane (the stuntman under the mask) was “gentle and careful, and I could not have asked for a more respectful man to have done that scene with.” That extends to Zombie himself, who it seems will not put up with anyone being mean to his cast:

“While filming Halloween, I was also shooting the (2008) romantic comedy ‘The Accidental Husband’ in New York and they needed a pick up shot, so I had to fly back to the east coast to do it, and then get right back on a red eye flight in order to return to the Halloween set in LA, in order to shoot the scene in the library where the girls are talking. I guess I was a little tired and I had a blemish on my chin or something, and someone on the crew, and I won’t say who, mentioned it in front of people. Like, ‘Oh, Kristina, you have something on your chin, and you should cover that up.’

People could have said anything, and I wouldn’t have cared. I was just so tired and was only focused on the scene, but I guess Rob became so angry with that person over their comment that he yelled at them, and later came to my trailer to apologize personally for that person’s statement. It was such a weird moment, and I thought, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that Rob even noticed that, and that he went out of his way to apologize.’ It was meaningful. He really cares for his actors.”

Opinions are split on whether Rob Zombie got it right with his two Halloween movies. I’ve only seen them once, very late at night, while quite drunk. Under those conditions, they were entertaining enough, though perhaps revisiting them sober would be a mistake.

But the Halloween franchise is in rude health at the moment. The 2018 pic breathed new life into Michael Myers and will soon be followed by Halloween Kills and (in 2021) Halloween Ends. The former is due for release this October, and doesn’t seem to have been affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns. Everything we’ve heard indicates an “ultra-violent” movie, and we’ll apparently get a trailer for it very soon. I, for one, can’t wait.