It’s been a big week on the Halloween 2 front, as a bunch of writers and editors made it to the set of Rob Zombie’s sequel. Ryan Rotten checked in to Shock Till You Drop with a few updates, and AMC has a video interview that clarifies a couple of details about the movie.

First up: the title. Zombie isn’t keen on H2, according to the AMC clip. He’d prefer Halloween: The Devil Walks Among Us, based on the title of the book Dr. Loomis (Malcolm McDowell) is flogging within the movie, but he says “nobody can make up their mind” when it comes to the title. He says H2 was just meant as a teaser.

There’s also the question of how much this movie relates to the previous films. “This has nothing to do with anything,” says Zombie. “This is all 100% new. We’re not relating to anything that’s come before.” Zombie also says the film is about Laurie and Michael equally, and that Myers is even more a human character in this movie than last time. “Just having some anonymous guy running around in a white mask is pretty tired, so this is really about Laurie and Michael…and seeing how they’re connected.”

Ryan Rotten has more details on the mask. Specifically, that we won’t see much of it. That bearded mountain man look we saw Mike sport in one photo recently will be his look for about 70% of the film. In the two years between the end of the last movie and this one’s first scenes, Michael has lived in the wild. Appropriately, he wasn’t hiding behind a rubber mask for most of that time.

Not that there won’t be a mask at all. “There are a couple different versions of the mask,” says makeup designer Wayne Toth, “but none of them
are the same mask from the first film. He wanted to take them a step
further, even though one of them is basically supposed to be the last
mask.”

While the bearded Myers is freaking Devin out, I dig it. I like that Zombie is going way off the book for this one. Because he can make good movies, but Halloween felt like he was trying to shoehorn all his own sensibilities into a story not fit for them. If he’s just gone entirely in his own direction for this one, I’m ready to see it. There’s a lot of room to mythologize America’s rural weirdos and psychopaths through Michael Myers; I don’t need to see the same slasher  movie made again.

Does it have to be a Halloween movie, then? No, but Season of the Witch has already proven that a genre series can be co-opted by different ideas and remain entertaining. Maybe this one will even look like an evolution when it’s said and done.

UPDATE: Shooting wrapped last night, and Dimension has sent out the first official photo of Michael Myers, accompanied by a statement. “Well, after 35 days of
snow, freezing rain, fire ants, mud and blood we are done! The cast and
crew kick ass beyond ass to bring you the most demented Halloween ever!
In less than five months Michael will be back in your face! And
speaking of face… here is your first glimpse of one of the many faces
Michael 2009.” [via STYD]