My distaste for Rob Zombie’s Halloween is… well known. I gave the film a notorious ‘Fuck You Out of 10’ rating, after all. I wanted to like the film – look through old CHUD archives and see me fighting to be excited about it – but the actual movie itself wore me down, as the waves wear down even the mightiest mountain. I fucking hate that movie.

And now Rob Zombie is working on the sequel. Now, I’m hopeful again, because I think Zombie can be a good filmmaker. I actively love The Devil’s Rejects. And I think that while I hate the first 2 acts of Halloween as a Halloween movie, there could have been something interesting to do with that story (hint: not make the third act a sped up remake of the Carpenter movie). I’m hoping that once he got that bad juju out of his system, once he got that bullshitty origin story stuff out of the way, Zombie can make a good Halloween.

And then I see a picture like the one to the right. It’s Tyler Mane, the man playing Michael Myers, on set in Georgia. He’s wearing Myers’ coveralls… and what appears to be pancake make-up and a huge beard. He looks like a Hell’s Angels mechanic. What the fuck is this nonsense?

Apparently the film begins right after the first one (as evidenced by pics of Laurie Strode in a hospital, all bloodied. And by Ryan Rotten, from Shock Til You Drop) but jumps ahead some time. Whatever amount of time it takes Mike to grow that ludicrous beard. Maybe he’s in a coma after being shot in the face a bunch of times?

I really would like to stay positive about this film. I would like this film to be a good one. But this image… this image frightens me.

See more pics – including the cover to Dr. Loomis’ latest book about Michael Myers! – at Shock Til You Drop.