Premiering on DVD this fall
Love him or loathe him there’s really no one else in Hollywood doing what pop cult icon Rob Zombie does. Like Quentin Tarantino’s hillbilly honed, Fangoria weaned, stumbly little brother, Zombie has made a cottage industry out of plundering B movie schlock while whipping it all up into a campy, fetishized, industrial rock and roll fingerprint, spurting blood over a strippers breasts while pounding power chords and cackling like Colonel Saunders on a weekend mescaline laced gravy bender.
When it comes to his cinematic output, he’s a controversial figure and if you hated his first stab at celluloid (House of 1000 Corpses), or threw your hands up at his somewhat celebrated second feature (The Devils Rejects) or even howled in outrage at his franchise riding third (Halloween), then you certainly weren’t alone. Reactions regarding his upcoming Halloween 2 are pending, but will no doubt be polarized.
However, if you otherwise cite yourself as a fan of zombie’s stylized trash terror aesthetic, you might find something to swoon about in The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (coming to DVD and Blu-Ray September 22 courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment). Based on his self penned, same named comic book, the long awaited animated shocker is pure, unfiltered Zombie junk food lunacy, filled with sex and violence that would make Bakshi blush, enough pummeling metal to keep the long hairs happy and a rogues gallery of outrageous characters voiced by an eccentric cast whose ranks include Rosario Dawson, Sheri Moon Zombie and Paul Giammati.
I caught up with the former Mr. Bob Cummings recently and picked his fevered brain a bit about his upcoming carnal cartoon that certainly aint for the kiddies and a few other titles that may or may not come to fruition…
Chris Alexander: So, finally, after three years, we get to see this thing…
Rob Zombie: F**k, yeah, I know. Unbelievable. It’s been a long haul.
Alexander: What was the hold up?
Zombie: There was so much crazy behind the scenes stuff with El Superbeasto that no one knows about. So much shit. I mean, the movie had been completely finished forever and just sat there. The big problem was that the company that started the film with me changed hands, like 4 or 5 times and so everyone who was there from the genesis with me were long, long gone.
Alexander: And so, the successive powers that be didn’t like it?
Zombie: No, it wasn’t that, really. I think what it boils down to is that it’s just such a weird movie and it’s just dripping with sex and violence and really, it’s unlike anything anyone has ever seen so that you really needed the people who were there at the beginning, who believed in it, to usher it through.
Alexander: But you’re happy with the final film?
Zombie: Oh yeah, I love it, it looks beautiful. The politics behind it were frustrating, but actually making the movie was great. And because of that corporate change over, nobody with money was really paying attention to us. The movie started at one budget and as things got more complicated with them, we just kept spending and spending and going over that budget. And the quality we ended up with was beyond my wildest dreams and was worth every penny.
Alexander: You’ve mentioned that part of the reason you agreed to do Halloween 2 was that, this time, it was 100% your vision. Does the same apply to El Superbeasto? Is this movie pure Rob Zombie?
Zombie: Totally. This is my movie all the way.
Alexander: Does it bother you that the film is going direct to DVD?
Zombie: Well, maybe a little bit. But really, I’m just happy that people are finally going to get a chance to see the thing. I feel like it’s in good hands.
Alexander: Once again, you’ve assembled a dream cast of diverse actors here, people that have no right sharing space in the same film…
Zombie: Well, I really like casting people against type. That’s why I have Clint Howard in there as a monster, because he such a squeaky little voice, it’s hilarious. And Paul Giamatti is just great as Dr. Satan. In fact, it was because Paul came on board early that other people ended up caring about getting involved it the project at all. But yeah, I like working with these kind of actors. In Halloween 2 I got Margot Kidder and a lot of people were nervous about her, because of some of the troubles she’s had, but she was totally cool. A lot of these actors from the ’70s are great, they have this loose vibe, they’re not corporate at all.
Alexander: What’s the last great horror film you saw? That really rocked your world?
Zombie: Believe it or not, watching horror movies is one of the least things I do these daysâ¦I don’t run out to see anything at the theatre, ever. I did however, really like Let the Right One In, didn’t blow my mind or anything but it was a beautiful looking film.
Alexander: And what’s up with Tyrannosaurus Rex?
Zombie: That was a cat out of the bag scenario. It’s not even a project that really exists. What it was is that after Halloween, I was talking about the next project with The Weinstein’s and they set a date for an “Untitled Rob Zombie Movie.” But then, I mentioned an idea I had for something called Tyrannosaurus Rex and they went and announced it, with no script, no nothing. Just know that if I do make it, it’s not a dinosaur movie but an incredibly violent action movie…sort of.
Alexander: And finally, I talked to Nicolas Cage recently about his turn in Grindhouse as Fu Manchu in your Werewolf Women of the SS trailer. He said he’d love to do something with that character.
Zombie: That’s funny. You know, Nic and I went out for dinner to talk about that and I wanted him to play a Nazi doctor in the trailer. He was uncomfortable with playing a Nazi and I got that, I understood. So I just kind of blurted out “How about Fu Manchu?!” We laughed and he said that it sounded funny and he agreed to do it on the spot. Man, I would love to make a Werewolf Women feature. Maybe someday.
Source: Chris Alexander
