The Gauntlet: How is everything in your world?

Rob Zombie: Everything is awesome.


The Gauntlet: You just re-released the Halloween DVD last week as a 3-disc edition, what was added since the release of the 2-disc version last year.

Rob Zombie: This DVD is basically the unrated cut which is the same unrated cut that came out last year. The second disc is the extra scenes and stuff which also came out last year. The third disc is what is new and that has the full documentary. It is a four and a half hour making of Halloween documentary. We couldn’t get it done in time last year. The deadlines were so tight. We finished the theatrical version and tried to get it done in time but just never succeeded. That is why it took so long to come out. The scheduling was so tight. The post scheduling was so short. From the release of the movie in theaters to the time it came out on DVD, there was just no time. The way things work now, you start preparing the DVD practically the day after you finish the movie. For a four and a half hour documentary, we had to go through 200 hours of footage.


The Gauntlet: How were the Scream awards?

Rob Zombie: They were great. It was a very cool event. Every year it gets bigger and better. It is like the new MTV awards. I was shocked by how many big names are showing up at it now. This is the third year. The first year was very small, it was very cool and a great event but it was much smaller. The people there the first year were very genre people who you’d expect to be there. By the second year, the cast of Star Trek and Harrison Ford showed up. This year, Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman were there along with George Lucas and Tim Burton. It is becoming very mainstream. These movies are now becoming the mainstream. They are the blockbusters that keep studios sales figures out of the toilet each year.


The Gauntlet: Exactly. It is such a huge genre and money maker yet still dismissed by critics and the big award shows.

Rob Zombie: Well that is always going to be the case. There are certain types of things that never ever get any actual respect. The horror genre is one. Sometimes they do like The Shining or Silence of the Lambs, but you need a big and well respected director. For the most part it is seen as in the gutter. Until recently though, super hero movies were the same way. Now they just load them up with A-list talent and basically buy that respect. It is the same with the Grammy’s. They will present on TV the best instrumental polka album that sold two copies but they will give the best heavy metal award off camera even though it sold millions of copies.


The Gauntlet: You have a decent cast for your upcoming animated movie ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto.’ Do you think it might be noticed because of names like Paul Giamatti?

Rob Zombie: I think that in general, everything I do is sort of against the mainstream ideals of things. I don’t do it on purpose though. Even with a mainstream talent like Paul Giamatti, the content is so out there. I don’t know what to think. It can be a tiny cult film or explode into a huge film.


The Gauntlet: It will need a favorable MPAA rating though.

Rob: That is going to be the biggest cluster fuck of all. No one has ever put a movie like this in front of the ratings board so they won’t know what to think. This cartoon is really out there. They have never had to rate something like this. They will be quite shocked. Hopefully because it is a cartoon, they will go easy. The ratings board is the biggest wildcard ever. Sometimes the things you think they are going to object to, they don’t say a word about. Then other times things that don’t even cross your mind they totally freak out about. I don’t even think about it anymore because trying to predict what they will say is impossible.


The Gauntlet: You also have all those parental groups that try to get in the news.

Rob: I don’t give a shit about that. All I care about is the rating. The movie is for adults, if your kid is fucking watching it, it’s your fucking problem.


The Gauntlet: This might be the first time in a while that metal music and violent films aren’t being used as a scapegoat in an election year.

Rob Zombie: Yeah. I don’t know if they have really been used during a campaign. It is below the radar. Maybe early on in the primaries they get up on a high horse and start grandstanding about a violent movie. It was really big after Columbine to start screaming about music, violent movies and violent videos games. That Joe Lieberman fucking douche bag was leading that charge.


The Gauntlet: How far is the movie from completion?

Rob: By this time next week I hope to be done. All I am doing now is mixing the sound. Once that is done, the movie will be 100% done. I don’t have a release date yet but it will be early next year.


The Gauntlet: Very good. You also have the White Zombie box set coming out in November.

Rob: Yeah, that is done. It comes out November 25th. It has been a project in the making for quite some time now.


The Gauntlet: I have been waiting for the White Zombie box and Chinese Democracy for ages, now they are out the same week.

Rob: We shall see about Chinese Democracy. That one was a longer wait.


The Gauntlet: While compiling the tracks for the box set, were there any nostalgic moments?

Rob Zombie: Not in a good way. That is what took me so long putting it together; I just didn’t feel like doing it. It was just for the fans so they can finally have all these songs that they were saying they could never get. It was nothing about getting the band back together as that is never going to happen.


The Gauntlet: Any plans for Halloween?

Rob: Not right now, it is something that just sneaks up on me every year. Most of the time I am not home, I am usually busy.



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Tags:    , Rob Zombie, interviews

Jason Fisher    October 23, 2008