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If Zombie reimagines Halloween, it's not like it will be in the hands of some suit who doesn't have any interest in or respect for the genre. Rob Zombie is as big a horror fanatic as most anyone on this forum, and is an interesting director who will be smart enough to show the necessary restraint to get into the spirit of Halloween. Halloween is a subtle slasher flick and I think Zombie can tell that's part of the appeal. He was able to carnivalize the atmosphere of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eaten Alive and other slasher classics, adding a sense of fun and a metafictional edge that a lot of movies don't have. He knows why we go to horror movies and it stands to reason, knows why people love Halloween. I think we should let him prove how much passion he has for the horror genre, if he hasn't already. And in regard to Lion's Gate, they've come up with a lot of hip, original horror, but Lion's Gate horror is still something of a gamble. Lion's Gate is pretty much run by a big rubber stamp. It's good to give struggling filmmakers opportunities, but I think they still need work when it comes to separating the wheat from the chaff. That said, I think back to a quote from some writer (I can't remember who) who was asked if he was disappointed that Hollywood ruined his books. In response he said, "They didn't. They're still right there on the shelves." The source material doesn't change when a remake gets made, nor does the attitude about the original. If Zombie does fail, there will be no end of nostalgia for the original. So, we need not worry about losing Carpenter's classic, or about it disappearing from American culture. Remakes are often offensive and stupid and a shame to the original, but the old material won't get any better or worse. I'm more worried about the Wicker Man remake, since the Wicker Man is a movie that not everybody in America has seen. In this case, curiosity over the original might not be excited.
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