The Uncomplaining Zombie
July 16, 2015 4:48 AM   Subscribe

If you heard that Robert Bartleh Cummings was attached to direct a biopic of Groucho Marx's last years from a screenplay by the writer of I'm Not There and Love & Mercy, you might shrug. But what if you knew that Cummings changed his last name back in the '90s to match his stage name: Rob Zombie?

Steven Hyden of Grantland talks to "the perpetually busy multi-hyphenate — writer, director, rocker, pop culture philosopher" about the lessons learned from making House of 1000 Zombies and the Halloween reboot, and how he'll apply them to Raised Eyebrows, which should start once he's finished "his 'innocents tortured by homicidal clowns' opus", the crowdfunded 31.
posted by Etrigan (20 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Interesting! I didn't bother with Rob Zombie movies after 1000 Corpses, but I guess my judgment was premature.
posted by Enemy of Joy at 5:09 AM on July 16, 2015


House of 1000 Corpses was jam packed with goodness. devil's rejects was super fun too. Halloween? Eh, I never liked the originals (what a boring villain).

The firefly family from 1000 corpses/Devils rejects were all named after Marx bros characters from I think Duck Soup?
posted by ian1977 at 5:13 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


Halloween? Eh, I never liked the originals (what a boring villain).

Reading this made my heart hurt. I love Michael Myers, and I love Michael Myers in large part because he's "boring." What makes him frightening in the first film is his lack of characterization. My problem with Rob Zombie's Halloween is that it ruthlessly removes any ambiguity and mystery the character had, making him into somebody we know, which is always less unsettling than somebody--or something--we don't.
posted by lunch at 5:29 AM on July 16, 2015 [6 favorites]


Halloween? Eh, I never liked the originals (what a boring villain).

The original Halloween is not only one of the best horror films ever made, it's one the best films ever made period.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:51 AM on July 16, 2015 [6 favorites]


Seen The Devil's Rejects and bits of his Halloween and Halloween 2 and they show Zombie to be a competent film maker but nothing special... however The Lords of Salem was really interesting despite it's lack of coherent plot. So may be with a decent screenwriter he could do something special.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:00 AM on July 16, 2015


Love Zombie, love this.

Zombie's surprisingly insane H2 made up for the "meh" first remake. Liked H1000C, loved The Devil's Rejects, loved his Grindhouse trailer.
posted by Sticherbeast at 6:05 AM on July 16, 2015


If this is about a quipping, LSD-tripping Skidoo-era Groucho Marx who turns homicidal, I'm there!
posted by eschatfische at 7:40 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


Rob Zombie used to live nearby.

A couple of years ago, I was at Walmart (it's all we have in our corner of the world) a few days after Hallowe'en -- and Hallowe'en stuff was now 75 percent off. I walked through the seasonal section just to see what was what, and there was a Goth-y couple with a shopping cart just going through everything. Costumes, decorations...they were really digging into the mess, studying everything carefully. And they were doing it with such a level of gravitas that I thought "Okay, not going to get in their way...." and went off in search of Advil or lip balm or whatever the hell else I was there for.

About 45 minutes later, I'm behind them in line. They have a full cart. Total: $85, at 75 percent off.

The cashier and I watched them wheel it out of the store. It was only when he said "You know who that was, right?" that I knew for sure.
posted by gnomeloaf at 7:51 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]


Rob Zombie should have a Halloween City popup store in his garage every year. They could just let him pick through the leftovers at the end, and everyone comes out ahead.
posted by Etrigan at 7:57 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]


The firefly family from 1000 corpses/Devils rejects were all named after Marx bros characters from I think Duck Soup?
They were named for various Groucho characters from several Marx Brothers movies, IIRC. Rufus T Firefly was in there, as was Captain Spaulding (from Animal Crackers) and Otis B Driftwood (from A Night At the Opera.) There's also a Ravelli and The Professor, Chico and Harpo's names from Animal Crackers. Surprisingly, the most horror movie-friendly Groucho names (Hugo Z Hackenbush, Mr. Hammer) do not appear.
posted by cottoncandybeard at 8:01 AM on July 16, 2015


I have always liked Rob Zombie, mostly because he knows who he is, what he wants to create so damn hard.
posted by Kitteh at 8:06 AM on July 16, 2015


The Devil's Rejects is a motherfucking masterpiece. And if you've seen the film, you see what I did there. However, my platinum standard for what movies should feel like is almost entirely rooted in 70's cinema, so YMMV.

I like The Devil's Rejects a lot more than House of 1,000 Corpses, it's soooo '70s and I love it.
posted by MikeMc at 8:54 AM on July 16, 2015


So which Marx brother is Sheri Moon Zombie playing?
posted by cazoo at 9:15 AM on July 16, 2015


Well, Groucho's last days were pretty grim.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:22 AM on July 16, 2015




I really disliked House of 1000 Corpses, but The Devil's Rejects is just great. As a fan of the original Halloween I've been hesitant to see his remake(s).

Halloween? Eh, I never liked the originals (what a boring villain).

Michael Meyers ("The Shape") isn't so much a villain in the original film as he is an unstoppable force of nature, and that's what makes him work as well as he does, in my view. I'm not a big fan of the sequels, FWIW, although slasher sequels have never been my thing.
posted by brundlefly at 12:10 PM on July 16, 2015


This is where I point out that I was once on a 'writing team' (making 'radio bits' for national distribution) with the guy who wrote the original book this movie will be based on and here he explains how he ended up working with Rob Zombie. It MUST be noted that he NEVER mentioned to me or anyone else I knew on the radio project about having worked for Groucho, so when I first saw his name on the book I was gobsmacked. (I think he avoided it just to insure it wouldn't be the ONLY thing anybody talked to him about). But then, I was also surprised to learn he had written an episode of "Murder She Wrote" (now THAT I understand him not bragging about). Steve Stolier is on my short list of 'people I wish I'd kept up with in years since', a nice guy, and did voices as well as writing for the radio bits (his Don Knotts impression was memorably hilarious - we knew we could write ANYTHING for that and it'd get a laugh). But I can say I'm "two degrees of separation" from Groucho Marx ... and now, Rob Zombie.

further personal anecdote: that writing gig gave me another 'celebrity connection' because I was hired on to replace a comedy writer who left to go work for his wife - Roseanne Barr. And the producers later told me I WAS funnier than Tom Arnold, a piece of faint praise I will cherish forever.
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:40 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]


White Zombie played in my garage...
posted by judson at 1:01 PM on July 16, 2015


So which Marx brother is Sheri Moon Zombie playing?

Harpo, obv
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:53 PM on July 16, 2015


I've read a handful of Marx biographies, but I've been avoiding Raised Eyebrows because I was afraid it might be too sad. Maybe I should give it a go.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:01 PM on July 16, 2015


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