Rob Zombie is a curious figure for us. We’re no fans of his Halloween-all-the-time aesthetics or his music (though at least he doesn’t look like a musty ghoul anymore and actually has hair instead of ashy poo-dreads), but almost any time he opens his cynical and wry mouth, he’s totally on-point and makes us chuckle. His mordant attitude makes us feel like we’d be buddies if we ever met (this is funny too).
Still, we also have a hard time letting go of the fact that he basically promised there was no way in hell he would bother with a “Halloween II,” movie, but uhhh, guess what’s coming out in August 28 via The Weinstein Company?
So there’s that. But conversely, the guy always has superbly curated soundtracks for his so-so films. While most filmmakers are using some Spoon or Sufjan Stevens ditty they think is utterly unique and no one listens to (bubble delusional world), Zombie is marching to the beat of his own odd drum. But it’s not dumb metal he’s tapping as you might assume, but instead it’s a lot of groovy ’70s ‘stache rock (Ted Nugent or Nazareth), Southern swamp rock (Lynyrd Skynyrd), or Outlaw country (Merle Haggard). Basically it’s never the same old shit everyone else is using these days and we appreciate him for doing something different. All the tracks he uses have a lot of tight-jeans, jizz-stained swagger and it’s pretty rad to see/hear. He’s clearly in love with a different era and that’s totally alright by us.
His newest soundtrack for “Halloween II,” which hits on August 25, continues the deep cuts exploration into ’70s rock with tracks by Motorhead, The Moody Blues, Rod Stewart, the MC5 and Foghat. We’ve provided links where applicable.
Tracklist for “Halloween II”
1. NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN – The Moody Blues
2. THE THINGS WE DO FOR LOVE – 10cc
3. AMERAROCKERS – Scream
4. KICK OUT THE JAMS – MC5
5. (I KNOW) I’M LOSING YOU – Rod Stewart
6. THE CHASE IS BETTER THAN THE CATCH – Motorhead
7. LAURIE’S THEME – John Five
8. TRANSYLVANIA TERROR TRAIN – Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures
9. HONKY TONY HALLOWEEN – Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures
10. I JUST WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO YOU – Foghat
11. TIME TO DIE – Void
12. LOVE HURTS – Nan Vernon
13. NURSE KILLA – Tyler Bates
Written and directed by Rob Zombie, “Halloween II” opens on over 2000 screens on August 28 and some are saying, much like Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” the picture might have to be the big hit that TWC desperately needs in order to survive their current cash-crunch situation. This Moody Blues song is a classic you’ve heard, but may not know by name. It’s an ace cut and a tasteful choice. We’d almost pay to see ‘H2’ just to see how a song like this is used in a horror film. That 10CC song could also be used to perhaps deliciously ironic effect.