April 20, 2009

When ICONS Tim Sullivan spoke to Rob Zombie several months back, right after it’d been announced that he was writing & directing the next HALLOWEEN movie, the filmmaker admitted, “The first one is really Michael’s movie. This movie is really going to be Laurie’s movie.” With the knowledge that Rob intended to fully explore the affects of the first film’s carnage on Laurie Strode’s fragile psyche for the sequel, we asked returning actress Scout Taylor-Compton her initial thoughts to this totally different version of Laurie Strode.

“The first time I heard about HALLOWEEN 2, I heard that 2 French director’s (INSIDE helmers Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury) were doing it, and I was kind of hesitant about doing it. Then, actually Rob emailed me and said “Hey I’m doing this film, but don’t tell anybody yet.” I hadn’t read the script until a day before I was leaving. All he said to me was ‘Be ready to kick ass.’ So I had no idea what this script was about or anything until I read it on the plane. So I had no idea what Laurie was going to go through or anything. And then I found out on the plane and I thought, ‘Holy shit, this movie is about me.’ Well, I guess I’ve got to be prepared!”

We asked Scout how she went about preparing herself to play a character that’s going to go through some intense post-trauma. “Just by reading the script and by talking to Rob, and talking about what he wanted, it’s just really intensive what she’s gone through. She’s happy one moment, then she’s yelling at the people that she loves and then she’s crying. She’s going through these big bi-polar moments. I mean, that’s the only way I can explain it. He definitely wanted to see my character go into this really dark place. And just by little pieces here and there.”

Where do we find Laurie Strode in the beginning of H2? “I know all my friends are dead and now my parents are dead, and then it’s 2 years later,” explains Compton. “And here’s this run down Laurie Strode and she just learns these things, and it’s just more and more and more adding to her, she doesn’t know how to deal with it. But yeah, you find all that stuff out in the movie (with her), which is a great element. There’s a lot of stuff that people can guess how she transformed into this new character.”

Going through such an emotionally draining character arc has gotten Compton to pull things out in her performance even she didn’t anticipate. “I did this scene with Margot Kidder, and we had to do both of her scenes in one day. The first scene is just me with the psychiatrist; I’m just expressing my feelings. I had just told Danielle Harris how ‘I hate expressing my feelings. I hate this, I hate that I have to talk about everything. Why can’t all this shit just go away?’ And then here I am sitting in this and I kind of develop this friendship with my psychiatrist, but then I just freak out and go ape shit on her. I just yell at her and scream at her and it was just so powering. Rob just looked at me and was like, ‘Oh my God. I didn’t know that you had that in you.’ There’s a lot of things that I didn’t know I had in me and that I’ve discovered while filming this movie. It’s great. It’s great to discover now. (Laughs) Before I get older and I don’t know if I can do it.”

Michael Myers goes through a few incarnations during the course of the film. We asked Compton her thoughts on the maskless Myers from the middle portion of the movie. “They filmed with Tyler before me, and I just heard things about a jacket and something going over him. It freaks me out a lot more then just a suit and a mask. It’s him trying to hide himself!” But don’t fret fans, he wears the mask as well, and the final incarnation that we got a sneak peek at is rather impressive. Scout agrees, “The mask, I hadn’t necessarily seen it until 2 weeks into shooting and it was quite shocking, but I think it’s more scarier then what he wears in the first one.”

Zombie’s always really good at keeping us eager fans at bay by dishing out some teaser images via his official My Space blog. Recently, he posted a picture of Laurie Strode with the quote, ‘She is ready to kick your fucking ass and Michael Myers too!’ As with everything HALLOWEEN related, reactions were varied. “Ya know, actually, I took that picture,” confesses Compton. “Those are my boots and people were commenting that my boots are ‘white trash’ and I’m like ‘Hey, those are my boots!’ (Laughs) ‘Those are MY boots!’ The first time that we were trying on wardrobe, the wardrobe people got it totally wrong, and Rob came into the session ‘What the fuck is all this? She’s run down. Her family’s been murdered. She’s messed up, make her look grundgy.’ So we did and it totally kicks ass because I’m taking all the cloths home with me! (Laughs)”

Despite having taken part in movies with her infamous adversary, Compton has an interesting confession to make about Michael Myers. “I used to be scared of Michael Myers because my uncle used to put on the mask all the time and he used to creep me out. And I hated that mask so much. And by filming the first HALLOWEEN, it kind of freaked me out the first time. But now I’m kind of used to it because I’m used to Tyler. He’s like my dad now, so it’s not really scary. When I was younger, I was scared of that mask.”

The first HALLOWEEN was shot in various locations across Pasadena, California where most of the original John Carpenter film was shot. But for H2, the production set up in Georgia. We asked Compton the difference in location between the 2 films. “It’s colder! (Laughs) It’s really cold. But it’s great. Plus the people are a lot nicer. Especially when we’re filming in their area, they’re really excited. In LA, they’re like ‘get the fuck off my lawn’ or ‘get the hell away from my house’. But they’re actually really excited here, which makes it a lot easier for us, because then we can talk to the fans and say ‘Hey, can we use your house?’ (Laughs) It’s great. I love Georgia.”

-Robg.

CHECK BACK EVERY DAY THIS WEEK FOR A NEW REPORT FROM THE SET OF H2: HALLOWEEN 2!

Rob Zombie returns to write and direct HALLOWEEN 2, which stars Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif, Sherri Moon Zombie, Danielle Harris, Brea Grant, Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Margot Kidder, Daniel Roebuck, Chase Wright Vanek, Dayton Callie, Richard Brake, Matt Bush, Howard Hesseman, Bill Fagerbakke, Ezra Buzzington, Jeff Daniel Phillips & Mark Christopher Lawrence. H2 hits theaters this August 28th!