The Devil's Rejects & Halloween II (with Nick Laskin & Lindsay Theirl)

Rotten Rewind

Our five week descent into the grotesque madness of Vulgar Horror comes to an end today on the podcast. For our special Halloween send-off, we're finally diving into the 100% rotten career of musician, filmmaker and certified Wife Guy, Rob Zombie. Over the last 20 years, Zombie has amassed one of the most singular horror filmographies in the canon. Critics have almost unanimously given his work the cold shoulder, dubbing his specific brand of the genre as "Hixploitation." Today on the podcast, we're unpacking two Zombie sequels that, for better or worse, best represent the spirit of Zombie's style.

First up, it's his 2005 love letter to 70's horror and lovers on the run thrillers, "The Devil's Rejects" starring his beloved wife Sheri Moon-Zombie, Bill Moseley and the late, great Sig Haig as the unforgettable Captain Spaulding. After that, we're heading to the late aughts for Zombie's notoriously divisive sequel "Halloween II" featuring Scout Taylor-Compton as Laurie Strode and Malcolm McDowell playing the famous Dr. Loomis as a grifting scumbag.
Zombie loyalists Nick Laskin and Lindsay Theirl join us to discuss their unabashed love for Zombie and how hard it can be defending the cult filmmaker in an age of "elevated horror." Why is Zombie so alienating for even the most die-hard of horror fans? Why are horror fans becoming Marvel-esque gatekeepers with 40 year old franchises? Are audiences turned off by genre entries that reckon with our enjoyment of watching innocent people murdered before our eyes? Is "Halloween II" the "Fire Walk with Me" of the franchise? There's only one place to find out.

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