I've never been a big fan of just gore... 
Rob Zombie has left horror fans thrilled and revolted in equal measure with such ultraviolent films as House Of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. Now, he's picked up John Carpenter's mantle and re-imagined the 1978 classic Halloween.
It's a lofty ambition to remake such a classic. How did it happen?
Well, it never even crossed my mind. What happened was that I had a meeting with Bob Weinstein, and he threw the concept of Halloween at me. Not a remake, but just Halloween in general. I didn't really know what to say so I went away and thought about it. I came to the conclusion was that the only thing to do was to start it all again from the beginning.
What did you hope to add?
I didn't want to copy the original because it's so good. I thought that trying to imitate it would be stupid. So what I thought could be different was that the character of Michael Myers has been in eight movies, but you've never really got an insight into his character. So what I wanted to do was to make the story about Michael Myers. I wanted to make him a real character, not just a monster running around.
So, you want us to sympathise with him?
Well, yeah in a sense. It's a tough movie, because most people have seen the original. What I do like is when people who haven't seen the original see this movie first, and react to it as a regular movie. These people like it even more. Of course, it's impossible not to watch it and think "Oh I was expecting this to happen at that point."
There seems to be more gore than scares in horror films these days...
I've never been a big fan of just gore, I've always been a fan of characters. One of my favourites is the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It's not a gory movie. It seems like it is but it's not. And I really got into the characters of that crazy family. Or a film like the original Dawn Of The Dead. That is a gory movie, but even so, I loved the story of the characters trapped in the mall. That's what I tried to do here; create characters. My movie is very violent, but I don't have a problem with violence as long as it's taking place with characters that I care about.
Have you had any reaction from John Carpenter?
I haven't spoken to him since it came out. I don't even know if he's seen it yet. I assume he hasn't. I mean, Halloween was like, thirty years ago. I called him up before and he was like "What? Hey great! Yeah go make it. Awesome." He was almost like "Why are you bothering me with this?"
What classic would you like to remake?
Well, I never really want to remake anything. Even though I just did one. I like classic stories. I think Frankenstein would be great. Even though it's been done a million times. Or Dracula. Something like that. A Christmas Carol. Oliver Twist.
What about the Sound Of Music? C'mon!
[Laughs] Yeah! That could actually be a good remake. I'd have more Nazis in it, obviously.
What is your all time favourite kids film?
Definitely Willy Wonka. That was probably the first movie I ever saw. As a kid, I just thought that Gene Wilder was so... ****ing cool. Just crazy and bizarre. I thought he was the coolest guy in the world. And for me the best kids' movies are always scary. And there were parts of that movie that were terrifying to me as a little kid.
Any plans to direct a romantic comedy?
I would like to try anything. I like all kinds of movies. I go to the movies and every time a trailer would come up I'd be like "Oh I'd love to make a movie like that." I don't know what I'll do next.
Finally, Rob, is there anything scarier than global warming?
There's nothing more terrifying than the world ending and everyone being dead before it matters. I would like to think that there'd be someone left sitting round to watch Halloween.
Halloween opens in UK cinemas on Friday 28th September 2007.
