In the cultural role we tend to expect him, Weird Al Yankovic acts as the lone giver of truth and perspective in Rob Zombie’s latest film, Halloween II.
His small cameo does something a little different than most.
In a scene near the film’s climax, Dr. Sam Loomis, portrayed by Malcolm McDowell, appears on a talk show to promote a book, which details Loomis’ experience in the first Halloween film.
When the show’s host asks Loomis if he feels guilty for marketing a narrative that cashes in on murder victims, Yankovic, who sits beside Loomis and was presumably the first guest on the show, butts in and says that he doesn’t feel bad because he normally gets an artist’s permission before he parodies a song.
Not only is this the most enjoyable line of dialogue in Halloween II, it also indirectly shines light on Zombie’s aesthetic.
Weird Al doesn’t feel bad about his blatant ribbing of the celebrities of the day, or his music videos that are often times shot for shot remakes of the videos they are parodying.
However, Yankovic is capable of taking a Coolio video and filling it with bizarre images in a way that makes us realize that Coolio’s style is totally cliché.
Zombie, on the other hand, simply takes a classic slasher film and fills it with all the clichés we would expect from any slasher film.
One thing that initially struck me about this film was the explicit shots of Myers’ victims screaming as he stabbed, beat or choked them to death.
The camera remains fixed too long on close-ups of screaming faces, maintaining the same shot until either the murder had ceased or the victim just ran out of breath.
And then the camera would remain on the shot for a bit afterwards, as if shooting an effective horror film involved nothing more than just showing people die, regardless of mood or suspense.
Zombie’s use of heavy metal and hard rock memorabilia in the film is atrocious.
When a character is coping with tragedy and loss, Zombie attempts to convey their inner turmoil by adorning these characters with KISS T-shirts and Korn posters.
Take protagonist Laurie Strode for example. Having survived Myers’ rampage in the first film, she now divides her time between therapy, the subversive coffee shop where she works and laying around in a bedroom full of Judas Priest posters.
We are supposed to recognize her pain based on the media she adorns herself with, not on how she actually interacts with her surroundings.
Zombie is the kind of artist that merely reiterates what audiences expect.
It seems that he just indulges himself because community leaders who did not accept his long hair during high school detest gory slasher films.
Zombie fails to see any more in the creative process besides just rehashing and overemphasizing clichés that drive parents crazy.
But mainly I wonder if Yankovic really got Coolio’s permission to do “Amish Paradise” on VH1’s “Behind the Music.”
Knowing the truth here would neither increase or decrease my enjoyment of the song in question, but the more I look into what lies behind Zombie’s process, the less I like Halloween II.
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