It’s hard to imagine Quentin Tarantino making a franchise horror film, but there was one point in the early 1990s when that actually did almost happen. As noted in the new book Taking Shape, “In 1994, Miramax offered Quentin Tarantino the chance to write Halloween 6, an opportunity he declined.” Ultimately, the film was written by Daniel Farrands and directed by Joe Chappelle, but there was definitely one point in time that Tarantino had at least casually considered being the man to answer the big question posed by Halloween 5‘s finale.
That question, of course, was in regards to the mysterious “Man in Black,” who popped up at the end of Halloween 5 to spring Michael Myers out of prison. At the time, really nobody involved with the production had any idea who the hell the “Man in Black” actually was or how they’d ever continue the story in the next sequel, but Tarantino played with cracking the code.
In a new chat with our friend Michael Roffman over on Consequence of Sound this week, Tarantino reflected on those brainstorming sessions that ultimately went nowhere.
“It would have been, if I had done it — I never got hired — but it would have been my job to figure out who the guy in the boots is,” Tarantino explained to the website.
He continued, “I was like, ‘Leave that scene where [the Man in Black] shows up, alright, and freeze Michael Myers.’ And so the only thing that I had in my mind — I still hadn’t figured out who that dude was — was like the first 20 minutes would have been the Lee Van Cleef dude and Michael Myers on the highway, on the road, and they stop at coffee shops and shit and wherever Michael Myers stops, he kills everybody. So, they’re like leaving a trail of bodies on Route 66.”
During the same chat, Tarantino noted that he’s no fan of Halloween‘s many sequels – and he particularly hates Halloween 2‘s idea of Michael and Laurie being siblings – but he has ultimately come around to digging Rob Zombie’s unique vision for the franchise.
“The thing is now, I am a big fan of the Rob Zombie Halloweens,” Tarantino explained. “When I saw the first one, I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t like the aesthetic. I didn’t like everything that he added to it and then the last hour just becomes this fast forward remake of the first one. What the fuck is all this shit? Eight months later, I watched it on video … and I really liked them once I got all the preconceptions out of my head. That kid [Daeg Faerch] is really good. I mean, what did I think Rob Zombie was going to do with it? Do I want him to do something else? I like his Sam Peckinpah aesthetic. So, now that I didn’t have a bug up my ass about it, I was actually able to appreciate it. And again, it’s that kid who got me into it, and Danielle Harris is fantastic.”
He added, “And then the second one is really great because it completely can now go on its own.”
Head over to Consequence of Sound to read Roffman’s full interview with Tarantino.
