This story on Slashfilm suggests that most of Rob Zombie's sequel to his own Halloween re-boot will see Michael Myers completely maskless. No, Rob Zombie. NO. Stop chipping away at one of the greatest horror icons of all time (In his defence, I think it's important to say that most of the sequels to John Carpenter's classic also did little for his reputation). There's just no need.

Zombie has already missed the entire point of Myers by telling his backstory in his first film (which had no reason to exist, cos you don't improve on perfection). One of the whole reasons that Michael Myers is terrifying is because he shows no humanity. He doesn't exhibit any logic or motive in his killings, he just kills and there's nothing you can do stop him. That's much more frightening than delving into all his issues and trying to explain away his madness. Myers is almost beyond human - that's why Carpenter's script called him merely The Shape. He wasn't a person, he was a force. A force with a knife and a top speed of about 6 miles an hour.

We won't damn a film before it's released - there's always a chance that Zombie might produce something great - but Michael Myers without the mask just seems like Freddy Krueger without the glove, or Jason without the hockey mask (ok, so he didn't get that straight away). You're taking away that which makes them more than just a maniac.

What do you think?

Olly Richards