Blade II is a 2002 American vampire superhero action film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Blade. It is the sequel of the first film and the second part of the Blade film series. It was written by David S. Goyer, who also wrote the previous film. Guillermo del Toro assumed director duties, and Wesley Snipes returned as the lead character and producer.

The film follows the Dhampir Blade in his continuing effort to protect humans from vampires.

Plot[link]

The film begins at a blood bank. A homeless man walks into the clinic and sits by another homeless man (Luke Goss) with a scar running down his chin. A nurse takes the latter man into a room with several people waiting where he is to be drained of blood, but kills his captors and reveals himself to be a new breed of vampire.

Two years have passed since the climax of the first film, and Blade (Wesley Snipes) has been trying to find Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), who survived his suicide attempt. He has been sweeping across Russia and eastern Europe, searching for his old friend and mentor, enlisting the aid of a young man, Scud (Norman Reedus), to design him a new line of gadgetry and weaponry. In the first scene, Blade fights his way through a large gang of vampires, leaving one of their vampires, Rush (Santiago Segura), alive. Blade tells Rush he will be back for him. Blade finds Whistler locked in a tank by a gang of vampires who were keeping him alive for purposes of torture. Blade rescues Whistler and brings him to Prague.

Meanwhile, a crisis has arisen in the vampire community. What appears to be a more developed strain of vampirism (dubbed the "Reaper virus") is sweeping through their ranks, giving its carriers new characteristics. The original carrier of the strain is Jared Nomak (the homeless man from the beginning of the film). Stronger than common vampires, the Reapers have three-way jaws, leech-like suckers and hearts encased in a thick layer of bone, making them invulnerable to any weapon barring sunlight. They also have a "ravenous" hunger, requiring more feeding than vampires, and even their dead victims become Reapers. The reapers also appear to be immune to silver and garlic. In order to combat the virus, the vampire elder (overlord) Eli Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann) sends his minions, Asad (Danny John-Jules) and Damaskinos' daughter Nyssa (Leonor Varela) to find and strike an uneasy truce with Blade. Upon meeting Eli Damaskinos and his familiar Karl Kounen (Karel Roden), Blade learns of the vampire community's plight. They concede to him that the Reapers are the greater evil and once they finish the vampire population, they will descend on humankind.

To this end, Blade teams up with the Bloodpack, a group of vampire warriors and assassins who were originally assembled to kill him. The group consists of Rheinhardt (Ron Perlman), Chupa (Matt Schulze), Snowman (Donnie Yen), Verlaine (Marit Velle Kile), Lighthammer (Daz Crawford) and Priest (Tony Curran). Blade plants an explosive on the back of Rheinhardt's head to keep him under control.

The group starts at a vampire nightclub, while Whistler acts as a sniper to guard Scud in the teams' transport. The mission goes wrong when the group finds the Reapers are immune to silver, physically much stronger than normal vampires, and resistant to normally crippling injuries even for vampires. Priest is fed on by one of the Reapers, while Blade fights Nomak. Nomak is immune even to Blade's anti-coagulant spikes, and Nomak leaves only because of the sunlight.

While Blade and the Blood Pack are fighting in the club, Scud is attacked by several Reapers while Whistler goes missing. Scud is able to dive off or kill the Reapers using UV lights on the transport. Whistler returns after the battle to show them a dying Reaper at a sewer entrance, showing the location of the Reaper Nest. Nyssa autopsies the dying Reaper while Scud and Whistler make UltraViolet weapons for the team.

The team reequips and goes down into the sewers. Lighthammer succumbs to infection he received at the club and kills Snowman. He chases down Verlaine who kills them both when she opens a sewer hatch to the sunlight. Chupa and Rheinhardt decide to kill Whistler for Priests' death, but Chupa is killed when Whistler sprays him with a Reaper pheromone. Asad and and Nyssa walk into a nest and Asad is pull underwater and killed. Nyssa is saved by Blade, who uses a cluster-UV device, while Eli and Rheinhardt escape the blast.

After a battle Blade is apprehended by Damaskinos' forces, along with Whistler and Scud. It is revealed that, in his efforts to create a new race of vampires (immune to sunlight and silver), Damaskinos (using his own son) turned Nomak into the first reaper. Scud is also revealed to be one of Damaskinos' "familiars". Blade however, is aware of Scud's status and kills him with a bomb (that Scud had assumed was a dud). With the reapers gone, Damaskinos planned to dissect Blade to create more daywalkers. However, Whistler escapes and rescues Blade. Blade fights his way through Damaskinos' henchmen, which ends with Rheinhardt being killed.

Meanwhile, Nomak has entered Damaskinos' stronghold seeking revenge on his father. Just before he can escape to his helicopter, Damaskinos is betrayed by Nyssa (who has become disillusioned with her father's extreme methods) and is killed by Nomak after trying to negotiate with him. In order to "complete the circle", Nomak bites Nyssa, drinking her blood. When Nomak attempts to leave, He is then confronted by Blade. After a brutal fight, Blade finds the weak spot in Nomak's physical defenses and jams his sword beneath his arm, bypassing the bone shield around his heart. Nomak then pushes it through, killing himself. With Nomak dead, Blade then carries Nyssa (who was infected with the Reaper virus by Nomak's bite) outside for the sunrise to honor her last wish to see the sunlight, and die as a vampire. When the sun rises she disintegrates in his arms.

In the film's last scene, Blade disposes of Rush in a strip club booth, stating "Now you didn't think I'd forget about you" and stabbing him in the head through the glass.

Cast[link]

• Wesley Snipes as Blade: A half-vampire "daywalker" who hunts vampires. Wesley Snipes stated that while such a character is not going to have much emotional depth, he then stated: "there's some acting involved in creating the character and making him believable and palatable."^[1]
• Kris Kristofferson as Abraham Whistler: Blade's human mentor and weaponsmith.
• Ron Perlman as Reinhardt, a member of the Bloodpack, who bears a particular grudge against Blade.
• Leonor Varela as Nyssa Damaskinos: An unapologetic, natural-born vampire and daughter to Damaskinos.
• Norman Reedus as Josh / Scud: A young, chain smoking weaponsmith who aids Blade in Whistler's absence.
• Thomas Kretschmann as Eli Damaskinos: An ancient vampire who is obsessed with creating a superior race of vampires as his legacy.
• Luke Goss as Jared Nomak: Patient zero and carrier of the Reaper virus. He bears a grudge against his father, Eli Damaskinos for creating him.
• Matt Schulze as Chupa: A pugnacious member of the Bloodpack who bears a particular grudge against Whistler.
• Danny John-Jules as Asad: A "well-mannered" member of the Bloodpack.
• Donnie Yen as Snowman: A mute swordsman and member of the Bloodpack.
• Karel Roden as Karel Kounen: A "familiar", Damaskinos's human agent and lawyer.
• Marit Velle Kile as Verlaine: A red-haired member of the Bloodpack and the lover of Lighthammer. The script originally said that she was the twin sister of Racquel from the first movie. Traci Lords was interested in playing the role before it was changed.^{[citation needed]}
• Daz Crawford as Lighthammer: A hulking, hammer-wielding member of the Bloodpack with Maori facial tattoos.
• Tony Curran as Priest: A Scottish-accented member of the Bloodpack.
• Santiago Segura as Rush: A vampire flunky in Prague.

Production[link]

Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct Blade II by New Line production president Michael De Luca.^[2] Tippett Studio provided Computer Graphic visual effects, including digital doubles of some of the characters.^[3]

Release[link]

Blade II was released on March 22, 2002. This was during a period of the year (months March and April) considered to be a bad time for sequels to be released.^[4] Despite this, the film became the most successful film of the Blade series, making $80 million in the United States and $150 million worldwide. In its opening weekend, the film earned $32,528,016 from 2,707 theaters^[5] but dropped 59% of its earnings in its second week, which brought in $13.2 million. The intake is believed to be affected (in part) by the pull of NCAA basketball Final Four games.^[6] The film debuted in the United Kingdom at number one, making $3.6 million from 355 theatres^[7] and held the spot for the following week, where it had earned $7.9 million, despite a 47% decline. The film was also number one in Singapore, making $214,000 from 30 theatres.^[8]

Video Game[link]

A video game of the same name and based on the movie was released on PS2 and Xbox on September 3,2002.

Deleted scenes[link]

On the New Line Platinum Series DVD, it contains several deleted scenes, including:

• An extended opening scene establishing Prague.
• A flashback sequence showing Blade's first encounter with Whistler, part of which can be seen in the film's title credits.
• An extended version of the ninja fight in the warehouse, with Blade using some fencing tactics to keep Asad at bay.
• A scene of Whistler shying away from the growing daylight outside.
• A brief sex scene between Priest and Chupa.
• An alternate take of Blade's first meeting with Damaskinos, with Damaskinos wearing, according to Guillermo del Toro, a "Michael Bolton wig".
• A scene in which Damaskinos explains the effects vampirism has had on him.
• A much longer version of the House of Pain sequence, including a scene with Nyssa finding a room upstairs with a man unpacking human entrails from a box.
• A line by Whistler about "the power of the pussy".
• A Bloodpack "meeting" of sorts, with Chupa attempting to urge the others to kill Blade and go after the Reapers on their own.
• A scene in a bathroom after the "House of Pain" sequence of Lighthammer discovering how far his infection (with the Reaper strain) has gone.
• An extended scene of Damaskinos' dinner and blood bath, in which he talks about the fate of his human heart.
• An extended scene of the lawyer's torture from Blade.

Reception[link]

Reaction to Blade II among critics has been mixed to positive. The film earned a 59% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[9] Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of 4, stating: "Blade II is a really rather brilliant vomitorium of viscera, a comic book with dreams of becoming a textbook for mad surgeons."^[10] Conversely, James Berardinelli gave the film 2½ stars out of 4, stating: "Blade II is for those undiscriminating movie-goers who want nothing more from a trip to the multiplex than loud, raucous, mindless entertainment."^[11]

Soundtrack[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Blade II

• Official website
• Blade II script
• Blade II at AllRovi
• Blade II at Box Office Mojo
• Blade II at the Internet Movie Database
• Blade II at Marvel.com
• Blade II at Metacritic
• Blade II at Rotten Tomatoes

This article may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization. (August 2011)

Donnie Yen
Yen at the 2007 Shanghai International Film Festival
Chinese name	甄子丹 (Traditional)
Chinese name	甄子丹 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Zhēn Zǐdān (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Jan1 Zi2daan1 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Taishan, Guangdong, China
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1963-07-27) 27 July 1963 (age 48) Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Occupation	Actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer
Years active	1983 – present
Spouse(s)	Zing-Ci Leung (1993–1995) Cecilia Cissy Wang (2003 – present)
Awards Hong Kong Film Awards Best Action Choreography 2003 The Twins Effect 2005 SPL: Sha Po Lang 2008 Flash Point Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Action Choreography 2006 Dragon Tiger Gate Golden Horse Awards Best Action Choreography 2003 The Twins Effect 2007 Flash Point 2011 Wu Xia Other awards Iron Elephant Awards Best Actor 2009 (Ip Man)

Donnie Yen Ji-Dan (born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and world wushu tournament medalist.^[1] Apart from being a well-known film and television actor in Hong Kong, Yen has also gained international recognition for appearing in many films together with other prominent and internationally-known actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.

Yen is widely credited by many^[2][3][4] as the person responsible for popularizing the traditional martial arts style known as Wing Chun. He played the role of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2008 film Ip Man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools to be opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia.^[5] Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.^[6]

Yen is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star."^[7] Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream of Chinese culture, by choreographing MMA in many of his recent films. Yen has displayed notable skills in MMA, being well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, Muay Thai, wrestling, karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. Seen as one of the most popular film stars in Asia in recent years, Yen is currently one of the most highly paid actors in the whole of Asia.^[8]

Early life[link]

Yen's mother, Bow-sim Mark (麥寶嬋), is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), is a newspaper editor.^[9] Yen was born in Taishan, Guangdong, China. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong, and then to Boston, Massachusetts, United States when he was 11.^[10] His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.

At a young age, under influence from his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen focused on practicing wushu after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in the Boston Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a two-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team.^[10] When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong and met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping there.

Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist.^[11] From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano.^[12][13] He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.^[14][15][16]

Career[link]

Donnie Yen in Seoul in 2005

Yen was a stuntman in his earliest films, Shaolin Drunkard (1983) and Taoism Drunkard (1984). At the age of 20, he got his first acting role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi'.'

After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film Iron Monkey in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film Hero, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards.

In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen (Cantonese: Chan Zan) in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.

In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut^[17] in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. Yen went on to choreograph fight scenes and appeared in minor roles in some Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002).

In 2003, Yen played the antagonist against Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights.

Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in the Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen's continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007) in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.

In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date which featured Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.^[18][19] In July 2011 it was announced that Yen and Cecilia Cheung would be cast in a Hong Kong remake of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, titled Assassin Couple.^[20]

In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. It was stated that Yen is considering the offer, and has many films at hand, and will not decide until he sees if the script appeals to him or not.^[21]

In September 2011, Yen revealed that he took two comedy roles in a row, All's Well, Ends Well 2012 and Thunder Cop, and will be working with Sandra Ng in the first film.^[22]

Action choreography[link]

Apart from being an acclaimed martial artist and actor, Yen is also a world class action choreographer, and his on-screen choreography has been recognized through the numerous awards he has attained.

In recent years, Yen was successful in including mixed martial arts (MMA) into his action choreography in various films, a feat most other action directors have been unsuccessful at accomplishing so far. Flash Point, a film fully choreographed by Yen using MMA was a huge success. Another notable MMA film involving Yen is SPL: Sha Po Lang.

In recent years, Yen's work as a choreographer won him "Best Action Choreography" awards at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Film Awards.

Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury.^[21] Furthermore he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilization of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts is a necessity in this film.^[23]

Due to his success in action choreography, he is invited to choreograph his upcoming films such as The Lost Bladesman, Wu Xia and The Monkey King.

Martial arts history, style and philosophy[link]

Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist, and this is evident from his style.^[1] He learned wushu from a young age, under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn taekwondo in his teenage years, but never did.^[25] When he was a teenager, he obtained a medal in a wushu competition held in the United States, known as Boston Combat Zone. At the time, the Beijing wushu team had a scout in the United States, and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.^[26]

Yen later went on to discover and to seek knowledge on other martial arts style, he would later obtain belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and went on to study the art of parkour, wrestling, Muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure of mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003, while making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts form.^[27] The progress was evident when he returned back to Asia, where he implemented his new found knowledge of MMA showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005) and Flash Point (2007).

Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun for 9 months before tackling the role.^[28][29] Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, and complimented that Yen is a great martial artist and a fast learner, and has managed to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone he has taught.^[30]

Yen believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has particular interest in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has obtained a purple belt.^[31] He has mentioned that he would have entered the Octagon, joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.

Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart."^[32]

Personal life[link]

Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship, and has watched almost every UFC event available.^[33]

In 1993, Yen married Zing-Ci Leung. Their son, Man-Zeok Yen, was born in 1995. From 1995 to 2000, Yen was involved in a relationship with actress Yee Man "Joey" Meng. Yen married Cecilia Wang in Toronto in 2003.

About Cecilia Wang[link]

Cecilia Wang born April 21,1981 in Hong Kong was the winner of the 2000 Miss Chinese Toronto Pageant[34] , including the "Miss Vitality" and "Miss Perfect Figure" awards. She stands at 5'8" and was a model[35] . She is known in Asia as a socialite and appears in prestigious events throughout Asia. Wang supports Yen by accompanying in his red carpet events, film festivals, award shows, premieres around the world, including Cannes, Venice, Beijing, Shanghai, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong etc. They have a daughter, Jasmine, born in 2004, and a son, James, born in 2007.[36]Cecilia Wang has a younger sister, named Yuen Yuen Wang.

See also[link]

• Donnie Yen filmography
• Cinema of Hong Kong
• Cinema of China

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Donnie Yen

• Official website
• Donnie Yen at the Internet Movie Database
• Donnie Yen's Sina blog site
• "An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
• Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic
• Stokes, Lisa; Michael Hoover (2000). "An Interview with Donnie Yen". Asian Cult Cinema 29 (4th quarter): pp.48–62. 

Rob Zombie
Background information
Birth name	Robert Bartleh Cummings
Also known as	Mr. Zombie
Born	(1965-01-12) January 12, 1965 (age 47) Haverhill, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Heavy metal, alternative metal, groove metal, industrial metal
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, screenwriter, film director, film producer, programmer, music producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, programming
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Roadrunner/Loud & Proud/Geffen
Associated acts	White Zombie, Alice Cooper, Powerman 5000, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, Marilyn Manson, Iggy Pop, Lionel Richie, Howard Stern
Website	www.robzombie.com

Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings;^[1] January 12, 1965) is an American musician, film director, screenwriter and film producer. He founded the heavy metal band White Zombie and has been nominated three times as a solo artist for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. Zombie's lyrics are noted for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows for their elaborate shock rock theatricality.^[2]

Zombie has also established a career as a film director, creating the movies House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects, the 2007 remake of Halloween, its sequel, and The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. His next film will be the upcoming The Lords of Salem which is scheduled to premiere in theaters sometime in 2012.

Early life[link]

Born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, he was the first of two brothers. His younger brother Michael David Cummings was born on August 25, 1968 and is better known as Spider One, the frontman of alternative metal group Powerman 5000.

Recording career[link]

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White Zombie (1985–1998)[link]

Based in New York, White Zombie was originally a noise rock band in the vein of fellow New York band Sonic Youth and Texas experimental punk band Butthole Surfers. White Zombie was known for combining heavy-metal music with driving guitar riffs (as on "Super-Charger Heaven"), overlayed with lyrics heavily influenced by horror films and pseudo-Satanic imagery.

Following their signing to Geffen Records, White Zombie achieved commercial success, with a double and triple platinum album and a large number of their songs featured in movies and TV shows (notably Beavis and Butthead and Millennium). The group officially disbanded in 1998 shortly after the release of lead singer Rob Zombie's solo album Hellbilly Deluxe. In a 2008 interview^[3] to promote the release of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Rob Zombie made it clear that a reunion with his White Zombie bandmates was unlikely, saying, "I don't want fans to think it's the beginning of anything." Cummings legally changed his name to Rob Zombie, his former stage name, in 1996.^[4]

Solo career (1998–present)[link]

In 1996, Zombie collaborated with Alice Cooper on the song "Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)" for the X-Files tie-in CD Songs in the Key of X. It was Zombie's first work outside of White Zombie. The song was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance the same year.

In 1997, Zombie contributed a song entitled "The Great American Nightmare" for the Howard Stern movie, Private Parts. Since January 6, 1999, it has been the opening theme for Stern's radio show.

[edit] Hellbilly Deluxe

Zombie formed his own solo band in 1998. Drummer John Tempesta came directly from White Zombie, and was joined by Mike Riggs on guitar and Rob "Blasko" Nicholson on bass. A tongue in cheek reference to Dwight Yoakam's Hillbilly Deluxe, Zombie's debut solo album, Hellbilly Deluxe, in 1998, produced by Scott Humphrey. The album was a success, selling three million copies domestically. This album contained the hit singles "Dragula", "Living Dead Girl" and "Superbeast".

Zombie toured extensively to promote the album, then released American Made Music to Strip By in 1999, an album of remixes from Hellbilly Deluxe.

Apart from critical review, the album's cover art received much negative response by various conservative Christian groups, citing the album's inverted pentagram depiction and alluding to rumors and allegations of Satanism. Walmart banned the traditional artwork version of the album from its inventory and offered a 'clean' version of the album (without the inverted pentagram) in its stead, à la Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP.

[edit] The Sinister Urge

Zombie released The Sinister Urge in 2001 (the title taken from a 1961 Ed Wood film), again produced by Scott Humphrey. This release contained the singles "Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy)", "Feel So Numb" and "Demon Speeding". While the album still featured Zombie's signature heavy metal sound, it was also more experimental than Hellbilly Deluxe, including brass instruments on "(Go To) California." The album has been certified platinum.

In 2003, Zombie released his first greatest hits album Past, Present & Future, containing hit songs both from his solo band and White Zombie. It also featured covers (The Commodores' "Brick House" and The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop") and unreleased songs ("Two-Lane Blacktop" and "Girl on Fire").

After a 2002–2003 world tour, Mike Riggs and John Tempesta left Zombie to form a similar band, Scum of the Earth, because Rob Zombie wanted to make movies and got bored on the music industry. He made, between 2003 and 2005 two horror films, House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects.

[edit] Educated Horses

Rob Zombie at Ozzfest, 2005.

In 2005, Zombie returned to the music world by recruiting former Marilyn Manson guitarist, John 5, and former Alice Cooper drummer, Tommy Clufetos. Blasko and Humphrey remained, and the five began recording Educated Horses. Released in 2006, Educated Horses is a break from Zombie's usual style. In contrast to the heavy metal sound of his first two albums, Horses features a more alternative metal sound. The single "Foxy Foxy" can be described as his most mainstream and "party-going" song. The other two singles, "Let It All Bleed Out" and "American Witch", featured his signature heavy metal sound. Also, for the first time, Zombie steered away from including horror references in the artwork and songs. Even his physical appearance is less of a persona (Zombie is dressed in regular clothes on the album cover, and his dreadlocks are gone). However, the songs "Seventeen Year Locust" and "The Scorpion Sleeps" do concern themselves with creepy-crawlies. Following the release of the album, Zombie toured the U.S. with Lacuna Coil.

20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection: The Best of Rob Zombie was also released in 2006 by his label, Geffen Records. It contains songs similar to his first greatest hits album, but there are also songs on this release from Educated Horses.

On May 31, 2006, Zombie was joined onstage by guitarist Slash (Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver), Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns N' Roses) on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on bass, Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on drums and special guest Ace Frehley of Kiss also on lead guitar. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the first annual VH1 Rock Honors award show. They played one song, "God of Thunder," before handing it off to the honoree. Zombie then went on tour with Ozzy Osbourne.

Blasko, Zombie's bass player, left the band shortly before the American Witch Tour (the second leg of the tour to promote Educated Horses), to play bass with Ozzy Osbourne. To fill in, Zombie hired Piggy D. of Amen and Wednesday 13 fame as a permanent replacement.

In 2007 Zombie released Zombie Live, which was supposed to be accompanied by a live DVD and picture booklet. So far, only the CD has surfaced.

[edit] Hellbilly Deluxe 2

Zombie's follow-up to Educated Horses was still unnamed as of May 2008. Zombie posted an update on his website, stating: "Well, we have for the first time ever written more songs than we need for an album. Everything isn't 100% finished, but everything is moving along great. No release date yet." In August 2008, a new instrumental song entitled "Tyrannosaurus Rex", featuring John 5 on guitar, was uploaded onto Zombie's MySpace music page. In an interview published in December 2008, Zombie spoke about his new band lineup (John 5, Piggy D., and Tommy C), and how happy he was with his new band members, saying, "I've never had a band that I could call my good friends until now.^[3] " Meanwhile, also in December 2008, Zombie's new single "War Zone" was featured in the soundtrack to Punisher: War Zone.

Rob Zombie appeared on The Howard Stern Show on August 18, 2009, saying the new album was complete, although he had not yet set a title, and was scheduled for release on November 10. That release date would later move to November 17, according to his MySpace blog. Eventually, the release date would be pushed back to February 2010.

On October 3, Zombie posted a link to preview the track "Sick Bubblegum" on his Twitter page. The first single "What?" was released on October 13. Zombie released the next new song, "Burn" for Rock Band, as well as two old tracks, "Dragula" and "Superbeast" on October 27. They are available via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network as well as the Rock Band online store.

On October 29, 2009, Zombie began the Hellbilly Deluxe 2 World Tour in support of his album Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls and the Systematic Dehumanization of Cool, despite the fact it was not to be released until over three months later.

Hellbilly Deluxe 2 was set to be his last album released through Geffen Records, but in late October, Zombie announced that he had signed to Roadrunner Records and will instead be releasing Hellbilly Deluxe 2 under that label in early 2010.^[5]

On January 22, he announced that he would be touring with Alice Cooper for the "Gruesome Twosome" tour.

Tommy Clufetos recently left the band to perform with Ozzy Osbourne on drums. He replaced drummer Mike Bordin who is on tour with his current band Faith No More. Joey Jordison has since replaced Clufetos and was announced to be drumming with Zombie for his upcoming summer tour dates.^{[6] [7]} Rob Zombie was bothered that Clufetos was the second member to leave his solo band and join Osbourne after bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson left in 2006. Zombie commented, "If my guys that I have wanna go play with other people, that's fine; I don't own them. But I think there's ways to do things in a respectful way and there's ways to just be shitty, and I feel that the way things have gone down lately has been pretty shitty."^[8]

Rob Zombie performed at Edgefest in Little Rock, Arkansas as the co-headliner along with Godsmack on May 8, 2010. It was widely reported that much of the crowd left immediately following his performance, despite the fact that Godsmack was still scheduled to take the stage. He also played on the main stage on the second day of the Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio on May 23. Once again, it was widely reported that much of the crowd left after his performance, despite the fact that Limp Bizkit had not even started their set.^[9][10]

Rob Zombie finished recording four new songs in July 2010 with John 5, Piggy D, and Joey Jordison. The new music, expected to be released in September 2010, was described by Zombie as "some of the fastest and heaviest tracks we have recorded in a long, long time."^[11] Former White Zombie member, and drummer for Rob Zombie's first two studio albums, John Tempesta was rumored to have recorded at least one song titled "Loving the Freaks" for this release.^[12] While Rob Zombie did confirm that this collaboration was planned, his schedule was too busy and these recording sessions never took place. Working with Tempesta again in the future was not ruled out.^[13] These newly recorded tracks were incorporated into a special edition reissue of Hellbilly Deluxe 2 which was released on September 28, 2010.^[14]

For the first time in 12 years, Zombie returned to the United Kingdom to play a string of six dates in support of Hellbilly Deluxe 2.

On March 4, 2011, Rob Zombie said that he would record a CD after he completes his upcoming film The Lords of Salem.

Rob Zombie embarked on a North American tour with Slayer and Exodus called "Hell on Earth" tour which started July 20 and ended on August 6, 2011.

On April 22, 2011 on Zombie's official Twitter account, it was announced that his new drummer is ex-Marilyn Manson drummer and former John 5 bandmate, Ginger Fish.

Other projects[link]

Rob Zombie sang alongside his brother, Spider One, on Powerman 5000's song "Blast Off to Nowhere" on their 1999 breakthrough album Tonight the Stars Revolt! ^[15]

Zombie supplied the vocals for Drowning Pool's song "Man Without Fear" for the soundtrack to the 2003 film Daredevil.

Zombie is featured as a backing vocalist on "Floyd" from Lynyrd Skynyrd's 2009 album God & Guns.

On May 23, 2010 Zombie's new comic book series about a fictitious horror host, Whatever Happened To Baron Von Shock?, began. The first print sold out in less than a week.^[16]

On March 14, 2011, praising him for inventing the rock show, glam rock, and punk rock, Zombie inducted Alice Cooper into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Film and television[link]

Film career[link]

Rob Zombie attending the 2007 Comic Con to promote Halloween.

House of 1000 Corpses was Rob Zombie's directorial debut and his first horror film. Zombie wrote the screenplay as well as directing the film. It took four years to make (1999–2003), and was finally released by Lion's Gate Films in 2003, after Stacy Snider, then-head of Universal Pictures, sold the film to them. It featured a great deal of violence and gore. The movie told the tale of a group of unlucky young adults who stumble upon the Firefly Family, a family of sadistic and vicious murderers. The film was shot in a surreal and over-the-top style that alternated between dark and campy humor. The film was mostly panned by critics but has gained a cult following.

The House of 1000 Corpses' sequel, The Devil's Rejects, which Zombie also wrote and directed, showcased a much different style. Whereas House aimed at being more gory and bizarre, Rejects was darkly comedic and gritty. Released in 2005, Rejects had the Firefly Family on the run from the law and a particularly vengeful sheriff whose brother had been murdered by them in the first film. It had a better critical reception than Corpses. Zombie contributed to the 2007 exploitation film Grindhouse, by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino by directing a faux trailer, called Werewolf Women of the S.S., starring his wife, exploitation veterans Udo Kier and Sybil Danning, and Nicolas Cage, who appeared free for fun.

Zombie next wrote and directed Halloween, a reimagining of the 1978 classic that was released August 31, 2007. Although it was a success and opened at number #1 at the box office with $26 million, it registered only 26% at Rotten Tomatoes.^[17] It would go on to gross over $78 million, his biggest hit yet and the highest grossing Halloween film of all time.

Zombie is the executive producer of the animated film The Haunted World of El Superbeasto, based upon his comic book series, The Adventures of El Superbeasto (which appeared in his Spookshow International comic book). The film was released in limited showings at selected theaters on September 12, 2009, and to DVD on September 22, 2009. It features the voices of Tom Papa, Paul Giamatti, Zombie's wife Sheri Moon, and Rosario Dawson.

Zombie directed a sequel to Halloween entitled Halloween II, which was released on August 28, 2009. Filming began on February 23, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia with Tyler Mane returning as Michael Myers.^[18] Zombie will next be directing a new movie for Dimension Films known as Rob Zombie's Tyrannosaurus Rex.^[19] In an interview at Comic Con 2009 with his younger brother Spider One of Powerman 5000, Zombie stated that his album would be released in October, followed by a tour.

Variety Magazine announced the weekend before the release of Halloween II that Zombie will be directing a remake of the 1950s/1980s films The Blob.^[20] Zombie will also create a new comic called "Whatever Happened to Baron Von Shock?",^[21] which will be released by Image Comics in late 2010.^[22]

On October 3, 2009 received the Filmmaker of the Year title of the Chiller-Eyegore Awards.^[23]

In December 2009 he announced an interest to direct an episode of CSI.^[24] On January 13, 2010, Associated Press reported that Rob Zombie's CSI: Miami episode will air March 1.^[25] He shot the part of the series with the full cast of the series and casted for minor roles Michael Madsen, Malcolm McDowell, William Forsythe, ZZ Top's leader Billy Gibbons and his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie.^[26]

Rob Zombie and Universal Studios presents the Halloween Horror Nights – Rob Zombie Film Competition as part of the Halloween Horror Nights 2010.^[27]

Rob Zombie also was a guest host on WWE Raw.^[28]

On September 22, 2010, it was announced that Rob Zombie's next film project would be entitled The Lords of Salem.^[29]

On February 21, 2011, he announced in an interview that he will start filming Tyrannosaurus Rex after he finishes Lords of Salem.^[30] The remake of The Blob will no longer be directed by Zombie.^[31]

Rumors circulated that Zombie would direct The Dirt, a movie about Mötley Crüe. However, on his Twitter page on March 4, 2011, Zombie explained that he will not be directing The Dirt. Instead, he said, "I am not. I am directing The Lords of Salem.^[32] Recording a CD after that."

Tyrannosaurus Rex is not a dead project, he explained in an interview: "It’ll happen eventually. I don’t have a deal for it, but that was supposed to be my movie I did after Halloween and then it never happened. For some reason in the last six months or so, everybody seems incredibly interested in it again. So the goal is to make that the next movie after The Lords of Salem. I don’t know if it will be, because it’s such a weird business. But Tyrannosaurus Rex has always been my pet project that I’ve always wanted to make. It’s the movie I’ve been dying to make forever."

Music video direction[link]

Rob has directed all of his own music videos as well as all White Zombie music videos except for "Welcome to Planet Motherfucker", "Black Sunshine" and "Thunderkiss '65". Zombie has contributed to other artists directing music videos such as Ozzy Osbourne's "Dreamer", Powerman 5000's "Tokyo Vigilante #1" and Black Label Society's "Stillborn" among others. Zombie has recently finished directing a music video for Leviathan The Fleeing Serpent's song "Crushing the Ritual".

As a guest[link]

Rob Zombie has appeared as a guest on several talk shows including Late Night with David Letterman (several times), Jimmy Kimmel Live! (twice), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Howard Stern Show, The Opie and Anthony Show, That Metal Show, The Nerdist Podcast, Criss Angel: Mindfreak (2005 episode "Buried Alive") and even Space Ghost Coast to Coast (while he was in White Zombie).

Zombie also made a few guest appearances in movies, including Airheads (with White Zombie on stage playing "Feed the Gods") and the voice of Dr. Karl (on the phone) in the movie Slither. He did a few voiceovers for cartoons such as the voice of Ichthultu, a creature from an alternate universe in Justice League Unlimited and Dr. Curt Connors ("The Lizard") in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. Rob Zombie appeared as the guest host for the June 28th edition of WWE Monday Night RAW.

Zombie supplied music for the Twisted Metal III and Twisted Metal 4 soundtracks, and even appeared as a playable character in Twisted Metal 4. Zombie's song "Dragula" was used in the Jet Grind Radio soundtrack. Zombie's songs Return of the Phantom Stranger, Demonoid Phenomenon, and Meet The Creeper appeared in PS-X 2000 release of Nightmare Creatures 2.

Rob Zombie was the celebrity guest on the Oct 31, 2010 (Halloween Special) episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

On October 16, 2011, Rob Zombie was a celebrity guest judge on Food Network's Halloween Wars.

Personal life[link]

On Halloween day of 2002, Zombie married longtime girlfriend Sheri Moon, whom he also features in all of his films and many of his music videos.

They currently live in Woodbury, Connecticut and Los Angeles, California.^{[citation needed]}

Collaborations[link]

Rob Zombie has cast certain actors in more than one of his films.

	House of 1000 Corpses	The Devil's Rejects	Werewolf Women of the SS	Halloween	Halloween II	The Haunted World of El Superbeasto	The Lords of Salem
Michael Berryman		N					N
Sybil Danning			N	N
Brad Dourif				N	N
Leslie Easterbrook		N		N
Ken Foree		N		N		N	N
William Forsythe		N		N
Sid Haig	N	N		N		N	N
Chris Hardwick	N				N
Danielle Harris				N	N
Clint Howard				N		N	N
Udo Kier			N	N			N
Richard Lynch				N			N
Tyler Mane		N		N	N
Malcolm McDowell				N	N
Matthew McGrory	N	N
Sheri Moon	N	N	N	N	N	N	N
Bill Moseley	N	N	N	N		N
Brian Posehn		N				N
Jeff Daniel Phillips					N		N
Daniel Roebuck		N			N	N	N
Scout Taylor-Compton				N	N
Tom Towles	N	N	N	N
Danny Trejo		N		N		N
Dee Wallace				N			N

Filmography[link]

Feature-length films

• House of 1000 Corpses (2003) (director, writer)
• The Devil's Rejects (2005) (director, producer and writer)
• Halloween (2007) (director, producer and writer)
• Halloween II (2009) (director, producer and writer)
• Lords of Salem (2012) (director, producer and writer)
• Tyrannosaurus Rex (TBA)

Animated films

• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009) (director, producer and writer)

TV work

• Pee-wee's Playhouse (production assistant, unknown episodes)
• Headbangers Ball (guest, numerous episodes)^[33]
• Airheads (guest, with White Zombie performing "Feed the Gods", 1994)
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast (guest, 1 episode, 1997)
• Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (guest, voice of Dr. Kurt Conners a.k.a. The Lizard, episode 3, "Law of the Jungle", July 18, 2003)
• Justice League Unlimited (guest, voice of Ichthulthu, Episode 42, "The Terror Beyond Pt. 2", November 5, 2003)
• Criss Angel Mindfreak (guest, season 1, episode 6, "Buried Alive", 2005)
• Slither (guest, Dr. Karl (voice only), 2006)
• CSI: Miami (director, 1 episode, 2010)
• WWE Raw (Raw Guest Host, 1 episode, 2010)
• Extreme Makeover Home Edition (guest, Season 8 - Episode 6, 2010)
• Halloween Wars (Guest Judge, episode 3, "Zombies vs. Vampires," October 16, 2011)
• The Undead Eyes (voice of Dr. XXX - 2012–present)