2. Enter Rob Zombie

Despite the many sequels that either attempted to cash in on the Halloween name, run other ideas, horror anthology-style under it (Halloween III, anyone?) or just show endless variations of an aging Laurie battling Michael, it never quite reclaimed the cult fan appeal of the original.

But following a five-year break, 4 June 2006 found Dimension films announcing that Rob Zombie – White Zombie rocker and the director of House Of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects – would take the project on as a blend of a remake and a prequel.

“What I am doing is starting totally from scratch,” he told The Gauntlet at the time.

“This the new Halloween. Call it a remake, an update, a reimaging or whatever, but one thing that for sure is this is a whole new start... a new beginning with no connection to the other series.

“That is exactly why the project appeals to me. I can take it and run with it. I talked to John Carpenter about this the other day and he said, ‘Go for it, Rob. Make it your own’. And that's exactly what I intend to do."

The film, called for a short time Halloween 9 (despite Zombie’s insistence it would be starting from the beginning again), would delve into Michael Myers’ tough childhood to explore how a twisted boy became the silent killer.

Zombie’s concept would focus much more on Michael’s dysfunctional family, including his mother (played by Sheri Moon Zombie), his sister and their respective boyfriends.

Tackling a story that had only been hinted about in Carpenter’s film, Zombie showed Michael’s murderous tendencies grow and the build-up to the brutal night.

Other changes would include a beefier role for psychologist Dr Loomis (with Malcolm McDowell replacing original star Donald Pleasance), the man who treats Michael and plays a pivotal role in trying to stop him once he starts his killing spree.

But while Zombie reached out for Carpenter’s blessing and tried to convince everyone he was a respectful fan with new idea, he had his work cut out for him…

Next up: Shooting the first remake