Rob Zombie, one of the most interesting directors in modern horror, almost quit making horror movies for good, but thankfully, came back around.
Zombie's movies occasionally get a bad reputation for being too over-the-top with sex and violence, but he's accumulated a loyal fanbase who will, by and large, stick by and support the majority of his work. However, there have been a few instances in the past where his fanbase has been divided, notably during his tenure directing the Halloween remakes, building on a legendary franchise that John Carpenter created in 1978. While his vision for the Halloween franchise wasn't everyone's cup of tea, it still had merit, as does the rest of his filmography, which conjure up the vintage era of '70s slashers and exploitation genre films.
Even so, the genre almost lost Zombie as one of its primary hopes for unique artistry in the horror genre right after the release of his 2012 film, The Lords of Salem. Which, thankfully, was temporary, but may have happened for a few reasons.
Rob Zombie Almost Quit Making Horror Movies
Though Rob Zombie hated making his Halloween movies, that wasn't enough to get the director to call it quits, though he did have a three-year gap between when Halloween II released and when The Lords of Salem hit theaters. Zombie's attempt to go his own way yet again, which had done well for him in the past with House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. He seemed to be off to a good start when he released The Lords of Salem at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2012, where it received largely positive ratings from sources like Fangoria. Zombie's film was produced by an up-and-comer film studio which is now known as Blumhouse Productions, along with Alliance Films and IM Global. Jason Blum asked Zombie for something more within the supernatural sub-genre, which made Zombie think of an idea he had back when he was working on Halloween II.
Zombie was thrilled to be making his own kind of movies again, one that reflected his interests as an artist, because he didn't have as much freedom when he was working on Halloween, as it was such a big and beloved franchise. He also managed to snag horror and cult movie icons Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Patricia Quinn (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), and Dee Wallace (Cujo) for parts alongside his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie. After its wider release, the bad ratings and reviews started to collect, with many critics applauding that Zombie had tried to do something different, yet claiming he still fell short. After the film flopped, Zombie was interviewed by several sources, including the Phoenix Sun-Times, who asked about his upcoming projects, and if they'd be in horror. Zombie said, "Lords of Salem is my last sort of horror-genre related film for a really long time."
For a while, Rob Zombie wanted to switch gears away from horror and make a film about the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, which would have been titled Broad Street Bullies. While that seemed like a passion project for Zombie, and something to distract him from horror, his frustrations for the project going nowhere after two years led to him creating the idea for his next project, which ended up being a horror film titled 31. That film released in 2016, three years after he decided to call it (temporarily) quits. Though 31 was no grand success for Zombie, he eventually picked up steam to return to his original franchise with 3 From Hell, which brought back the murderous Firefly family once more, and was one of veteran horror actor Sid Haig's final films before he passed away in 2019.