Malcolm McDowell leads Rob Zombie’s new nightmare

Malcolm McDowell as the not-so moral Dr.Loomis in Rob Zombie’s Halloween.

Film veteran Malcolm McDowell has been cast in Rob Zombie’s latest scary movie 31, and you guessed it, he isn’t the hero.

“I’m asked to play so many bloody bad people, it’s just endless, which is fine, I’ve got to pay my mortgage,” Malcolm jokes.

Ever since the star’s iconic role as sociopath Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm has been typecast as the ultimate screen villain, but he never plays the same devil twice.

From the arrogant, fame-hungry Dr. Loomis in Halloween II to the cannibalistic serial killer in the crime-thriller Evilenko, Malcolm’s range of mad men has been far-flung, and there’s more to his strain of bad guys than straight up pure evil.

“I like to make these immoral men irresistible in a way, have a sense of humor and put the audience in a rather uncomfortable position. That’s what I try to do,” Malcolm says.

The legendary actor finds pleasure in playing the villain. So much that when he returned as sympathetic child psychiatrist Dr. Loomis in the sequel of Rob Zombie’s re-imagining of the 1978 horror classic Halloween, he corrupted the hero and turned him into an unexpected antagonist.

“I was bored with playing the other one,” Malcolm says. “I thought if I’m going to do another Halloween lets make him an absolute prick, this thing that profited by these tragedies. He thinks he’s hot shit and that’s great fun to play.”

Executing terror anew in 31, Malcolm takes on the role of Father Murder, the owner and operator of Murder World, a facility where a group of people are held captive and forced to fight for their lives.

Malcolm has officially become a regular on team Zombie. 31 marks his forth collaboration with the rocker-turned-director including Rob’s acclaimed CSI: Miami episode LA.

The actor leads a cast made up of Meg Foster, recently seen in Pretty Little Liars and The Originals, accomplished Happy Feet and Rugrats voice actor Elizabeth Daily, Judy Geeson who spent nearly a decade on Mad About You and was previously in Lords of Salem, and of course Rob’s wife and muse Sheri Moon Zombie.

Joining these familiar faces and accepting another role dreamed up by Rob was a decision that came easy Malcolm says.

“Sometimes you read something and you just know it’s a good part. It’s purely intuitive.”

31 is currently in production. An official release date will be announced later this year.

Malcolm is among the celebrity guests at Toronto’s Fan Expo running Thursday, September 3 through Sunday, September 6. You can meet the legend and other stars at the event. Get more info and tickets here.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Aug 25 2015. Filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.