If someone put a gun to your head and said you had to remake a romantic comedy, which one would you choose?

Um…I don’t know. There are some good ones.

Really? I thought you’d vote for taking the bullet.

When you say “romantic comedy,” people think of something with Meg Ryan. The term’s gotten perverted in this chick-flick way. But Bringing Up Baby and those movies back in the day with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn—those are awesome movies.

You opted to remake Halloween. Were you reluctant? Some people think remake is a four-letter word.

That’s because so many have been bad. You watch them and go, What’s the point? Mine is essentially a retelling with so much new backstory that it becomes a whole other movie.

You were quoted as saying your Michael Myers was going to make the previous ones look like pussies. Fans were not pleased.

I was just joking around. Hard-core fans can blow everything out of proportion. But I do believe that this Michael is more terrifying. When I watch the other remakes, it’s hard to believe that that guy once seemed so scary.

Did Dimension really make you reshoot some scenes to make the movie bloodier?

Nah. That’s just Internet nonsense from people who don’t have any idea of how things work. Basically, 100 percent of movies go back and reshoot. It’s typical working procedure. None of it was to put more violence in.

The movie comes out August 31. Why the super-unscary release date?

That’s not really my decision, but everybody was like, “Why don’t you put it out on Halloween?” But then I was like, “That’s great for one day. And after a holiday, who cares about a Halloween movie when you’re edging toward Thanksgiving?”

You’ve been lumped into the “Splat Pack,” the current generation of successful horror directors. I’m guessing this annoys you.

Yeah, I don’t like being a part of any group. I didn’t like it in music, either.

Would you be more the Frank Sinatra or the Joey Bishop of said pack?

[Laughs] Who knows? Directing’s a funny thing. Come back in 15 years and see where everyone landed.

As a veteran of the music industry, what do you consider to be the big differences between that and Hollywood?

The music business actually started becoming like the movie business about five years ago. If it’s not a good opening weekend, your movie’s dead, and that’s how they treat records now. If it’s not a huge opening week, everyone’s going to say it’s a stiff. It used to be about building up a band’s career. Cheap Trick and Kiss, their first couple records didn’t do anything.

You’ve got your own 20th Century Masters greatest-hits CD. Be honest: Does that make you feel really old?

I dig it! It’s cool, because when I first started out, the one question was, How long can this last? So at least I outlived that question.

Halloween opens Fri 31.