"H2" will mark a "dark and nasty" turn for the "Halloween" franchise, according to director Rob Zombie.

With the story of slasher Michael Myer's origins behind him, Zombie is carving a dramatically new direction for the sequel. He's encouraged by the film's freedoms.

"Everything went great, we just locked into a groove and went with it," Zombie said in an interview with ShockTillYouDrop.com. "And I think that happened because there was nothing hanging over it. The characters had all been damaged and f**ked with through my movie, they don't relate to anything that's come before. For the actors, and myself, it made it easier, fresh and more my film this time.

"I felt with 'Halloween' the first half of the movie was very much me, the second half was me trying to figure out what to do with John Carpenter's stuff. That becomes a mindf**k. This time I didn't care, we didn't have to think about any of that and it makes for a much better movie."

One area Zombie looked to change was the franchise's look. Director of photography Brandon Trost was charged to bring some grime to the palette.

"The biggest difference on this - I hate talking about what's wrong with things - on 'Halloween' what I was unhappy with was the film looked too clean," he said. "For this type of thing, it looked too clean and that's a problem I dealt with in post-production. 'The Devil's Rejects' is a dirty looking movie. That's what I liked about it.

"What I did with Brandon, we made a 'Halloween 2' - or whatever the f**k they're going to call it - dirty again. We went back and shot it on super-16mm and it's got a dirty vibe that's my thing. I felt on the last movie my thing had been removed which was a problem."

Supporting the sequel's gritty atmosphere is an emphasis on breadth. Filming "H2" away from California was an important step.

"The scope is much bigger than the first film, but the actual story and characters is much more personal, so it's both. ," Zombie explained. "The thing about getting out of L.A. and into Georgia, you can shoot with a greater scope. When we were in Pasadena, it turned out to be a huge mistake because you couldn't get any scope without seeing a palm tree or a Starbucks."

Adding a new level of darkness and mania to the characters was also a key ingredient to boost the sequel's impact. Laurie Strode, played by Scout Taylor-Compton, endures significant grim developments.

"This is more how I see things. It's like once the characters get fucked up, the people are more relatable to me or something," he said. "Her [Taylor-Compton] character has a lot to do and it gets pretty heart-wrenching. Everybody does, everybody in this film is pretty damaged. In the first film, Michael is the only damaged one. In this, Loomis is f**ked, Sheriff Brackett is f**ked up. Laurie is a mess, Annie is a mess. These are emotionally damaged people which always makes for more interesting characters."

See more of Zombie's interview at ShockTillYouDrop.com.

"H2" hits theaters Aug. 28.