Twelve years ago today, Rob Zombie’s second entry in the Halloween franchise – 2009’s Halloween II – was released. A direct sequel to his 2007 “reimagining,” which was at that point the highest-grossing entry in the series, Halloween II would ultimately leave both the hardcore Halloween fans and the casual audience polarized. Its depiction of Michael was that unlike we had seen in the prior films; the film had a more visceral, cerebral and even arthouse tone to it; and it was by far the most brutal entry in the franchise to date.

But as the film found its release on the home video format, an extended “director’s cut” became the version most easily accessed, and fan reception seemed to have grown. Perhaps similarly to another entry in the franchise, Halloween II has now developed a cult following all on its own. I myself rank the director’s cut version highly, and remember it being a popular entry back in the days of the Official Halloween Message Board at ohmb.net.

Rob Zombie marked the occasion with a heartfelt post about the film on his Instagram; the writer-director-producer has talked openly in the past about the struggles he had making the film due to interference from The Weinstein Company, but it’s nice to see he still remembers the film fondly nonetheless.