"Halloween 9" has been on the cards for longer than, well, Howard's been in office here in Australia. Every writer in town has submitted a script, treatment or combination for the film over the past few years - I even did a little something at one stage, just prior to the "Halloween Retribution" tag was announced - and several directors have had meetings about directing it (including John Carpenter).

While the Weinstein's HAVE decided to remake that first "Halloween" - yep, new Laurie Strode - there is still a rough plan to do one more in the current series too. I'm not sure whose script they'd be using for this one, or even whether there is one yet (Matt Venne did something rather grand on this a year or two back - maybe it's his?), but whatever the case, one of the best horror filmmakers around at the moment has been in contact about directing it.

Dante Tomaselli, whose "Desecration" and "Horror" absolutely rocked (and whose new film, "The Satans Playground", I hear, is a major treat), has been in contact with those-that-matter to see if he can't take the reigns on "Halloween 9", according to "JoBlo.com.

Speaking in the Guts and Glory forum, the new prince of gore says "I'd love to direct Halloween 9. I really would. Halloween is my all time favorite movie. I saw it on my birthday in 1979. I was 9".

Tomaselli told the film's producers that "I'd want to bring back the spirit of the original Halloween", apparently, and that includes using Jamie Lee Curtis just "one more time".

Should he get the gig, Tomaselli says he'd love to get some of the franchise's most famous on-camera and off-camera talents to do cameos - including director John Carpenter - and if possible, he'd love to entice actor Bill Paxton, of "Titanic" and "Aliens" fame, to play a role in the film. (As grand as that would be, the studio's more likely to want 'fresh virginal faces....that girl from that show with that guy with the pecs and the...' you get the drift?)

My money's on Dante. Be interesting to see how this goes.