Remaking Classic Horror Films

[SSLFan]

Has anyone noticed this "trend" lately? We've all seen the new Halloween films that have come out, and now they're even planning on remaking A Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play. I'm kind of mixed about this, espicially Elm Street since it will not feature Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. However, I think it's great that they're updating these films to reintroduce to a whole new generation (though you can never beat the classics!) I'm curious to how all of this will turn out, and hopefully for Child's Play they will give Chucky his old look back!

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[D'Snowth]

This is just more proof that Hollywood has officially run out of ideas.

 

[frogboy4]

Hey, there's lots of new original stuff!

I wouldn't say these particular films show evidence that Hollywood has run out of ideas. Horror films have been remade since their beginning. There are many horror movies that people believe to be original that are actually remakes! Some are good, some aren't.

I hold horror in a different film category and liken them to "ghost stories" that deserve to be retold by different storytellers - if done well. I hear the new Halloween films are pretty good and that the new Elm Street is promising. Nothing will ever beat the classics and it's the filmmakers with great love for those classics that make the best directors for the remakes.

Nonetheless, there are many original horror films hitting the theaters soon! In fact, more than usual. District 9 is more in the gory sci-fi category, but it's a nice original piece of cinema I encourage all to see! Legion is a crazy looking film coming to theaters this January. Pandorum comes next month along with the derivative but delightful looking Zombieland. Futuristic vampires come in the finely cast Daybreakers. Clive Barker’s Book of Blood and The Box are coming too. If you skipped the short-lived theatrical pit-stop Midnight Meat Train made you might want to check that out. It's a highly original movie if you don't mind gore. There's also the "new" original franchises cranking out additional sequels including Final Destination and Saw. People have their opinions about the new direction of horror into the relentless and extreme gore, but it's always been there. It just hit a mainstream audience when it started to look real.

Of course, poor performances of recent films like The Collector cause studios to play it safe with concepts audiences already know. That's the case for all films. Supporting (good) independent film is the sure-fire way to support new ideas in filmmaking.

 

[Drtooth]

There's also the "new" original franchises cranking out additional sequels including Final Destination and Saw. People have their opinions about the new direction of horror into the relentless and extreme gore, but it's always been there. It just hit a mainstream audience when it started to look real.

I could get on a 5 page rant about why I hate Horror movie franchises like that... but then again, Friday the Thirteenth, Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play have had an unprecedented amount of sequels. in some cases, they jump right out of the horror and into the fun, campy cult genre, which made them even bigger than just scare flicks.

But at LEAST let us wait more than a year for a sequel. Annual movies just aren't something to look forward too, since they seem rushed. Look at the "Fill in the Blank Movie" comedy franchise. Wouldn't they all be better if they came out once every 2 or 3 years?

Supporting (good) independent film is the sure-fire way to support new ideas in filmmaking.

I dunno... Troma? That's a sure fire place to get some wacky horror flicks. I still wanna see Poultrygiest.. I just never got around to it.

 

[frogboy4]

I could get on a 5 page rant about why I hate Horror movie franchises like that... but then again, Friday the Thirteenth, Nightmare on Elm Street and Child's Play have had an unprecedented amount of sequels. in some cases, they jump right out of the horror and into the fun, campy cult genre, which made them even bigger than just scare flicks.

But at LEAST let us wait more than a year for a sequel. Annual movies just aren't something to look forward too, since they seem rushed. Look at the "Fill in the Blank Movie" comedy franchise. Wouldn't they all be better if they came out once every 2 or 3 years?



I dunno... Troma? That's a sure fire place to get some wacky horror flicks. I still wanna see Poultrygiest.. I just never got around to it.

Of course there will be bad indie films. A lot of them are, but it's the most likely testing ground for new ideas. The mainstream of any industry is the least likely place to find new ideas. But then someone like a Peter Jackson or Guillermo del Toro comes along and bumps fringe ideas into the mainstream.

Still, there's a lot of classic and new idea goodness coming in the horror genre that was being overlooked on this thread. A heckofalot! I hope it's good. By the way, again, for anyone who hasn't seen District 9 - go see it.

 

[Blue Weirdo]

Saw the trailer for the remake of The Wolfman today and actually my thought was, "Finally! Horror films are getting back to what they're supposed to be!"

Seriously I've found that in recent years the horror genre no longer exists. It's now the GOREor genre. Rather then presenting a creepy tale with an actual PLOT they just make it as gory as possible and call that terror.

This new Wolfman actually looks good with a real story behind it.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

Aw, the more violence, death and gore the better! But me being a fan of slasher movies, even I have to draw the line that sometimes theres so much gore its just rediculous.

Although back on topic. I generally dont like remakes, but after seeing the first halloween, I have to say, I hated it. I thought it was extremely boring. Now Rob Zombie's version was much more entertaining, although I could have done without the massive amount of nudity (although we do have the unrated version...)

 

[Drtooth]

That said... anyone else think that Twilight ruined vampires for them? Sparkle in the Sunlight? What the heck? Even the Toei animation Dracula anime wasn't that stupid... and trust me... it's STUPID...

 

[CensoredAlso]

If audiences stopped falling for these remakes every single time, Hollywood might eventually get the hint and realize they're not making them very well!

 

[D'Snowth]

But me being a fan of slasher movies, even I have to draw the line that sometimes theres so much gore its just rediculous.

I can go for some slasher movies myself, but only when the couple is comprised of a couple of hot chicks sucking face; for a while there as far as M*A*S*H is concerned, Charles and Klinger made for a popular slash couple, and ironically, David Ogden Stiers just recently outted himself.

Oh wait... that's not what we were talking about, was it?