Tags: remake

To me, the horror film genre is so close to being past beyond saving, with only certain films giving me a slight glimmer of hope for the future (Trick 'r Treat). This is mainly because the genre is completely flooded with several mainstream remakes of classic horror films, first being started off with Gus Van Sant's shot by shot remake of Psycho in 1998. Now, don't get me wrong, there have been several good remakes that pay homage to the original while also taking a concept into an entirely different direction (The Thing, The Fly, The Blob, etc). But being in a generation where horror remakes are the norm, it's frankly just getting tiring to see remakes of classics (Halloween, Friday the 13^th, etc) and obscure cult favorites (Black Christmas, Maniac, etc) being made and released year after year.(read more...)

I believe anyone who has read my review of Maniac knows my feelings towards the film. It was and still is a serious, chilling and psychological slasher film, right in the same vein of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. But it looks like no horror or exploitation film from the 70's and 80's are safe anymore from the remake virus.

On November 4^th, 2011, it was announced that Elijah Wood of Lord of the Rings and Sin City fame is set to play Joe Spinell's most infamous role as Frank Zito, a man who is constantly haunted by visions of his own abusive mother, and takes it upon himself to murder and scalp women as a way of gaining revenge.(read more...)

Three pieces of remake-related news for those interested. First off, apparently Fox's remake of David Cronenberg's The Fly is still happening, according to THR's Risky Business Blog, this time with Cronenberg himself attached as a writer (and possibly as a director). While this is an odd move for Cronenberg, whose seen greater box office success and mainstream acceptance since he switched from horror to crime thrillers, it's not completely befuddling. Cronenberg recently directed Howard Shore's recent opera version of The Fly, which played in Paris and Los Angeles. Maybe he still has insects on the brain.
Source: Risky Business Blog(read more...)

Universal has released the trailer for their upcoming remake The Wolfman to Yahoo! Movies. Well, they call it a trailer. I call it a plot summary. While it's exhilarating to see so much of the original 1941 The Wolf Man in place (Larry Talbot having an American accent, the gypsy woman, the Welsh setting), it also feels like all of the elements that are new to this version have been spelled out. I won't divulge what these new elements are, in deference to those who avoid the trailer to remain unspoiled. (read more...)

Another week, another remake story...

This time, Reuters are reporting that Steven Spielberg's plans to redo ultra-violent Korean revenge flick Oldboy with Will Smith in the lead role are still moving forward, despite a complex behind-the-scenes legal row between the publishers of the original manga and the producers of the original film.

Futabasha has filed a case against Show East in Seoul, alleging the Korean company never had the right to negotiate a remake. To futher complicate the story, Show East has shut down, its CEO, Kim Dong-Ju, has disappeared, and another firm involved in the production of the original, Big Egg, has also closed up shop.

DreamWorks, which snapped up the rights in November in the wake of its separation from Paramount, has so far not commented on the dispute.

There is some good news of sorts if you were despairing of ever again seeing anything original at the cinema. The HorrorSquad website is reporting that Michael Bay's production company Platinum Dunes has apparently dropped plans to remake Hitchcock's The Birds and Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby.

In an interview with Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, the duo behind the recent Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw remakes, as well as the upcoming new version of Nightmare on Elm Street, both appeared to suggest that the overwhelmingly negative response on the Internet was a factor

On The Birds remake, which had been slated for a 2011 release with Naomi Watts in the Tippi Hedren role, Fuller is quoted as saying "As you guys know, we lay ourselves out there and get annihilated out there online all day long, and that movie just opens us up to a whole different level of annihilation."(read more...)

The Hollywood Reporter's Risky Business blog broke the inevitable news that Universal is developing a remake of James Whales's Bride of Frankenstein. In fact, it turns out that Universal's been kicking around the idea for at least five years, although never with any success. The new Bride would be co-produced with Imagine Entertainment. Neil Burger (The Illusionist, The Lucky Ones) is in talks to write and direct; he would likely partner with Dirk Wittenborn on the screenplay. (read more...)

We've been generally inconsistent in posting these and for that I apologize. However, given all the neat stuff coming up over the next few months (announcements to be made soon), well, the trend is unlikely to change. So let's get down to some of the stories posted last week that were of note to fans of classic horror movies.(read more...)

Universal will remake David Cronenberg's Videodrome, according to this Variety.com article. If you suddenly feel waves of anger coming at you from you computer screen, well, that's me. I'm transmitting my own Videodrome signal. I'm a pretty laidback guy when it comes to the remake machine. I wish they'd stop, but I'd rather occupy my time with the original films. However, when I see a sentence like, "The new picture will modernize the concept, infuse it with the(read more...)

Another week, another set of interesting articles and news bits from around the web. Inside there's more information on Rob Zombie's Halloween sequel, a controversy surrounding the English subtitles in the American DVD release of Let the Right One In, a few thought-provoking reviews, and more!

(read more...)