WebKittyn Warbles
Sunday, March 05, 2006
The World is Braaaaaaaaaaaaaain Dead
Has to be, otherwise they'd be making new movies instead of simply redoing old ones.
What am I talking about? The Hills Have Eyes, that's what I'm talking about. Just the latest in movies that were fine the first time and don't really need to be remade but hey, the world is illiterate and it's easier to remake an old classic than to actually write something new. Bah.
The Hills Have Eyes was creepy enough in 1977, the fact that it was based loosely on a real clan of freaks made it even creepier. Craven's second 'big' movie, it was different from 'Last House on the Left' and it was creepy. Big time creepy. Scared the bejesus out of me as a kid.
But here we are, remaking it and throwing in 'post 9/11 resonance' which irks me to no end. Why? Why butcher greatness? Wasn't it bad enough they took the friggin' Poseidon Adventure and changed the tidal wave to terrorists on TV? What next, Michael Myers is going to end up being a lost 9/11 terrorist?
NYU is still graduating people from its film school, so are other institutions of academia. Why the hell can't they graduate literate thinkers who can come up with something original?
More examples of remakes that didn't need to be remade:
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Manhunter
The Poseidon Adventure (with yet ANOTHER remake coming out shortly)
The Amityville Horror
The Fog
House of Wax
When a Stranger Calls
House on Haunted Hill
Willard
13 Ghosts
Planet of the Apes
I could go on but you get the point. Bleh. What are we in store for next, a remake of the 'Evil Dead' series with some current pretty face like a Wahlberg playing Ash? Well look at that, according to IMDB they are in fact remaking 'Evil Dead.' I'm going to be ill now.
So there's my rant on the dumbing down of American cinema. Yes yes, I know I left out a whole other genre of bothersome and less-than-the original remakes - the Japanese ones. 'The Ring,' 'The Grudge,' 'Dark Water,' all remakes.
Were I the Dean of any established film school, the required graduate degree element would be an original film in the student's selected genre. This is getting pathetic.
Yes, there are some brilliant minds out there. M. Night Shyamalan, Kevin Smith, the Coen brothers come to mind. They exist, they're out there but they're not making movies. The remake writers are ruling the screen and it's pathetic.
I think I'm done ranting for now. Until I see the next commercial for a remake.
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Re-making Evil Dead!!!!
No!!!!!!
Goddamn them. A remake cannot be good. THE script was thin, the acting was bad, and the special effects weren’t that special. Somehow the end product was much bigger than the sum of its parts. Mostly because the movie was incredibly original.
Any remake will miss the mark.
jeckles on 03/05 at 08:35 PM -
I actually liked the Texas Chainsaw re-make better than the origional. And I own both of them. -grin-
I like the Willard book better than EITHER of the movies, and I’ve never seen the origional House on Haunted Hill or the origional 13 Ghots.
YummY! on 03/05 at 08:39 PM -
Remaking Evil Dead? What the fuck. No, no, let me say that again. What the FUCK! Seriously. That is wrong on levels I can’t even describe. I mean they basically made a remake of Evil dead… it was called Evil Dead 2. (okay, not quite a remake, but almost.)
I think I’m going to go crawl into a hole and be sick now. Then I’ll just watch mold grow upon the vomit because it will be better than anything that comes out of Hollywood for a while.
Uhg.
Depressed.
Utopia on 03/05 at 11:34 PM -
Ive been getting sick of it too. Sad really, there has been a few new themes, but otherwise even a “new” movie can have elements of an old to make it rather predictible.
Jennifer on 03/06 at 12:04 AM -
*steps out of the shadows*
I am a fan of Evil Dead, I’m never a crazy fan like the freaks at Star Wars Conventions or my ex-brother in law, but its one of the few movies I have always enjoyed. I think the original Evil Dead movies were fine, concidering it would be like you or me going out with a camera and making a movie, sadly it’d probably have alot better effects and such, only cause of technology.
I’m going to say the remake of the Evil Dead series is going to be a hit or miss, more likely miss because you’ll never capture the charm of the first one. The only thing on the plus side of it at least in my book is that Sam Raimi is fine with someone remaking it, but said he does not want to have too much to do with it, let it be someone else’s version, etc etc.
On the good side though, there is also going to be an Evil Dead 4, written and directed by Sam (and his brother Ted) and starring Bruce Campbell, which the Evil Dead remake will not have. Also the Evil Dead remake is going to be Evil Dead 1 and 2 as one movie.
That’s your Evil Dead News…
But I totally agree with Webkittyn, Hollywood can’t write anything original anymore, and people really need to stop remaking shit.
on 03/06 at 12:14 AM -
Its the end of the world, literally....
They’ve made a remake of the OMEN. I ain’t got words for this, its just rediculious and I’m sure I didn’t spell that right. They’re even releasing it on June 6th (6/6/06).
on 03/06 at 04:53 AM -
Completely agree on all points there. ‘Pulse’ (remake of the Japanese ‘Kairo’) is coming out soon, too.
Remaking the Evil Dead… Utopia nailed that. They threw in more comedy, took out the tree roots and called it #2. Sam Raimi (responsible for the 2006 remake) was the producer of the original film. On a bright note, he churned out one in 2005 (Evil Dead: Regeneration) - with Bruce as Ash, which I’m now going to have to try find somewhere.
And while we’re talking Campbell, go rent Bubba Ho Tep if you haven’t seen it (he does an astoundingly good Elvis).
Mr Campbell is also currently directing and starring in “They call me Bruce” (not a remake, perhaps) - “B Movie Legend Bruce Campbell is mistaken for his character Ash from the Evil Dead trilogy and forced to fight real monsters in a small town in Oregon”
And I have a happy correction - M. Night Shyamalan is making a movie. Lady in the Water is in production, scheduled for Relase this summer.
Finally, something to look forward to.
meathe on 03/06 at 02:46 PM -
Meathe- I actually have Bubba Ho Tep. It was hallarious. If you liked that, check out his newest movie (that’s actually out and on DVD) The Man with the Screaming Brain.
Utopia on 03/06 at 04:59 PM
<-- Steal me!
