Misawa
07-06-2009, 07:27 PM
Remakes. Not a fan. They are entirely unneeded in most cases, but there are a couple of exceptions. I have only seen two remakes that are better than the original film, The Fly and John Carpenter's The Thing, which was adapted from a novel anyway, and is in fact more faithful than the original adaptation.
From memory, I've compiled a list of films from 2008 and 2009 that are remakes, just to see what percentage of mainstream theatrical releases are not original flicks:
I am Legend
Day of the Dead
Prom Night
Friday the 13th
My Bloody Valentine
Halloween 2
Sorority Row (The House on Sorority Row)
The Last House on the Left
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Eye
Quarantine
Shutter
And there were many more over the last two years - this is just a few. Still to come, next year I believe, is even a remake of Hitchcock's The Birds, courtesy of Michael Bay's company Platinum Dunes, that's never (and seemingly intends not to) produces anything original, and pretty sums up Bay's talent as a film-maker.
If you can believe it Ridley Scott's Alien was getting the remake treatment, and may still be - producers are currently trying to web out an origins story rather than a remake. The same goes for Predator, which was going to be remade, then suddenly (and thankfully) became a second sequel to be written and directed by Robert Rodriguez (one of my favourite directors), titled Predators, and they are trying to get Schwarzenegger involved to reprise his role as Dutch from the original. That could be fantastic.
And if you can even believe this: plans were made to remake Scream. Not even fifteen years old. Luckily, it's turned into a brand new trilogy - Scream 4, 5, and 6 are on their way in the coming years. I didn't care for the third film, but if Wes Craven is going to direct the fourth installment, it could be decent.
On a rather hypocritical note, I am in the process of writing the screenplay to a remake of a cult horror film. I can't say which though.
From memory, I've compiled a list of films from 2008 and 2009 that are remakes, just to see what percentage of mainstream theatrical releases are not original flicks:
I am Legend
Day of the Dead
Prom Night
Friday the 13th
My Bloody Valentine
Halloween 2
Sorority Row (The House on Sorority Row)
The Last House on the Left
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A Nightmare on Elm Street
The Eye
Quarantine
Shutter
And there were many more over the last two years - this is just a few. Still to come, next year I believe, is even a remake of Hitchcock's The Birds, courtesy of Michael Bay's company Platinum Dunes, that's never (and seemingly intends not to) produces anything original, and pretty sums up Bay's talent as a film-maker.
If you can believe it Ridley Scott's Alien was getting the remake treatment, and may still be - producers are currently trying to web out an origins story rather than a remake. The same goes for Predator, which was going to be remade, then suddenly (and thankfully) became a second sequel to be written and directed by Robert Rodriguez (one of my favourite directors), titled Predators, and they are trying to get Schwarzenegger involved to reprise his role as Dutch from the original. That could be fantastic.
And if you can even believe this: plans were made to remake Scream. Not even fifteen years old. Luckily, it's turned into a brand new trilogy - Scream 4, 5, and 6 are on their way in the coming years. I didn't care for the third film, but if Wes Craven is going to direct the fourth installment, it could be decent.
On a rather hypocritical note, I am in the process of writing the screenplay to a remake of a cult horror film. I can't say which though.