Remakes: The Thing

Whew, THE THING. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.  Both films shaped my love of horror films for different reasons and both were equally amazing and powerful works in my mind.

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD - 1951
Howard Hawks really brought the  John W. Campbell short story "Who goes there?" to life with his Direction. There are Howard Hawks moments throughout the film and it's SO WONDERFULLY 50s. (( I ALWAYS mess this up.  Christian Nyby was also a Director on this film, but I always leave him out. Sorry Chris. :)   ))
Quick dialog and some grand play with the camera and character interactions makes this one of the biggies from my childhood. Mom would make a huge bowl of popcorn and we'd sit and watch the afternoon movie back in the ye old 1970-somethings and we'd never miss THE THING when it was on.

You know the story. A team of scientists in a remote, arctic outpost pair up with the Air Force to investigate a U.F.O. crash site. They discover an alien occupant and bring it back to the base to check out. Said occupant thaws and mayhem ensues as the small outpost wages war against the alien to save the planet from being taken over.

There are little things in here that make me smile time and time again. Conversations are like machine gun fire - rattling off quickly and smoothly with some cute, 1950s moments that are just awesome. Some good writing there. Then there are things like doors opening and closing. Watch the film again. You'll see doors opening and closing, people going in and out and people talking about doors throughout. But why? Oh...you'll find out! HA! And the James Arness monster makeup is grand.

The story goes that test makeup was done on a stand-in offsite before shooting started. Jack Pierce did the makeup, I believe. When the effects artist got the perfect THING, he tossed the stand-in into the car to drive him over to the studio to show the execs. On the way over, a women in another car looked over and started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs in her vehicle. The makeup artist knew this was the one after that.

I just love this film.






THE THING - 1982
Now, I went a long while wanting to kill every remake with fire. They could never make me happy.
But....wow. Walking into the theater, sitting down and having this film unfold before me like it did - even with pages and pages of FANGORIA magazine pre-press committed to memory - just completely blew our minds.

Here you have two people (my Mother and I) who not only loved the original, but had all these huge,  emotional ties to it as well. The film had to be amazing to make us come anywhere close to liking it as much as the original film. We sat there at the opening copter scene and were interested. This was different and we were ok with it and wondered where it would lead.

Turns out it lead to some of the most impressive effects work we'd seen and we'd seen a lot being genre film lovers for years and years. Rob Bottin took things up to screaming standards with his practical effects work and blew us away. It was fantastic.

The script was grand as well, taking the original storyline and adding some super details and game changing plot points into the mix that made this an update well worth sparing from the flames of hatred. They basically kept the whole of the story and added this mystery element of who was good and who was bad in that ramped the game up to new and fantastic heights.


And Carpenter was SPOT ON POINT with all his work on the film with a cast that took everything and played it real and deadly serious. That's why this remake stands out among many as a work that can not only stand on it's own, but one that people really can't see being without in the horror community.



And, this is what I really want out of a remake. I really don't mind them anymore, but...make an effort. That's all I ask. Try something interesting. Update the sucker with something cool and new. Maybe do some writing. :)

I suppose I should take a look at the 2011 THE THING (...that we couLd not come up with a better name for)  but, I don't really wanna. :)

I'll be looking at some other remakes that do just that. And...some that don't, but give it a shot.

Our recent MANIAC compare and contrast takes a look at the remake.   Take a look if you have not already.

Rebound

Again with the undead? Really?

Oh...wait...but you're doing it right and with a focus on story and good acting?! That's a different matter. :)

France's REBOUND  is looking wondrous with an emphasis on story. Based on the 2004 movie Les revenants (They Came Back) , the series focuses on the mysterious events that bring the dead back from beyond. It looks like it's playing heavy on the dramatic with a twist to the side of not everyone who is coming back is a lovely, angelic being. Some of them were murderers and villains.

I love the concept of the dead coming back in this way, not just hungry monsters. I also welcome story based plot and some good situations playing out. I have to say it...but, basically everything I didn't get from WALKING DEAD. But....that horse as sailed. :)

The series was picked up by the U.K.'s Channel 4. 

VARIETY article can be FOUND HERE

Check it

Retake on Remakes

A while back in 2011, I wrote something that bashed remakes.

(( http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2011/09/horror-remakes.html ))

The general take-away on it was that many remakes just don't do as well as the originals when you look at reviews and the like. Since that article was written, I've been knee deep in life. Work issues, my little girl going into the "Terrible Twos", a new baby, a daughter going into Stanford and the loss of my Father and all the fallout from that. It's amazing how one's views can change when real issues come on hot and heavy! :)

So...remakes. Whatever. It's fallout from a system that doesn't work in the artist's favor, honestly. Writers write new things, but many studios want a guaranteed return on their investments. Hell, I want that, why wouldn't they? So, they go with things that worked before over unproven ground.

Ti West pointed out in the Innkeepers Extras that there is a ratio that is industry wide.

more studio money = more studio involvement - creative control over the project + more cash

less studio money = less studio involvement + more creative control - less cash

So, it's great having the cash when you're making your movie, but you're going to be facing less creative control more often than not. And studios will remake or sequel out a franchise if it's made money in the past.

I've recently taken a look at some remakes and I've really tried to remove my old "TO HELL WITH THEM!" filter and I have to say it's not as bad as all that. The thing that drove me to do this was hearing some of the ranting from the other side. People bashing remakes to the point where they seem like they may be worse than murdering someone and eating them. :) "HOW DARE THEY TOUCH THAT SACRED FILM!" I've taken the tack of just not caring as much - there are so many more important things in the world to care about, really.

On that note, I re-watched  Rob Zombie's Halloween and I enjoyed it. It added some little side-note story items, had some nice "re-envisioning" of the classic Carpenter version and had that Rob Zombie look that you either love or love to hate on. All in all, I watched it and liked it. I'd watch it again for sure.

I've also started re-watching some other remakes like THE BLOB and writing about them as well. I'm sure they have SOMETHING to offer in the mix. I'm also sure that there's crap mixed in there as well (SEE: The Fog remake disaster), but that's a numbers game.

One of my favorite examples of right and wrong remakes can be found withing the LIVING DEAD series. The NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake was great and brought some grand things to the table - like the fact that the zombies were so slow you could really just walk around them if you had a little room. Fantastic. I love the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, too. As a matter of fact, it got to me enough to were I actually had a little nightmare experience. A first in LONG while when it comes to horror and horror movies. I just don't scare anymore. hehehe  But, then you hit the rotten stench of the DAY OF THE DEAD remake and....ouch....it puts me back in the mindset of,  "Hmph, maybe they really shouldn't remake movies. That was horrid."

And...my gawd...the EVIL DEAD remake looks great to me and I'm so excited to see it, but the first thing I thought when I heard about it originally was "HOW DARE THEY TRY to remake that CLASSIC!!!" Well, that all ended when I saw the first, shake cam trailer view from Comicon. The second trailer has gotten me even more excited. So much so that I've cleared the decks and gotten flight ok from the Mrs. to go see it opening weekend! :)


How do you feel about remakes?

Are you sick of the moaning about remakes or are you a true believer that nothing should be remade?

More on remakes:

Night of the Demons VS - 
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2011/02/versus-night-of-demons.html

April Fools Day Remake Disaster - 
http://horrorsho.blogspot.com/2010/05/april-fools-day-remake.html



~M~

Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead

Well well....look what we have here! Someone is doing a little thinking "outside the box" in horror again. Granted, this is similar to the WAXWORK concept in a few ways, but it's meta, one movie take makes this something that I'd kinda like to check out.

The trailer below almost lost me, actually. It starts out looking like a typical, set 'em up and knock 'em down slasher or BS supernatural teen splatter trip. However, it turns around and turns around quickly, taking things in a very interesting direction.

Or...is it better as a trailer? Maybe I should just be happy with that? We'll see.

The film came out in 2011 and got a big 30% on ROTTEN TOMATOES, but that doesn't scare me. People are trashing talking THE ABCS of DEATH and V/H/S and I loved those. I'll give this a go.

Sadly, it's not streaming on NETFLIX (at the time of this posting) , so I'll have to wait for the DVD.

Evil Dead Redband Trailer 2

Even more nuggets of nasty in this EVIL DEAD Redband Trailer #2. BE WARNED! This is not something for work, kids or the squeamish. It's for fellow, hard boiled horror fans. 

More gore and violence and nastiness seems to be in order for this remake. More of everything. It's nasty and mean and gruesome. But, will it fly?

I can see the choice to make things WAY over the top with this and, honestly, I can't wait to see it. The original is still near and dear to my heart. Taking things in a more violent and gory space will help to separate it from it's predecessor. But will the gore-fest drive people towards the film or away from it?

The backlash seems to already be starting. Groups up in arms about what they see in the trailer. This sort of thing often drives people to see the film - the only one's being driven further away usually being those who would not see the film anyway.

Let the possessions....BEGIN!

EVIL DEAD remake looking GREAT! (Oct24)

When I heard that they were remaking EVIL DEAD I was nothing but against it. I thought the original was grand. We watched it over and over again "back in the day" and it was untouchable.

As I've been diving into the genre more and more and have been trying to look at films as solitary works and not part of a family unit or holy, untouchable art, I'm starting to see the value add of the remake in our society.

CARRIE is being remade as well and that has always been looked at as one of the golden, untouchable films in the horror genre, yet there really is something to be said for remaking it and taking modern times, religious beliefs and modern teens into consideration. 

Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN remake was shunned by me until I looked at it with a stand alone vision and it's really not a bad film as slashers go. Zombie did a fine job with things.

Which brings s to the EVIL DEAD. Shot on a shoestring and crafted by people who loved the genre, EVIL DEAD is a great film with fantastic, unfinished edges and a rough and ready feel to it. The cabin in the woods sub-genre was turned on it's ear and dragged through the woods along with Bruce Campbell and we all loved it.

But, a modern retelling of the films sweet storyline with some more money behind it and a few modern effects might be all sorts of awesome. And, from what I saw in the trailer, I'll be there opening weekend for sure.

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment!

Remakes: The Blob

I'm not a fan of remakes. I'm just not.

There are so many ideas out in the world that I just can't believe what gets turned around into a remake at times. Case in point: The most awesome [rec] being remade in the SAME YEAR, only to fail at the box office. But, with that said, there are some remakes that really bring something new and fresh to the table. Perhaps it's just a retelling of a story that has been around for a long while. THE BLOB is one of those exceptions to the rule. The Blob remake updates and retells a story that's loved by many while adding a little spice to the execution.

The original 1958 Blob is pretty awesome on its own. If you have yet to see it, you can view it through the wonders of YouTube. The title music alone is well worth a viewing! :) And...I mean...Steve McQueen? Oh yeah! The action is fun and the 50s styling is a sight to behold. It has that youth against the man thing, too, which is always a nice little nugget in these films.

 

The story is simple. A meteor falls out of the sky and the poor man that finds it finds out that the goo contained within is alive and hungry. The goo wraps itself around the old man's hand and he can't get it off. McQueen and his date Aneta Corsaut (purrrr) find the old man and bring him to the doctor. And so begins the tale of THE BLOB. As it eats, it gets bigger. You see where this is going. Along the way, you get a bit of small town feeling, youth vs. adults and general terror as the Blob grows and grows as it eats it's way through the town. Nothing seems to be able to stop it. It can crawl through small openings and under doors and it becomes more mobile as it grows larger. A great story with some fantastic moments of tension and suspense.

The original relies on some masterful edits and storytelling to avoid showing much in the way of gore or body horrors as the Blob ingests it's victims. So, for the 1988 remake, they add that into the mix to liven things up a bit, retelling the original story with the addition of some grotesque and nasty body horror moments. The Blob is like the perfect eating machine, breaking people down within moments and adding them to it's own body mass.

The effects are nasty and the tension and action is ramped up considerably. What we're really seeing here is the same story ramped up from 1950s acceptable horror to the over the top effects heavy world of the 1980s. And, every bit of the fun is on screen and in your face.

 

Kevin Dillon is no McQueen, but turns in a decent performance. Fans of the SAW franchise machine will recognize Shawnee Smith as Dillon's main squeeze on this thrill ride. Chuck Russell's stylistic direction works well for this film and there are some really smart and interesting scenes of the blob attacking that I'm not sure I'll ever forget. (Sink and phone booth come to mind...yikes...) I remember my palms being sweaty when I saw this in the theater back in '88 and it holds up rather well today. Especially the horrific results of the Blob attacks.




But, now we come to the point of this little article - did The Blob need to be remade? Did it need the ramped up action and gore-heavy effects work? Did it need to be updated and retold in a modern day setting?

I guess that really depends on the viewer. There's a lot to be said for classic horror cinema. Of watching a film like The Blob and seeing the charm and style of it's original world that it was created in. The time frame and reference point of creation. However, seeing something retold in a new world can be very interesting as well when done properly. A cleaver screenplay and a new breath of life into a film can be very refreshing and fun to take in.

In short, I'm starting to see that remakes are not necessarily the issue. It's often that fact that there is little time or effort made on some of these remakes that is the real issue and the real source of my hatred of the "remake" in general. Sloppy and silly screenplay writing will always give a film nothing to stand on - remake or not.

So, keep trying, Hollyweird. Go safe with the remake path and have at it tossing more cash, effects and time into them. At the very least, older movies can be viewed by children and people with a lower tolerance for violence and gore.

Just don't fruck 'em up.   :)