As a rule, I am usually dead against remaking films, especially absolute classics that should just be left alone.
However, the exception to that rule would be when there is an opportunity to truly improve upon the original and that is where horror remakes tend to sit well with me - only once they are made and I've actually seen it, might I add. e.g. I am LIVID that IT is being remade, but I'm sure when I see it, I will fall in love with it immediately.
Anyway, the advances made in special effects, mean our beloved classic horror films that have become so dated and sadly laughable, can be remade into blood soaked, disgusting, bundles of pure entertainment.
Horror is definitely my favourite genre - it spreads across such a broad spectrum; the space for ideas is deliciously vast, so much so that a delightfully innocent little creepy ghost story and a horrendously graphic rape/revenge movie, share the same entertainment umbrella. I Love that - where a rom com is a rom com and a comedy is a comedy, Horror is so much more.
I'm rambling so i'll get to the point of my post.....
In recent years, a few absolutely classic horror films have been remade and where as I would usually be internally screaming 'this is sacrilege' 'leave stuff alone' etc. I have absolutely reveled in it! Some amazing work has been improved upon and bought back to life, in fantastic ways.
Here's 10 of my favourites.......
10. House on Haunted Hill
Holier than thou movie snobs will hate that this is even included in any list, but I love it! The original will always have a place in my heart because of the skeletons on wires and the ear piercing Hammer Horror screams. The remake has a breath of fresh air to it that makes it a really fun movie - aside from the electro shock and all the dying, of course.
9. Last House on The Left
The original promotional campaign for this, included stories of people fainting in the cinema due to the extremely graphic violence. I am completely desensitised to even the most horrifically graphic things, so the original for me is painfully tame and terribly aged, but I have to say that one particular scene, in the remake, was even slightly too much for me.
8. I Spit on Your Grave
Pretty much in the exact same vein as number 9 - the same sort of violent story just on Anabolic, injection in your arse, steroids. This is a rape/revenge story and the way she gets her revenge is properly fucking gross but you can't help but want to jump up and down and cheer her on!
7. The Hills Have Eyes 2
This is a tough one, because part of the originals charm was that it was a terrible film, so bad in fact that Wes Craven actually disowned it, god rest him, the sicko. The remake I think served as a re-imagining rather than an actual remake - the film is still terrible but there's 1000 times more production value and its actually quite hilarious.
6. The Hills Have Eyes
I really enjoyed the remake of this, in fact it was a 'go to' film of mine for a while.
I'm actually questioning my moral fibre now, so I wont say anymore.
5. The Amityville Horror
A sweaty, Ryan Reynolds with no shirt on, is enough to make this amazing :-)
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This is where we start to get into the origins of this post and the re-ignition of my horror obsession. Believe it or not, I had a period in my early 20's where I flatly refused to watch any horror films - baring in mind my favourite film as a teenager was Candy Man, I don't even know what the hell happened. It may have been because I lived properly alone for the first time and that I am (even now) absolutely petrified of the dark. Anyway, this remake came out and my best friend said these exact words 'never watch that film, Lucy' so obviously I did the opposite and here I am now - the person who positively beamed at every second of the remake of Evil Dead. After all that waffle, my point is, there is loads more blood in this one and leather face doesn't look like a sock puppet.
3. Nightmare on Elm Street
This has received some criticism, mostly for taking away the campiness that Freddy embodied in the original film series but that's what I most like about it, they took a complete joke and turned him back into the scary as fuck movie monster he was supposed to be! I think it was very well done, in fact this movie marked the first time I ever screamed out loud in a cinema (certainly wasn't the last) and the elaboration of his back story was needed in my opinion, although I did have a conversation last weekend about the fact that they didn't need to turn him into a full blown pedophile; we agreed that just a run of the mill child murderer is enough.
2. Evil Dead
When this film came out I wrote an entire blog post about it, but since my previous blog just disappeared into the abyss somewhere, I can't really direct you to it. Absolutely fuming about that still.
All I will say is that Fede Alvarez is a force to be reckoned with and he did a MIND BLOWING job with this film - I've not seen so much blood since, Braindead!
1. Halloween
The number one reason I wrote this post - this film is now in my top 20 of all time, without question. Rob Zombie, the wonderfully sick sicko, took an old, tired, boring, horror film and shocked it back to life in the most spectacular fashion.
However, the exception to that rule would be when there is an opportunity to truly improve upon the original and that is where horror remakes tend to sit well with me - only once they are made and I've actually seen it, might I add. e.g. I am LIVID that IT is being remade, but I'm sure when I see it, I will fall in love with it immediately.
Anyway, the advances made in special effects, mean our beloved classic horror films that have become so dated and sadly laughable, can be remade into blood soaked, disgusting, bundles of pure entertainment.
Horror is definitely my favourite genre - it spreads across such a broad spectrum; the space for ideas is deliciously vast, so much so that a delightfully innocent little creepy ghost story and a horrendously graphic rape/revenge movie, share the same entertainment umbrella. I Love that - where a rom com is a rom com and a comedy is a comedy, Horror is so much more.
I'm rambling so i'll get to the point of my post.....
In recent years, a few absolutely classic horror films have been remade and where as I would usually be internally screaming 'this is sacrilege' 'leave stuff alone' etc. I have absolutely reveled in it! Some amazing work has been improved upon and bought back to life, in fantastic ways.
Here's 10 of my favourites.......
10. House on Haunted Hill
Holier than thou movie snobs will hate that this is even included in any list, but I love it! The original will always have a place in my heart because of the skeletons on wires and the ear piercing Hammer Horror screams. The remake has a breath of fresh air to it that makes it a really fun movie - aside from the electro shock and all the dying, of course.
9. Last House on The Left
The original promotional campaign for this, included stories of people fainting in the cinema due to the extremely graphic violence. I am completely desensitised to even the most horrifically graphic things, so the original for me is painfully tame and terribly aged, but I have to say that one particular scene, in the remake, was even slightly too much for me.
8. I Spit on Your Grave
Pretty much in the exact same vein as number 9 - the same sort of violent story just on Anabolic, injection in your arse, steroids. This is a rape/revenge story and the way she gets her revenge is properly fucking gross but you can't help but want to jump up and down and cheer her on!
7. The Hills Have Eyes 2
This is a tough one, because part of the originals charm was that it was a terrible film, so bad in fact that Wes Craven actually disowned it, god rest him, the sicko. The remake I think served as a re-imagining rather than an actual remake - the film is still terrible but there's 1000 times more production value and its actually quite hilarious.
6. The Hills Have Eyes
I really enjoyed the remake of this, in fact it was a 'go to' film of mine for a while.
I'm actually questioning my moral fibre now, so I wont say anymore.
5. The Amityville Horror
A sweaty, Ryan Reynolds with no shirt on, is enough to make this amazing :-)
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This is where we start to get into the origins of this post and the re-ignition of my horror obsession. Believe it or not, I had a period in my early 20's where I flatly refused to watch any horror films - baring in mind my favourite film as a teenager was Candy Man, I don't even know what the hell happened. It may have been because I lived properly alone for the first time and that I am (even now) absolutely petrified of the dark. Anyway, this remake came out and my best friend said these exact words 'never watch that film, Lucy' so obviously I did the opposite and here I am now - the person who positively beamed at every second of the remake of Evil Dead. After all that waffle, my point is, there is loads more blood in this one and leather face doesn't look like a sock puppet.
3. Nightmare on Elm Street
This has received some criticism, mostly for taking away the campiness that Freddy embodied in the original film series but that's what I most like about it, they took a complete joke and turned him back into the scary as fuck movie monster he was supposed to be! I think it was very well done, in fact this movie marked the first time I ever screamed out loud in a cinema (certainly wasn't the last) and the elaboration of his back story was needed in my opinion, although I did have a conversation last weekend about the fact that they didn't need to turn him into a full blown pedophile; we agreed that just a run of the mill child murderer is enough.
2. Evil Dead
When this film came out I wrote an entire blog post about it, but since my previous blog just disappeared into the abyss somewhere, I can't really direct you to it. Absolutely fuming about that still.
All I will say is that Fede Alvarez is a force to be reckoned with and he did a MIND BLOWING job with this film - I've not seen so much blood since, Braindead!
1. Halloween
The number one reason I wrote this post - this film is now in my top 20 of all time, without question. Rob Zombie, the wonderfully sick sicko, took an old, tired, boring, horror film and shocked it back to life in the most spectacular fashion.