Once Old, Now New Again

Remakes. Yes, the most contested movies in all of moviedom. A lot of people online just love to hate them. They whine, moan, complain, harass people who are excited for them, and frankly can't resist speaking up every single time one or even the thought of one is mentioned. Except for the fanatic insistences and blind hatred I say good on them for sticking to their guns. As we looked at last time out people complain if a movie is similar to a previous one and isn't a remake so there's really no winning. Except... there is one remake that almost no one complains about. That would be John Carpenter's The Thing (1982). Whether you like it--and its distasteful subject matter--or not Wes Craven's acclaimed first outing The Last House on the Left (1972) is pretty much a remake of The Virgin Spring (1960)--apparently the Virgin Spring's scriptwriter based it off of a ballad of all things. Craven himself cites the Virgin Spring, though some debate if that truly makes a remake.

Within remakes there is another subdivision called the reboot. All reboots are remakes, but not all remakes are reboots. To start, a reboot denotes a franchise, meaning a movie with sequels. While there are close remakes and loose remakes--The Thing and Last House on the Left are varying degrees of loose--reboots tend to change something within the story. Again the significance of the change varies. A prime example of a reboot is the remake of Friday the 13th (2009). Its first significant change is that it revolves around Jason, whereas the original first Friday the 13th movie did not. Other than Jason there are next to no other characters from the original film. There aren't even camp councillors. In contrast the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) while different in several aspects does not feel like a reboot despite the different additional characters. It added elements to the original, but not in a way that changed anything.

The adding of elements and expanding upon the ideas in the original is what makes for a great remake. A perfect example is the remake of The Hills Have Eyes (2006). It takes most of the original and then adds to it immensely, and in a way that feels natural. It also modernises the story without actually changing the timeframe (at least as far as I noticed). What it did was make more sense in the story's end, and as a good remake does it removed traits from the film that didn't age well and would make it dated. On the other hand it seemed like some of the addition was very close to a different unrelated horror movie, which itself borrowed from something else altogether. Another great remake that adds to the original is the remake of The Amityville Horror (2005). What it added to the film was in some parts new and in others elements present in the original novel that did not make it into the first film. I think this Amityville is the best remake of the new millennium yet.

Mood: stoic.
Music: Big Man With A Gun by Nine Inch Nails and (Ghost) Riders In The Sky by Me First And The Gimme Gimmes.

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Bad Comparison Claims

I wanted to talk a little bit today about movies, in specific the complaints about them revolving around one movie ripping off another. There are some pretty out there comparisons.

For instance someone described Darkness Falls as a rip-off of the Friday the 13th movies. You know that a flying old dead hag wearing a white mask who can't enter the light for fear of bursting into flames is exactly like a movie about a guy who eventually dons a hockey mask, becomes undead, and throughout life, death, undeath kills people for being naughty. Pretty broad comparison there if you ask me.

Someone making one of the documentaries about the original Halloween decided that Evil Dead is a Halloween rip-off because you know, people trapped in the woods fighting demonically possessed people and corpses is exactly like a movie about a guy in a mask killing babysitters. Never mind the fact that Evil Dead is actually to some degree an homage to Night of the Living Dead and not a rip-off of that even.

The other day I saw another ludicrous comparison. The Manitou is a rip-off of the Exorcist because you know that a woman with a tumour on her neck that's actually an embryo of a reincarnated Native American medicine man bent on destroying modern day white people is exactly like the story of a girl suffering from demonic possession. Wow, the similarity is just uncanny. Come on people.

Don't let these baseless accusations slide. No one likes a mean dismissal of their thoughts, so kindly and gently educate if you see something outrageous like this. As smart places on the web say, don't address the poster, don't make it personal, just state the big differences in these movies. Remember, only you can prevent flame wars.

On the other hand don't be afraid of pointing out the really close ones like say (and I cannot recommend anyone actually watch this movie) The Astronaut's Wife, which is very similar to Rosemary's Baby. I'm not even saying that closeness is itself an issue, just that unlike the other examples it's pretty clear. My issue with the movie is what I consider it's lack of quality, which is neither here nor there, and some people may like it.

I hear recent The Roommate is much like Single White Female from years back. So what. I don't have a problem with that. It's just this idea that everything is a rip-off and thus bad and should be, I don't know, blocked, banned, or burned that gets me--of course compounded by blatant mistakes in the similarity. I guess that's all I have to say about this now. Next time, my take on remakes.

Mood: spleeny.
Music: The Ripper by Iced Earth and Let Me Hear You Scream by Ozzy Osbourne.

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The White-Trash King

*** Disclaimer: The following in no way means to disparage the people of lower class income or who live in certain kinds of homes. It is specifically about the character of some people and speaks to the common and likely even stereotypical view of such groups of individuals. ***

Let’s talk about Rob Zombie again. Specifically I want to talk about how sometimes I jokingly refer to him as the White-Trash King. I mean no disrespect in this, in fact quite the opposite. If you want down and dirty, trailer trash--with or without the trailer--lowbrow, low rent, it must be both trying and fun to be around these people, kind of characters then Zombie is your man. I mean wow. I am in awe and more than a little jealous. I feel way too clean cut and, take your pick, suburban or rural to get the kind of grasp on these kinds of characters like Zombie does. You can have your opinion as to why he has this grasp, but that's none of my business, and I'm here about other things. Now, let me give you a little background and viewing history.

I've had an influx of Rob Zombie watching over the last couple of months. I had liked "House of 1000 Corpses" from the moment the end credits rolled despite some of its obvious flaws. It took me quite a while to get around to "The Devil's Rejects" and I was floored. It was amazing. What a huge leap forward in directing--and the other aspects of the filmmaking process were also up to that standard. Then we have Zombie's "Halloween" remake. I like it. I've only seen the director's cut--go unrated discs. It really puts me in mind of the original's director cut in that it seems to carry on quite a while. The thing is that it is interesting if you are in the mood. Since I recently saw Rejects I also finally got my hands on "Halloween II"--again director's cut and unrated. Let's start with the bad news--I'll be brief, the review will be elsewhere. It has it's problems--again that will be elsewhere (sorry).

Back to the characters. These trashy characters aren't just everything I described in the first paragraph. Those people aren't all that bad. There is a subset among them though, that you might say are equal in roughness, more kindly unpolishedness perhaps, morally as they are in the more obvious attributes. This more rotten core will stab you as soon as look at you, smack their kids and spouses around (yes, by no means limited to the trash demographic), and attack the authorities when they come to take away their right to be beaten. As with any group, the two kinds mix freely making it harder to spot the villains, and adding complexity to dealing with them for both the author and any characters from the outside. Now, with this look at these types of characters in hand, we can take a look at how they affect the horror in any given story or movie.

Mood: daring.
Music: Deep Unknown by Stratovarius and These Colours Don't Run by Iron Maiden.

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A Mass of Awesome

Today I am going to talk a number of spoilers for a number of movies. If you don't want to know nitty-gritty details about "The Blair Witch Project", "The Mangler", "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)", "Paranormal Activity", "The St. Francisville Experiment", "Dead & Buried", "The Devil's Rejects" "Hatchet", "The Amityville Horror (2005)", "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" or "Silent Night, Deadly Night", then you had better stop reading and join me again next week for the final Horror on Hump Day of 2010. You're safe until the end of this paragraph while I outline what I want to cover about these movies. I make it no secret that I like a number of things and movies that others do not care for or outright deride. I thought in keeping with the upbeat trend I've been on that I would tell you about some of these today. I'm sorry for excluding some people from the fun, but now and then it's fun to talk about these spoilers.

Let's start with my favourite little story about "The Blair Witch Project" in the theatre. I went with a friend. Afterward we both agreed the following happened. As the film progressed we got colder and colder. The instant the credits rolled the cold was gone. There was no way it was anything other than psychological. I'm in a very tiny minority as a huge fan of "The Mangler". I just love it to bits, except for the incessant screaming of the girl at the end. Speaking of screaming, the first time I saw "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)" was on a really bad VHS. It was a poor experience when a large bit of the movie was a pair of white shorts running through pitch darkness--with nothing else visible--screaming, to the sound of a chain saw. I still think there is a bit too much screaming, though I'm sure there are some people who scream incessantly until they can scream no longer.

I thought "Paranormal Activity" was pretty good despite that it was in some ways a pretty tame haunting. It's all a matter of pacing, and successfully directing the kind of expectation the audience should have. The guy hurtling toward the camera made me jump, and I even like the demon-face morph. "The St. Francisville Experiment" gets a bad rep as a Blair Witch rip-off sight unseen, when really it's like an investigation of "Ghost Hunters" or "Sightings" in movie format--yes the ending's a bit Blair Witch. The ghost throwing the chair was really cool and the weird doll scene was a great bit of suspense. One of the freak-nastiest things I've seen is the burned man hanging upside down in the car in "Dead & Buried". There are a lot shots of him in the extras on the DVD box I have too. I call him Ham-head to mitigate some of the ick-factor, but really it makes it worse.

Stay with me, I'm going extra long today. Now for those moments where I hoped the movie would do something and did. That was awesome in "The Devil's Rejects" when he made her wear her boyfriend's face and then she chases after the maid and turns into a massive road smear. Or how about in "Hatchet" when he sticks the shovel in the ground and then uses it to spear his next victim? The best part of "The Amityville Horror (2005)" was when the ghost girl made the babysitter stick her finger in the bullet wound in her forehead. Then there is the movie where you wonder will it get to the horror goods and then--BAM--"Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" turns from documentary making into horror movie when the real survivor girl is revealed. Finally, since it's the season, I must talk about the "Carrie" of slasher films, "Silent Night, Deadly Night" and the world's creepiest grandfather. I love that movie, and dislike none of it. The creepy Christmas carols and songs rock too. That's it. See you next week.

Mood: rebellious.
Music: Callin' The Shots by Quiet Riot and Where Eagles Dare by Iron Maiden.

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Get Your Scary and Cool Gifts

Yes it's that time again. Rather than leave it too too late I decided to hit you now with my holiday gift giving suggestions. It's a shorter list than last time. Only you can decide if it's a better list. It's part things I want and part things I own and heartily suggest. It's a pile of awesome as far as I'm concerned. Knock your friends and family socks off. Have at it.

Movies/DVD
The Haunting in Connecticut (Unrated Special Edition) (2009)	House of 1000 Corpses/The Devil's Rejects 3-Disc Set	Heartstopper (2006)
The Crazies (2010)	A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)	Dark Night Of The Scarecrow (1981)

Music
Iron Maiden: The Final Frontier	Twisted Sister: A Twisted Christmas

Mood: generous.

13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010: Night #13 The Haunting In Connecticut

Ah! It's Hallowe'en! I hope it's red 'n' black, and slimy green for you. As always I have left the best movie for last. The Haunting InConnecticut is another movie based on a true story. Up until the haunting really shifts into high gear the story is fairly close to the original incidents. I was thrilled when I found out they were making this movie, and even more so when I watched the movie and saw what they had done. Let's start with our star Kyle Gallner. You may have seen him in Jennifer's Body and the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. He just makes this movie so much more. I wouldn't sneeze at Virginia Madsen either. She's been in Candyman, The Haunting, and The Prophecy. The rest of the notable actors in the movie's family include Amanda Crew from Final Destination 3 and Martin Donovan from Insomnia (2002) or on TV in Ghost Whisperer or Masters of Horror (2007).

A last mention on cast is the helpful reverend played by Elias Koteas who was also in The Prophecy with Madsen; otherwise you mightrecall him from Lost Souls, The Fourth Kind, Shutter Island or Let Me In (2010), or if you're really sharp in a small role in Apt Pupil. There is something I have to gush about in Haunting In Connecticut and it is one word... ectoplasm! It's right there on the cover. We're not talking green slime here, we're talking something much more textbook, and I for one love it. It's the icing on a very cool cake. Now, for those of you who don't know, this is a movie about a mother who moves her family into a house that was formerly a mortuary because the house is close to the hospital where her one son is undergoing an experimental cancer treatment. The place is haunted, but the how and why is all of the fun. Enjoy, and Happy Hallowe'en!

Mood: festive.

Music: This Is Halloween by Danny Elfman. MP3s

13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010: Night #12 The Shining (1980)

The night before Hallowe'en, Devil's Night. Can you feel the excitement? Are you ready? Well if not then you should be aftertonight's movie. In a list of movies with infamously haunted places there is one name that towers over the others. It is called The Overlook Hotel, and it is not real, but most people will know the name nonetheless, even if they don't recall from where. The Overlook is based for the most part on a real hotel called The Stanley Hotel and is the creation of Stephen King in his novel The Shining. This is the first movie adaptation of that novel. The mastermind behind it is none other than Stanley Kubrick. Mind you some people aren't so sure on the mastermind part. This movie deviates from the novel on several levels. To me this makes for the more interesting of the two kind of novel to movie adaptations.

Kubrick had his own vision for the story. It is both familiar and divergent. Starting off we have the cast. The movie stars Jack Nicholson,Shelley Duvall, and young Danny Lloyd as a family maintaining The Overlook Hotel during the long and harsh winter. This is the same as King's story. It's not a spoiler, but the only thing I'll say here about the differences is that in Kubrick's movie the hotel has a hedge maze, and the novel--and remake mini-series--has hedge animals that come to life. As one might expect from a Kubrick movie there is a great attention to detail from sets to locations to the acting, and of course the direction. As for the haunting, the Shining has it in spades. Also, if you don't know, the shining is actually psychic ability, exemplified by Danny Lloyd's character and the cook played by Scatman Crothers.

Mood: stoked.

Music: Halloween by Helloween. MP3s

13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010: Night #11 Poltergeist II: The Other Side

If you are new to my array of blogs or just have forgotten, my favourite movie of all time, any genre, is the originalPoltergeist. I already told you all about it for last year's Hallowe'en movie. I decided not to repeat myself although there were more than a couple haunting movies previously covered that I could have tackled again. Poltergeist II: The Other Side is a great sequel. It didn't have to be as brilliant, or as beautiful as the original, it just had to keep you involved with the family. It helped immensely that Craig T. Nelson, Jobeth Williams, and of course little Heather O'Rourke returned--and the boy too. With them came Zelda Rubinstein as the absolutely iconic Tangina Barrons. This time the Freelings have moved in with the children's grandmother but the ghosts still want Carol Anne, especially their leader the Reverend Kane played by Julian Beck.

Let's start there, with Julian Beck as Kane. That is one seriously creepy old man. Beck is just absolutely amazing whether it is pretending to be a sweet innocent old codger or the seething, wrathful, fire and brimstone, cult leader unsatisfied even in death to let his followers go. That in itself is also the coolest thing about this movie--the back-story that dovetails so well into the goings on of the previous film. That is likely because Poltergeist II has the same writing team that brought us the original movie: Michael Grais and Mark Victor. Kane has another problem beside Tangina this time out in the form of a Native American shaman played by Will Sampson. Both Sampson and Beck were supposed to have died after working on this movie because of the Poltergeist curse--also Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke--one of the creepiest (false) movie legends.

Mood: inspired.

Music: Halloween by Aqua. MP3s