It’s time for another discussion, this month I have decided to focus on the growing popularity of film remakes. Again, feel free to leave any comments about what your thoughts are towards remakes and I will get back to you.
We all know and love classic films that are very dear to our hearts and firmly become rooted as our all time favourites. However, in the past ten years ‘classics’ have somehow become very popular to remake, with new directors trying to surpass the original. On a recent trip to the cinema with my better half, we witnessed the popularity of remakes in full demonstration. There is a segment before the film begins called FTRC ‘From the Red Carpet’ which brings cinema-goers up to date with the latest from Hollywood. While waiting for our film, it came to my attention that every film mentioned was either a sequel or a remake. So in the 21st century we must ask ourselves two questions:
- Why have remakes become so popular?
- Are the remakes actually ever any good?
Let’s look at the horror genre and one of my personal favourites Halloween (briefly mentioned in my top 5 Halloween here) with Jamie Lee Curtis.
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| Michael Myers: Halloween (1978) |
This is a classic horror film with a huge fan base, loved by millions around the world. On June 4th 2006 it was announced that Rob Zombie would be remaking the classic film Halloween and received a mixed reaction from fans. The film would be split down the middle – the first half focusing on Michael Myers’ upbringing as a child and the second half acting as a remake of the original film. The film can also be considered as a prequel as Zombie was intent on delving deeper into Michael’s past and discover what drove him to go on a killing spree.
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| Michael Myers: Halloween (2007) |
The film received mixed reviews, some critics praising it for Zombie putting his own spin on Halloween while intertwining new and fresh ideas. Also the casting was heavily praised, specifically Malcolm McDowell as Dr Loomis. Other critics have said that the film went for cheap shocks and too many graphic scenes of nudity and violence which lacked any suspense that the original brought.
Scream 4 particularly focuses on remakes and the whole structure of the film is built around remodelling the original. However, in the 21st century the original must be outdone and everything has to be much more graphic in order to satisfy the modern audience. There is a scene in this film where the killer is quizzing the character Kirby about film remakes and in the space of around three minutes she manages to name around 25 -30 horror films which have all been remade. This scene stands out in my mind as it is amazing how many good horror films have been chewed up, re processed and spat back out again by Hollywood. With the likes of The Thing, Straw Dogs, Battle Royale, The Birds, Drop Dead Fred, Gremlins, Never Ending Story, Police Academy (to name a few!) being released, have the film makers run out of ideas? Or do they simply want to make the originals better and friendlier for a post-modern audience?
I think that both points are true. Remakes have been so popular recently because the directors want to bring films to new audiences in a more shocking way. Let’s face it – it takes a lot to shock audiences with the likes of Saw being tame by some standards.
In my experience I have seen many remakes however none are in my personal favourites. I have also seen the remake of Psycho with Vince Vaughn. Chilling.
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