by 3 – It’s a Chance to Take the Cheese Out
Cheese is good, and if you’re from Wisconsin, like me, then there’s never enough. It’s true, however, that there’s an abundance of cheese in many horror movies. It usually works though, contributing to the cult status of these films, such as The Evil Dead (1981).
But cheese doesn’t work for everyone, and you get what we had here this past summer, Evil Dead (2013), sans fromage (and “The”). And it worked like a motherfucker. It was/is a visceral, bloody terror-fest.
2 – It’s an Opportunity to Update for Modern Audience
The “Cheese” entry above led me here. While cheese isn’t necessarily out of date, it is more of a tool from a bygone era. There are, however, many things in a classic horror movie that can be updated for a modern audience — you know there’s some dumb high school girl curled up in a darkened room with her boyfriend watching Halloween (1978) and asking, “Why doesn’t Laurie use her cell phone?”
In addition to incorporating all the modern-day conveniences that have emerged in the last 30 years, don’t forget about all the advancements in movie-making technology. Note that I don’t advocate a total disregard for practical effects, but so much can be enhanced with CG.
1 – Bring It to America
We’re going to see this happen pretty soon with Oldboy (2013), the Spike Lee remake of Chan-wook Park’s film of the same name. The majority of this type of remake comes from Asia, but there are other imports as well, such as Sweden’s Let the Right One In, remade as Let Me In (2010).
The reason why the imports make sense as remakes is because other countries have different ways of telling stories that don’t necessarily appeal to or make sense to a North American audience. There are also different superstitions (a big part of the horror genre anywhere) that may be misunderstood here.
In my opinion, Hollywood is totally justified in adapting great foreign films a domestic market. What’s more, Hollywood has started modifying its own films to suit a foreign audience; there were scenes and story lines included for the Chinese release of Iron Man 3.
Rock Hard \m/
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