[orange]

Am I the only one who's sick of all the remakes of 60s, 70s and even some 80s movies lately? I'm a big fan of horror, and it seems in the last couple of years that every single horror movie that I enjoyed is being remade and often ruined. I just saw a trailer for the remake of The Omen, and I heard that even Suspiria and George Romero's The Crazies are being remade! Not to mention all the others that have recently been done: The Amityville Horror, Dawn of the Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, When A Stranger Calls... the list is endless. And that's just horror... movies are being remade in other genres as well.

I understand that it's basically a money grab, but I wish movie makers could be a little more original. I mean are we really so easily entertained? I admit I have enjoyed a couple of the remakes but it's getting kind of ridiculous. Plus I think young people should learn to appreciate older movies, and they're never going to do this with the way things are going. I know I loved discovering all the old horrors and sci fis as a teenager. I would much rather see older movies re-formatted and re-released to theatres (such as was done with Apocalypse Now and The Exorcist), rather than these remakes, most of which are lousy.

[valinors_sorrow]

Yeah, Chava, I know exactly what you mean.

It IS an economic thing I think and so that says (in my humble opinion that is sometimes too big for its britches) that we should all take note and vote with our money, not just spend it!

I gave up on TV and I can't find anything worthwhile in the local rental shops except that money-driven drivel. So I subscribe to an online dvd rental service (it happens to be Netflix but there are others out there) which has a really huge assortment of old and new and everything in between.

I have a list 200 items long now of movies I am either catching up on or looking at again for the first time in a long time now that its available to me.

Just the other day I watched (of all things! ) a really ancient Disney classic from my childhood called the Three Lives of Thomasina and thoroughly relished it (does the "finger going in a circle next to my head" gesture here since there isn't a little icon for that! ) LOL

[orange]

Oh yeah I remember that move, The Three Lives of Thomasina. I really liked it when I was a kid, too. I'm glad to know it's on DVD, I may purchase it in that case.

I am the same as you. I've all but given up on Blockbuster because it's mostly new movies, and most are either bad or remakes or bad rip offs. Luckily we do have a locally owned movie rental store here, and they have a lot of good titles... but unluckily a lot of their best older titles are on VHS and are thus being phased out. :( I don't think we have the rental service you mentioned, but I buy a lot of old movies on DVD... often I am able to find good and cheap titles in bins at Wal-Mart. Also since Blockbuster has no more late fees, I ended up buying several of their old horrors, which to MY horror (haha bad pun) they NEVER replaced!

[aqua@home]

I agree with both of you. I said just the same thing the other day. I am not a fan of horror, but they are remaking everything. I love the Superman and Batman movies and now they have redone them. I have to say my family was not too impressed with Batman Begins. It was just too much, I think the makers went too far. They are remaking everything: Freaky Friday, Oceans Eleven, Yours Mine and Ours and the list could go on. Some are better but others, not so much.

I'm with you guys. Great observation:)

[orange]

Ugh yeah I forgot about those movies... and actually I think Freaky Friday has been remade more than once! Disney also remade The Shaggy Dog and Herbie the Love Bug recently. None of those movies got good reviews as far as I'm aware.

[aqua@home]

I know, the list could go on and on and on...

Some are better, but they should leave the classics alone. If it was a "hit", a great movie, just leave it alone. I think they've been doing it for a while but it is getting to be more and more.

Have they run out of ideas?:rolleyes:

[Thomas1970]

Hi,
Being a huge fan of classic horror movies myself, I totally agree. Though I did enjoy the remakes of both Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, neither was as good as the original. As an interesting side note though, the same thing goes on in the world of music. Not only the abundance of poor cover songs, but bands remaking their own work with less than endearing results. I think part of it buys into the public's fascination with the latest technology and digital effects, both in audio and video. In 2003, Mike Oldfield (of whom I'm a huge fan), the man whose classic, pioneering New Age music "Tubular Bells" was featured in The Exorcist, entirely redid the album -- to, as he said, fix what he felt were flaws or mistakes. In doing so, he replaced all the analog warmth with thoroughly modern instruments and digital effects. His fans felt pretty unanimous in that this was a colossal mistake. Though still thoroughly enjoyable, I feel it is at both times interesting and sterile, much like many of the movies being remade today. One of the things that made movies like John Carpenter's "Halloween" so great, and in a sense, kept them "real" or "honest" is in fact their shoestring budgets. Producers today have nearly unlimited money and technological resources at their disposal, but as the old saying goes "money can't buy everything". Often the best acting comes solely out of a love of the material, as in this classic of Carpenter's, as notably, scarcely anyone was paid a dime during the actual production, the film's meager budget just didn't allow for it. Simply put, they couldn't afford William Shatner, so, in a moment of pure serendipitous genius, they went with his painted, teased out rubber mask instead. Now that was truly creepy. :)

[orange]

You made some really great points, Thomas. And you're right, it's in music as well.. I've heard that newer version of Tubular Bells and it sucks! Give me the original any day! I guess it's a symptom of our society... nothing original in TV or music or film, a kind of loss of creativity in those areas, which is really sad. And there ARE still some great movies out there, it's just that they are Indie productions and therefore don't often make it to the mainstream. Which is a pity because some of them are really awesome. I've started watching a lot of Indie flicks and foreign stuff.

You're absolutely right about the lower budget horror as well. CGI is just not as scary as made-up puppets, stop-motion, or some of the other cruder and less expensive special effects. A good example for me is the movie Phantasm, which was produced on a shoestring budget, yet the effects (the white room, the fly-creature, etc) were great!

And I too love the old John Carpenter movies... Halloween of course, but The Thing and Prince of Darkness are special favorites of mine!

[HarryPT]

As a 3d animator I think I know why they remake these movies specially the horror movies. Because the special effects in 60's 70's and 80's sucked bad... real bad. I love horror but when I watch these movies I just start cracking up, for me its funnier then any comedy movie, I'm only 25 years old so I mean come on these old movies are crap as far as the special efx.(im not talking about acting, casting or anything but efects) just like War of Worlds... come on is anyone going to tell me that the original is better then the remake... lol yeah right. And I don't know if you know this or not but for hollywood visual candy (eye candy) comes first (this is an inside info... trust me I have my own production LLC). If you want originality you got to move on from hollywood rent or buy international films or low budget originals.

[LunarBlue]

I'm 23, about to be 24 and I depise remakes.
I was lucky to have been raised on some of the best black and white horror films, some of the lower budget movies. Horror movies of today are so predicatable that they are not scary and the special effects, doesn't do anything for me.

[educatedhorse_2005]

I think they have done a terrible job on a lot of the remakes lately.
Not just horror
They ruined dukes of hazard, starsky and hutch.
I know that these weren't movies but the series is better left alone.

[orange]

Yes that's a really great point, too... remakes of TV shows, most of which have stunk! I think they did The Beverly Hillbillies too a while back, and The Brady Bunch, etc. I guess the movie producers have run out of original ideas and are just looking to make an easy buck.

[orange]

As a 3d animator i think i know why they remake these movies specially the horror movies. because the special effects in 60's 70's and 80's sucked bad...real bad. i love horror but when i watch these movies i just start cracking up, for me its funnier then any comedy movie, im only 25 years old so i mean come on these old movies are crap as far as the special efx.(im not talking about acting, casting or anything but efects) just like War of Worlds ...come on is anyone going to tell me that the original is better then the remake....lol yeah right. and i dont know if you know this or not but for hollywood visual candy (eye candy) comes first (this is an inside info...trust me i have my own production LLC). if you want originality you gotta move on from hollywood rent or buy international films or low budget originals.

I agree that special effects are MUCH better nowadays, but I don't think special effects necessarily make a good movie (look at the recent Star Wars Trilogy, or the move Godzilla starring Matthew Broderick as examples). If there are too many effects in a movie, I tend to get used to them pretty quickly, and bored. That being said, my problem with the remakes is not so much effects, but acting and plot. The original movie "The Haunting", made in the 1960s, had little or no special effects, yet the movie had an atmosphere of creepiness and dread, and the acting was superb. The recent remake of The Haunting however, was just dreck IMO. The special effects were quite cool, but they did nothing for the overall quality of the movie. It wasn't creepy, and the acting was terribly bad.

Oh and by the way I'm only 26 years old myself, so I wasn't around when these old movies were originally made, but I still like them better.

[Jonegy]

The other problem in today's movies is - where have the movie "actors" gone??

John Wayne, bless his little cotton socks, was John Wayne whether he had a cavalry hat, cowboy hat or military hat and even a flat cap in his Irish outing. He was a "Film Star". They take an unknown, make a film, and if it makes money the main character becomes a "Film Star". There are some actors these days - but very few and far between.

Lets have a few more William Bendix's and Spencer Traceys - and a lot less Stallones and Schwarzenegers.

[educatedhorse_2005]

I for one like stallon.
I also really like sam elliot, tom hanks, nicolas cage, mel gibson
A lot of the actors today are as good as the old ones.
You just don't get to see as much.

[Stormy69]

Yep Chava,
I haven't seen a remake in the last 5 years that was worth a darn,Horror, Tv or otherwise. Bewitched had to be the worst piece of garbage I have seen in ages.

[horrorlovergal]

Some movies its all right but remakin halloween is just stupid it spoils it