I hate to say this but I truly feel that Hollywood has become a pool of remakes, sequels and reboots when it comes to SCI FI and horror. I am in no way saying this is always a bad thing. Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead is a great example of reimagining an original without losing sight of the plot or story. It is also important to incorporate enough of the original elements to keep things relative when comparing the two. D.O.T.D did this by keeping the location elements but giving us this new age “fast zombie”. However we did lose the social commentary that helped to make the original so memorable. All the “fast zombies” in the world running down hill could not catch the elements of fear and tense drama that the original film displayed so perfectly.
A lot of people believe the choice to green light a reboot/remake is due to money and calculated risk. The cost of a fresh IP or script and production of a movie is so much more these days. So as a movie company the “reboot option” tends to be the safe way to go. You have an established audience, which is a bigger deal than most people think. I saw this first hand with the Nightmare on Elm Street re-puke, sorry I mean reboot ;o). Now mind you this reboot broke midnight sales records for horror movies but received mostly negative reviews from critics. Personally I had a hard time making it through the entire feature. It seemed too much had been changed (I.E. Freddy was now an actual child molester, an ER like burn victim, too much CGI) to keep you in touch with the original or what made it great in the first place. And the electronic deepening of Haley’s voice was a joke ;o).
I think sequels and reboots will always rule the big screen, but what is left a year or so after the release of the reboot? Most folks, me included, tend to pop the original in and let the reboot melt into the void where all the others have. I do not think there is enough lasting appeal when a reboot walks too close or strays too far away from the original. This just leads to being overshadowed by the original, I.E. Friday the 13th.
Please don’t get me started on 3D reboots and remakes as I am officially over 3D altogether. The screening of Fright Night in 3D took more away from the movie than it added to it. I was actually impressed with the reboot but the 3D actually seemed a little too forced. Not everything that moves on screen needs to be in 3D folks, sorry.
Can someone please hurry the hell up and reboot Twilight? That’s about the only movie series I hated from beginning to end. So really you can’t make it any worse for me, but go ahead and feel free to try.
Christopher Young
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