HORROR MOVIES 101

The Last House on the Left (2009)

The trailer for Wes Craven's remake of his own film The Last House on the Left was just unleashed on apple.com/trailers. Honestly, I didn't really care for the original. I appreciated it; the plot, savagery, and it had some fairly incredible scenes, but overall I didn't love it. The remake seems to be following the original but with a little Devil Rejects feel to it. 

What does everyone think? Remakeable or stick with the original?

Sidenote: if you haven't seen the original I wouldn't suggest watching the trailer for the remake because it pretty much gives away everything including the twist that made the original so iconic.

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

Being Wes Craven's first film (I almost typed "Anderson" out of habit!) my curiousity is piqued, but I'm a little nervous about seeing any film that contains "brutal rape scenes" according to the plot summaries I can find.  I get queasy even when its merely implied.  Maybe I'm a bit of a cad, but I've always felt rape is one thing that doesn't need to be expressely and graphically portrayed in a film--I think the audience is smart enough to imagine and figure out whats going on if the director does his/her job right.  How graphic were the scenes in the original?  It seems like the trend in most horror/thriller remakes is to crank up the testosterone, cram in a lot of special effects and merely retell the same tale rather than actually reinterpret it...

mercurial:

The trailer for Wes Craven's remake of his own film The Last House on the Left was just unleashed on apple.com/trailers. Honestly, I didn't really care for the original. I appreciated it; the plot, savagery, and it had some fairly incredible scenes, but overall I didn't love it. The remake seems to be following the original but with a little Devil Rejects feel to it. 

What does everyone think? Remakeable or stick with the original?

Sidenote: if you haven't seen the original I wouldn't suggest watching the trailer for the remake because it pretty much gives away everything including the twist that made the original so iconic.

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

mercurial:

The trailer for Wes Craven's remake of his own film The Last House on the Left was just unleashed on apple.com/trailers. Honestly, I didn't really care for the original. I appreciated it; the plot, savagery, and it had some fairly incredible scenes, but overall I didn't love it. The remake seems to be following the original but with a little Devil Rejects feel to it. 

What does everyone think? Remakeable or stick with the original?

Sidenote: if you haven't seen the original I wouldn't suggest watching the trailer for the remake because it pretty much gives away everything including the twist that made the original so iconic.

Coincidentally, Bergman's Virgin Spring just came to my house from Netlix after making it's way to the top of my queue.  Now I've heard that The Last House on the Left was essentially a remake of sorts of this movie.  I did not realize that there was also a remake of that movie coming out soon as well!  But maybe I'll come back and discuss after I watch Virgin Spring, which I may do tonight.

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

mercurial:

The trailer for Wes Craven's remake of his own film The Last House on the Left was just unleashed on apple.com/trailers. Honestly, I didn't really care for the original. I appreciated it; the plot, savagery, and it had some fairly incredible scenes, but overall I didn't love it. The remake seems to be following the original but with a little Devil Rejects feel to it. 

What does everyone think? Remakeable or stick with the original?

   You are talking about one of my favorite horror films.   I first saw  Last House on the Left  at the drive-in at a very young age (my Dad took me).   I have watched it a few times since then and it will always be one of my favorites.   I loved the comedic bits they threw in to try to "lighten" the movie a bit but, under the circumstances, they weren't really funny at all....   only more disturbing...

   I am a HUGE fan of Wes Craven and I thought  Nightmare on Elm Street  was something of a masterpiece.   I am usually not a big fan of remakes and I think it would be difficult for ANYBODY to top the original version of this.   But if Wes Craven would like to update and re-do his own masterpiece I am more than curious to see it...

                                                                                < GOR >

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

Yes, thank god Wes Craven is going to remake his own film, I might give it a shot then.  The movie has such a hokey charm to it, I don't know how to explain it, especially when the "gang" is at the parents home.  But it still just makes me so sad when she goes into the water...

Dr_Gor:

mercurial:

The trailer for Wes Craven's remake of his own film The Last House on the Left was just unleashed on apple.com/trailers. Honestly, I didn't really care for the original. I appreciated it; the plot, savagery, and it had some fairly incredible scenes, but overall I didn't love it. The remake seems to be following the original but with a little Devil Rejects feel to it. 

What does everyone think? Remakeable or stick with the original?

   You are talking about one of my favorite horror films.   I first saw  Last House on the Left  at the drive-in at a very young age (my Dad took me).   I have watched it a few times since then and it will always be one of my favorites.   I loved the comedic bits they threw in to try to "lighten" the movie a bit but, under the circumstances, they weren't really funny at all....   only more disturbing...

   I am a HUGE fan of Wes Craven and I thought  Nightmare on Elm Street  was something of a masterpiece.   I am usually not a big fan of remakes and I think it would be difficult for ANYBODY to top the original version of this.   But if Wes Craven would like to update and re-do his own masterpiece I am more than curious to see it...

                                                                                < GOR >

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

I saw the preview for it when I was at the movies last night.  It looks really good.  It also looks like he tweaked the story a bit and changed it a tad, I'm not sure if it's going to be a semi happy ending or not...but from the previews I am definately going to watch it.

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

   I am a HUGE fan of Wes Craven and I thought  Nightmare on Elm Street  was something of a masterpiece.   I am usually not a big fan of remakes and I think it would be difficult for ANYBODY to top the original version of this.   But if Wes Craven would like to update and re-do his own masterpiece I am more than curious to see it...

                                                                                < GOR >

A good friend of mine is playing the bad girl of the gang in this remake. She saw a screening and said it was actually very good. The trailers look decent, but I'm mad at how much they show. The art of the trailer is lost. 

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

Dr_Gor:

mercurial:

The trailer for Wes Craven's remake of his own film The Last House on the Left was just unleashed on apple.com/trailers. Honestly, I didn't really care for the original. I appreciated it; the plot, savagery, and it had some fairly incredible scenes, but overall I didn't love it. The remake seems to be following the original but with a little Devil Rejects feel to it. 

What does everyone think? Remakeable or stick with the original?

   You are talking about one of my favorite horror films.   I first saw  Last House on the Left  at the drive-in at a very young age (my Dad took me).   I have watched it a few times since then and it will always be one of my favorites.   I loved the comedic bits they threw in to try to "lighten" the movie a bit but, under the circumstances, they weren't really funny at all....   only more disturbing...

   I am a HUGE fan of Wes Craven and I thought  Nightmare on Elm Street  was something of a masterpiece.   I am usually not a big fan of remakes and I think it would be difficult for ANYBODY to top the original version of this.   But if Wes Craven would like to update and re-do his own masterpiece I am more than curious to see it...

                                                                                < GOR >

   Wow.   I just read my own confusing and misleading post!   I REALLY need to start drinking more...

    Of course I was talking about  Last House on the Left  at the end of that post when I was talking about Wes Craven re-doing his own masterpiece and NOT  A Nightmare on Elm Street !   I only mentioned that one in passing as one of my favorites.   I think you all got what I was trying to say, anyhow, in the context of the post.   ("caveman", remember?) ...

   Although I DID read a rumor somewhere that a  Nightmare  remake was looming on the horizon (!) ...   AND with a different  Freddy Krueger (!!!) ...

   I wouldn't doubt it.   Recently I watched  The Omen  remake for the second time (don't ask me why) and all I could keep thinking throughout the entire movie was WHY?   It is almost an exact scene for scene and word for word copy of the original but with less talented actors.   WHY?   Much like that hideous  Psycho  remake from a few years ago....   What is the point?   WHY???

    I guess I will never understand it...

                                                                           < GOR >

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

Risselada:

Coincidentally, Bergman's Virgin Spring just came to my house from Netlix after making it's way to the top of my queue.  Now I've heard that The Last House on the Left was essentially a remake of sorts of this movie.  I did not realize that there was also a remake of that movie coming out soon as well!  But maybe I'll come back and discuss after I watch Virgin Spring, which I may do tonight.

    I've read about this movie,  Virgin Spring , and that it was possibly one of Craven's inspirations for  Last House...    You must let me know what you think of it, Rizzo!

                                                                              < GOR >

Re:The Last House on the Left (2009)

Dr_Gor:

I wouldn't doubt it.   Recently I watched  The Omen  remake for the second time (don't ask me why) and all I could keep thinking throughout the entire movie was WHY?   It is almost an exact scene for scene and word for word copy of the original but with less talented actors.   WHY?   Much like that hideous  Psycho  remake from a few years ago....   What is the point?   WHY???

    I guess I will never understand it...

                                                                           < GOR >

 

I get the feeling that a lot of directors confuse "paying homage" to a film with copying a film.  In some twisted sense, they seem to justify the remake as a way of paying tribute to, or bringing a "new generation" to an awareness of a great film. 

Really, what they should be doing is trying to bring some of the old classics back to the theatre, and not trying to duplicate something that has already been done, with flashier effects.  Too many directors get George Lucas syndrome, where they feel that the technology makes the film.  Lucas proved that by waiting decades to make the final installments of the StarWars series. 

The technology is way better now, but the later movies absolutely sucked (IMHO).  The same can be said for the remake of The Omen, which despite its elaborate sets and technical eye-candy was about as scary as a bag of puppies.

Now, I think that a remake is not to be confused with a re-interpretation of a film.  I can see a re-imagining/re-interpretation as a legitimate art form if its done well, but to simply copy a film and not try to improve on the storytelling is absolutely pointless, and in no way an homage to a great film--in fact, given the fact the remakes generally sucks, its probably doing a great disservice to a classic.