REMAKES: Please make it stop

I'm really of two minds on remakes. One part of me thinks that they have some merit and some place in this world. The slipper slop includes live action items that tickled my fancy like SPEED RACER - a fun, cotton candy movie that I found to be entertaining and fun. Then there's the movies I'd like to see "re-envisioned" like the classic NIGHT OF THE DEMON. An updated script with some upgraded effects would be a lot of fun to see for sure if the right folks were at the helm of the project.

But then there's the other side of me. The side that's filled with WTF rage and drama when I heard that the Japanese shocker RINGU was being remade shot for shot with an all American cast to make it easier to watch. Or, that epic greatness like [REC] was remade within the same year to make it more sales friendly with American audiences. I get it from a financial standpoint, but love it when these efforts fail. In the case of [REC] and Quarantine, they replaced the amazing 90% fresh [REC] with a 58% fresh Quarantine.

The most recent FAIL is the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET flop. It brings a smile to my face that this film slithered into place with a 14% rating on Rottentomatoes.com and scored a 33 while the original scored a 78 on Metacritic.com. Venom flew about this remake like mad. Fans seem to think the effort was ok, yet didn't bring anything new to the table. Worse yet, it left out some aspects of the old film as well.

Now films that are known in the world of horror as classics are being dredged up for remakes like the classic I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE. Not a great film at all, but one that shocked people all the same. There's no way that the remake can come close. It's a different world now.

I have hope, however. There are grand NEW movies being made that capture the spirit of many older films, but offer new stories and better execution. HOUSE OF THE DEVIL had all the earmarks of a film from the late 70s or early 80s, but had an original script. THE CHILDREN was fantastic...and not a remake.

I know remakes have a life of their own and I don't think they will stop even though the fail more often than not. But, I flip flop again when I think about the remake of the CRAZIES and just wish that if people do make remakes, they also make an effort to do them well.