Remakes: The Thing

Whew, THE THING. THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.  Both films shaped my love of horror films for different reasons and both were equally amazing and powerful works in my mind.

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD - 1951
Howard Hawks really brought the  John W. Campbell short story "Who goes there?" to life with his Direction. There are Howard Hawks moments throughout the film and it's SO WONDERFULLY 50s. (( I ALWAYS mess this up.  Christian Nyby was also a Director on this film, but I always leave him out. Sorry Chris. :)   ))
Quick dialog and some grand play with the camera and character interactions makes this one of the biggies from my childhood. Mom would make a huge bowl of popcorn and we'd sit and watch the afternoon movie back in the ye old 1970-somethings and we'd never miss THE THING when it was on.

You know the story. A team of scientists in a remote, arctic outpost pair up with the Air Force to investigate a U.F.O. crash site. They discover an alien occupant and bring it back to the base to check out. Said occupant thaws and mayhem ensues as the small outpost wages war against the alien to save the planet from being taken over.

There are little things in here that make me smile time and time again. Conversations are like machine gun fire - rattling off quickly and smoothly with some cute, 1950s moments that are just awesome. Some good writing there. Then there are things like doors opening and closing. Watch the film again. You'll see doors opening and closing, people going in and out and people talking about doors throughout. But why? Oh...you'll find out! HA! And the James Arness monster makeup is grand.

The story goes that test makeup was done on a stand-in offsite before shooting started. Jack Pierce did the makeup, I believe. When the effects artist got the perfect THING, he tossed the stand-in into the car to drive him over to the studio to show the execs. On the way over, a women in another car looked over and started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs in her vehicle. The makeup artist knew this was the one after that.

I just love this film.






THE THING - 1982
Now, I went a long while wanting to kill every remake with fire. They could never make me happy.
But....wow. Walking into the theater, sitting down and having this film unfold before me like it did - even with pages and pages of FANGORIA magazine pre-press committed to memory - just completely blew our minds.

Here you have two people (my Mother and I) who not only loved the original, but had all these huge,  emotional ties to it as well. The film had to be amazing to make us come anywhere close to liking it as much as the original film. We sat there at the opening copter scene and were interested. This was different and we were ok with it and wondered where it would lead.

Turns out it lead to some of the most impressive effects work we'd seen and we'd seen a lot being genre film lovers for years and years. Rob Bottin took things up to screaming standards with his practical effects work and blew us away. It was fantastic.

The script was grand as well, taking the original storyline and adding some super details and game changing plot points into the mix that made this an update well worth sparing from the flames of hatred. They basically kept the whole of the story and added this mystery element of who was good and who was bad in that ramped the game up to new and fantastic heights.


And Carpenter was SPOT ON POINT with all his work on the film with a cast that took everything and played it real and deadly serious. That's why this remake stands out among many as a work that can not only stand on it's own, but one that people really can't see being without in the horror community.



And, this is what I really want out of a remake. I really don't mind them anymore, but...make an effort. That's all I ask. Try something interesting. Update the sucker with something cool and new. Maybe do some writing. :)

I suppose I should take a look at the 2011 THE THING (...that we couLd not come up with a better name for)  but, I don't really wanna. :)

I'll be looking at some other remakes that do just that. And...some that don't, but give it a shot.

Our recent MANIAC compare and contrast takes a look at the remake.   Take a look if you have not already.

It Came From My Childhood

I was just thinking back on a few films that shaped my childhood love of horror. Sitting on the sofa on a Saturday afternoon or evening watching some great black and white goodness. Now, mind you, I wasn't around when these originally came out. :::grin:::  However, these were the films of the 50s-ish era that I was comfortable watching as a child. And I'd watch them over and over and over again.

What are your favorites from childhood?

The Thing from Another World

The Creature from the Black Lagoon

Them!

Tarantula!

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The Mole People

The Deadly Mantis

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Night of the Demon

The Blob

The Fly

The Tingler

Mr. Sardonicus

13 Ghosts

The Birds

Day of the Triffids

Dementia 13

The Abominable Dr. Phibes

Mephisto Waltz

Twins of Evil

The Asphyx

Trilogy of Terror

Alice, Sweet Alice

Kingdom of the Spiders

...and a little later in life...

Jaws

Alien

Phantasm

Prophecy

Tourist Trap

Rod Serling

I was sitting here watching television when a commercial came on for THE TWILIGHT ZONE. My wife, mother-in-law and I talked about how great the show was and how amazing Rod Serling was as a creator and innovator of the television medium.

Writer, producer, novelist, actor and more, Serling was a fantastic influence on television and the art of storytelling.A paratrooper in the Philippians in the 40s, Serling lived through the war and survived to move on to radio and slid into the ground floor of television. He carved out a little spot for himself in Kraft Television Theater and onward and upward from there.

In 1959, Serling spearheaded THE TWILIGHT ZONE. His first series was a success and went on for five seasons. Science Fiction and Fantasy filled the ZONE with fantastic flights of fancy from some of the best writers in the industry at the time including Serling himself. Eventually, he ended up selling the series to CBS due to the fact that he wasn't able to consistently make money on the project. He wanted his own studio and production company and was willing to give up THE TWILIGHT ZONE to get it.

In 1969, THE NIGHT GALLERY was born. Evidently, he gave up much of the creative control to Jack Laird and regretted it later. However, it was worth it. The Night Gallery was a fantastic dive into a darker realm than the Twilight Zone lived in. The Night Gallery was creepy, full of shadows and scary. Again, Serling penned over a third of the stories himself, but also had the cream of the crop writing for him as well.

Serling returned to radio in 1973 to host The Zero Hour - a radio drama program that featured tales of mystery, suspense and adventure.  He even wrote some of the scripts. You can still listen to the show in podcast form, though the quality is a bit dodgy. 


Serling was involved in a lot more than writing and feature creation. He was an activist and a go getter. He was anti-war and pro racial equality. But, you can look all of that up on the WIKI.

Serling was an amazing thinker who was ahead of his time in many ways. People aim for innovative television series' like The Twilight Zone and The Night Gallery today and, while there are some great shows being produced, they don't break ground like Serling broke in the 50s, 60s and 70s. If death did not take him at age 50, he might have gone on to produce more amazing work in the 80s and 90s. Sadly, we'll never know.

I would have loved a paring of Serling and King or Serling and Clive Barker somehow. Something deep and dark and hard hitting.

Today's J.J Abrams types are fantastic, but much of the ground that they walk on is pathed by the likes of the genius, talent and exploration of Mr. Rod Serling.

Rod Serling. December 25, 1924 – June 28, 1975.

Happy Birthday!






Twilight Zone - Time Enough at Last Part One

Remakes: The Blob

I'm not a fan of remakes. I'm just not.

There are so many ideas out in the world that I just can't believe what gets turned around into a remake at times. Case in point: The most awesome [rec] being remade in the SAME YEAR, only to fail at the box office. But, with that said, there are some remakes that really bring something new and fresh to the table. Perhaps it's just a retelling of a story that has been around for a long while. THE BLOB is one of those exceptions to the rule. The Blob remake updates and retells a story that's loved by many while adding a little spice to the execution.

The original 1958 Blob is pretty awesome on its own. If you have yet to see it, you can view it through the wonders of YouTube. The title music alone is well worth a viewing! :) And...I mean...Steve McQueen? Oh yeah! The action is fun and the 50s styling is a sight to behold. It has that youth against the man thing, too, which is always a nice little nugget in these films.

 

The story is simple. A meteor falls out of the sky and the poor man that finds it finds out that the goo contained within is alive and hungry. The goo wraps itself around the old man's hand and he can't get it off. McQueen and his date Aneta Corsaut (purrrr) find the old man and bring him to the doctor. And so begins the tale of THE BLOB. As it eats, it gets bigger. You see where this is going. Along the way, you get a bit of small town feeling, youth vs. adults and general terror as the Blob grows and grows as it eats it's way through the town. Nothing seems to be able to stop it. It can crawl through small openings and under doors and it becomes more mobile as it grows larger. A great story with some fantastic moments of tension and suspense.

The original relies on some masterful edits and storytelling to avoid showing much in the way of gore or body horrors as the Blob ingests it's victims. So, for the 1988 remake, they add that into the mix to liven things up a bit, retelling the original story with the addition of some grotesque and nasty body horror moments. The Blob is like the perfect eating machine, breaking people down within moments and adding them to it's own body mass.

The effects are nasty and the tension and action is ramped up considerably. What we're really seeing here is the same story ramped up from 1950s acceptable horror to the over the top effects heavy world of the 1980s. And, every bit of the fun is on screen and in your face.

 

Kevin Dillon is no McQueen, but turns in a decent performance. Fans of the SAW franchise machine will recognize Shawnee Smith as Dillon's main squeeze on this thrill ride. Chuck Russell's stylistic direction works well for this film and there are some really smart and interesting scenes of the blob attacking that I'm not sure I'll ever forget. (Sink and phone booth come to mind...yikes...) I remember my palms being sweaty when I saw this in the theater back in '88 and it holds up rather well today. Especially the horrific results of the Blob attacks.




But, now we come to the point of this little article - did The Blob need to be remade? Did it need the ramped up action and gore-heavy effects work? Did it need to be updated and retold in a modern day setting?

I guess that really depends on the viewer. There's a lot to be said for classic horror cinema. Of watching a film like The Blob and seeing the charm and style of it's original world that it was created in. The time frame and reference point of creation. However, seeing something retold in a new world can be very interesting as well when done properly. A cleaver screenplay and a new breath of life into a film can be very refreshing and fun to take in.

In short, I'm starting to see that remakes are not necessarily the issue. It's often that fact that there is little time or effort made on some of these remakes that is the real issue and the real source of my hatred of the "remake" in general. Sloppy and silly screenplay writing will always give a film nothing to stand on - remake or not.

So, keep trying, Hollyweird. Go safe with the remake path and have at it tossing more cash, effects and time into them. At the very least, older movies can be viewed by children and people with a lower tolerance for violence and gore.

Just don't fruck 'em up.   :)

HALLOWEEN LIST 2012: Fear in Black and White

Ah...a grand era for film - the days of black and white. A time where wonder and imagination seemed to blossom and go wild. I love it.

I'm not old enough to remember seeing these films in the theater, of course, but I do remember sitting down with my parents - my Mother is a HUGE sci fi and horror fan - with a big bowl of popcorn on Saturday afternoon and watching on TV.  My mind almost exploded when I saw THE THING for the first time. I already have a movie list ready for when my two year old is old enough to start watching these with me!




Yes, there are other black and white classics, of course, but you most likely already know and love those.  These are just a few that you might have missed or might not have seen in a while.


YouTube embedding has not been kind to load times, so I'll keep things to a minimum on that front. If you have younger children and want to do some Halloween movie watching with them, older films like these may be the ticket for you. Some of them still pack a punch!

THE THING (...from Another World)
Storytelling, dialog and a great pace make this film a personal favorite. Iconic scenes like the one to the left are plentiful and the whip-crack pace of the dialog is fantastic. Howard Hawks at his best.

This is a must see.

Keep your eyes peeled for scenes of doors opening. Someone pointed it out to me once and it's a very interesting thing to pay attention to. There are many doors opening and closing in this film. And the makeup work on James Arness is awesome even today. Suggestion: Watch this the same week you watch the remake - it is wild to see the same story told in far different ways. Both are classics.

THEM!

Giant ants. Yes, THE BOMB and fear of what radiation might do had a lot of these giant insect movies popping up, but THEM! holds a special place in my heart. I've re-watched it recently and it's a fun film.

Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Can't....stop....laughing! :) This is classic comedy paired with classic monsters. We have The Wolfman, Frankenstein and Dracula paired up with the brilliant comedy antics of Abbot and Costello. The result is pure gold.
A fun film for the whole family!

 
Creature from the Black Lagoon

The Gillman is a movie monster that tends to get second billing, but he's still number one in my book. Sure, I love the other movie monsters, but the original concept and fun, action adventure setting of this film really make it for me.







 


Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Communists....I mean....aliens.....taking over the world. Brilliant.
This classic is chilling on several fronts. The metaphor isn't lost in translation and it still holds up wonderfully today. Don't fall asleep!









 
The Tingler

William Castle greatness. He even rigged seats with a minor electric shock when the film originally came out. You can't beat that for old school showmanship! (...that would have people running to their lawyers today!) Vincent Price is grand in this film as well.

What makes a shiver run down your spine? THE TINGLER!











 
Night of the Demon

This movie is another one that was watched every time is came on TV. Story plays a major part of this movie. It unfolds like you are reading the original story it was based on and is thick with atmosphere and great performance. Love it. 







 
Dementia 13

Francis Ford Coppola cut his teeth on this twisted tale of greed and family secrets. It has some gritty and creepy visuals that still manage to creep me out when i watch it late at night. If you like a little mystery with your shivers, this is perfect for you. 

The ever chilling CARNIVAL OF SOULS

Carnival of Souls

Madness. This film is madness. Part of me would like to see a "re-envisioning" (remake) of this film, but I know it would just fall flat. This is a perfect film to toss on around 11pm so it starts to wrap up a little after midnight when your mind is a bit mushy and you are sleepy and vulnerable! It's just a creepy film with some great visuals. Be warned, it's a tad slow in parts, but the end is well worth the wait!

And...of course....