Hot Takes on Horror - Why Remakes Matter
by Elizabeth Trail
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Introduction
What is a Remake
In cinema, a remake is a movie that generally shares the same premise, title, and other elements of an already existing film. They are intended to be another attempt at the already existing movie, whether because the original was bad, or to make money from retreading a classic. Generally, remakes are seen as pointless, bad, and having little to no artistic value, and today I will be talking about where this idea comes from, and why, ultimately, it is wrong.
Nightmare On Elm Street - Remakes At Their Worst
The original Nightmare on Elm Street is one of my favourite movies ever given its excellent aging, incredible special effects, excellent acting, an iconic killer, great scares, and an earnest cheesiness matched nowhere else. The remake was made 26 years later, and it feels stuck in the year it was made, with edgy writing, mediocre lighting and visuals, magnitudes worse acting (though not completely awful but lacking Robert Englund in the villain role), and a dead serious tone.
The few good ideas that the film has, the character Quinton and the microsleeps (temporary periods of sleep if you stay awake too long, allowing Krueger to strike), either aren't as good as the elements it dropped from the original, or fail to be executed with any quality. The original is a classic that I would recommend to all, while the remake will only be remembered for how hated it was and continues to be. There was no reason to remake Nightmare on Elm Street, especially not into this travesty.
Invisible Man - Remakes At Their Best
The original Invisible Man was a good movie, focused on a man who found a way to turn invisible and goes mad with power, trying to take over the world. By no means was it perfect, and it was definitely a bit cheesy, but it had good acting, good effects, and shockingly good scares. The remake ditches most of the premise outside of the titular invisible man, who is used to express themselves of abuse and trauma in a very effective way. It takes the most interesting elements of the original, and runs with them in a fresh and unique way, resulting in one of the best remakes to be produced in a long time.
Other Good Horror Remakes/Reboots
The Thing - Not the modern remake/prequel thing, but John Carpenter’s masterwork is a remake/re-adaptation of The Thing From Another World.
Friday The 13th -The 2009 Friday the 13th movie takes the overly repetitive and drawn out plot of the original 4 films and compresses it into 1, and is often considered the best film of the series.
Hellraiser - The 2022 film is a unique take on the premise of Hellraiser. It has the same overall themes and message, but the film itself is modernized, includes the gender ambiguity of the book, and has acting on par with the iconic work from the original.
Video Game Remakes
Video game remakes are a very separate category, due to the medium being newer, but there are still good and bad examples.
A notable good example is the Resident Evil 2 remake, which takes the original game and modernizes it with one of the best gameplay loops in modern gaming.
Our bad example is the Resident Evil 3 remake, which takes the same core gameplay as the remake of RE2 but destroys the original, removing several key elements.
What Do Remakes Demonstrate About Hollywood
Remakes show different things depending on their frequency and quality. In horror, remakes often rehash the original film, typically for name recognition and to have an already existing plot (making the writing easier). Thankfully, not all remakes are like this, some expanding on the original’s concept, or just doing it better. Remakes are often best when the movie being remade is dated or fails to live up to its concept.
When remakes are frequent, it shows how the industry lacks creativity. When infrequent, remakes often feel more special, and are more likely to be appreciated. Remakes, at least in terms of horror cinema, show a lot about the industry, whether good or bad.
Do They Matter
Remakes, despite often being bad matter artistically, tell us about the industry, can surpass the original, display modern technology, and so much more.
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