Tag Archives: Wes Craven

“I Saw The Devil” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” on the Remake/Reboot Chopping block!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

Just when you think it’s safe to go back into the theater, another remake and reboot news bit rears it’s ugly little head. Two pieces of news bits delivered today spilling the beans that “I Saw The Devil” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” will be being redone for a second time around.
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“Oculus” director Mike Flanagan is in reports to write and produce the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” reboot which the story is based off a Lois Duncan novel. My question is why remake reboot this at all? This film, starring a gorgeous Jennifer Love Hewitt, was a major success in the wake of Wes Craven slasher game changer Scream back in 1997 and then spawn two more not-so-successful sequels. The story revolves around a group of teens who accidentally kill someone and then are hunted down by a man with a hook afterwards.
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Kim Jee-woon’s “I Saw The Devil” is the other film that made remake headlines today in which Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett will bring the film to life…in America I’m sure. Wingard is set to helm and Barrett will be penning the project about the fiance of a special unit cop being murdered by a vicious psychopath. Hellbent on revenge, the cop is determined to hunt down the killer no matter the cost and the line between good and evil are sub-sequential. I’m a fan of Wingard and his style of horror and thrills, but I’m not so keen on remaking foreign movies for American audiences for the sake of those who can’t stand to read subtitles and this kind of situation just screams that instance.

No word on any dates yet, but I’ll keep my eyes open and see what comes across my desk.

Evil Thoughts: Out with the Old, In with the New?

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Masters of horror. You know. Those legendary filmmakers that become iconic in our beloved genre. The monumental men who made history by evolving the monsters, killers, and madmen to the very monsters, killers, and madmen we see today on the big and small screen. These giants of horror are household names to ordinary film fans and Gods to those who dedicate their lives just to live in a moment in a very small portion of their foot heel shadow. You, reading this op-ed, know the very names of these directors without even me mentioning their names. For those who are virgin to horror, however,…

George A. Romero
John Carpenter
Wes Craven
Stuart Gordon
Tobe Hooper
Joe Dante
Clive Barker

The list could go on with more familiar names. Familiar. That seems like a term for old people now, like myself, the thirty-years of living on this planet. Why is ‘familiar’ now for the old fogies? For one, I don’t think much of the younger generation are aware, or even respect, the above list of names. And why should they? Because, secondly, those listed about have done squat in, I don’t know, how many years? Think about. The Masters of Horror are no longer producing any great horror films and there seems to be no clear cut answer to why. A couple of theories swirl in my clustered little mind.

Theory one
They’re old. Getting elderly is tough and when you’re youth runs dry, you’re energy goes right along with it. Take Romero for example. The man is 74 years old. Wes Craven is even older than Romero by one year. Could their old school imaginations keep a generation, doped up on ADD medication, entertained for more than 10 minutes. Much of today’s horror is about the blood and the tits and the “how scary you can make a CGI monster.” Creativity has gone out the window and I think that “Saw 7” and the soon to be fifth sequel to “Paranormal Activity” have proven just that.

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Theory two
Old school horror has run out of ideas. Can you remember the last time Romero, Carpenter, Stuart has made a good movie? Romero’s last film was “Survival of the Dead” back in 2009 which flopped. Before that “Diary of the dead” and that was another flop. Since the turn of the century, the king of the zombies has only directed four films with Land of the Dead being the more successful. Take a look at “Halloween” director John Carpenter. “Halloween” is the highest grossing independent film ever, yet also in the last decade, nothing spectacular from Carpenter. His vision of “The Thing” is classic, his character Snake Plissken is iconic in “Escape from New York”, “Big Trouble in Little China” is timeless cut, but “The Ward” and “Ghost of Mars” have been absolute below the bar with audiences. This theory doesn’t exclude international directors because we can also examine, point in case, Italian director Dario Argento. Argento famous for his colorful, psychedelic intense films such as “Suspiria”, “Phenomena”, and “Don’t Torture the Duckling”, has been reduced to direct a “Dracula 3D” movie starring Rutger Hauer. Freaking RUTGER HAUER!?!? Don’t get me wrong, I love Rutger Hauer – “Blind Fury” and “The Hitcher” are some favorites – but you can’t have a strawberry haired Van Helsing. Maybe you can – I don’t know. Let’s not forget poor Wes Craven who can’t seem to get off the “Scream” franchise train and everything else he touches turns into a limp, floppy mess.

Now that we’ve gone over my theories, there lies another question to be discussed. Who are the NEW masters of horror? Today’s films rely on blood and guts and not so much suspense and story. Would Eli Roth be my first example of a more current master? His films seemed to be well criticized – “Cabin Fever” with a fresh 63% and “Hostel” with a fresh 61% respectively on Rotten tomatoes. Also, his latest project “The Green Inferno” held promise until it’s untimely indefinite on hold status declared a few weeks ago. Who else? Alexandre Aja? More shock than schlock but hasn’t really produced anything original as he’s banked on remakes – “The Hills Have Eyes”, “Piranha 2” – but with his breakthrough hit “High Tension” and his upcoming release “Horns” starring Daniel Radcliffe, we could be watching a master in the making.
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I want to hear from you. Who do you think will step in the shoes of a master? Lucky McKee? Adam Wingard? Let me hear your choices and your thoughts on these!

Is Eli Roth’s The Green Inferno Getting the Shaft?

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Here’s some grade-A bullshit if I’ve ever heard so. The word on the street (Deadline) is that Eli Roth’s directorial feature “The Green Inferno” has been put on hold indefinitely by Open Road Films due to the fact that the company’s financier, Worldview Entertainment, is being tied up with an ex-CEO, Christopher Woodrow, decision to withhold any print and advertisement for the film.

Why hold the P&A?

Some sites suggest that the business end is causing a halt to the film’s September 5th release, but others, including myself, is that the film’s cannibalism subject matter has always been a taboo subject (think “Cannibal Holocaust’s” animal cruelty and has there really been a cannibal film that has had any note of success to it? Perhaps the Alexandre Aja remake of Wes Craven’s “The Hills Have Eyes”?).

“The Green Inferno” revolves around a group of activist who travel from New York City to the Amazon to save a dying, primitive tribe, but when their plane crashes in the jungle, they’re taken hostage by the very tribe they sought to save.

Candarian Evil is Back! Evil Dead remake review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Some moviegoers pride themselves as being a purist especially hardcore horror fans who are looking for an excuse to bash the shit out of anything that isn’t already the horror norm. Remakes are notorious for being made and resulting to being just a money-hungry cash-in and being an absolute piece of garbage bringing shame to the original crew of the original movie. Only once in awhile, a remake will come along to excite and thrill while still being true and respectful to the original movie. Evil Dead is very true and very respectful.

Four friends watch over a drug recovering addict going cold turkey in a woodsy remote cabin. They happen upon the Necronomican – a book bound in human flesh and inked in human blood – and release soul possessing and feasting demons that bring bloody havoc upon group of friends.
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With Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, and Bruce Campbell backing and producing complete the remake project helmed by newcomer Fede Alvarez, you could call this movie a slam dunk and was from start to finish. Right from beginning, the blood begins and, boy, did the blood keep flowing. Raimi’s The Evil Dead intended to be a frightening movie with lots of gore with very little campiness. Alvarez’s Evil Dead just amplified the scary and quadrupled the gore with little to no campiness while keeping Raimi’s story practically whole through the film’s duration and even putting little tidbit easter eggs in film much like Raimi did with placing Freddy Kueger’s blade claw in the tool shed to show respect to Wes Craven and Nightmare on Elm Street.

Fede Alvarez’s Evil Dead is it’s own monster when being compared to the original film while still being a “Video Nasty.” I’d call Evil Dead a proud and gruesome spawn based off the original intent of Raimi’s The Evil Dead. If you’re Evil Dead 2 or Army of Darkness fan, you can completely forget about any humor being portrayed here; all the fun and games will be left out until Evil Dead 4 makes some kind of potential wave.
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Call me impressed by Fede Alveraz who has all short films under his belt. I watched his robo-apocolyptic short Panic Attack and thought he had an eye for detail and the details for Evil Dead are right on the nose – the Cabin, the overzealous fog, the controversial woods scene, – but Fede did add his own. For example, there is no Ash (which might piss some people off more than the rest), the whole reason for being at the cabin, the explanation of the Necronomicon, the ending. Yet all these elements make the movie stand on it’s own two evil feet. It is mindless, it is gory, it is sick and it is fun – just like the original.